On Thursday, September 29, the Mississippi State Board of Education approved official grades for Mississippi schools and districts, with the Louisville Municipal School District receiving an overall “C” rating for the 2021-22 school year. The ratings for the individual schools within the district are as follows:
•Fair Elementary, D
•Louisville Elementary, C
•Eiland Middle School, D
•Louisville High School, D
•Noxapater Attendance Center, C
•Nanih Waiya Attendance Center, A
Superintendent, Dr. David Luke, stated this is not where anyone wants the district to be, but did point out that Fair Elementary needed only one point for a “C” rating, Eiland Middle School was only 13 points from a “C”, and the district as a whole needed only seven points to be rated a “B” district.
Luke added that over the past decade, LMSD has consistently been a “C” district with the exception of one year when they received a “B” rating.
Luke said, "With all things considered, with the adversity that we have been through the past couple of years, going through the pandemic, absentees, and all of the uphill battles that we've faced the last couple of years, the district being seven points away from a ‘B’, we're excited about the potential and the growth that we're showing."
The COVID pandemic, which caused a major disruption beginning in the fourth term of the 2019-2020 school year, with schools being completely shut down and all students going to a distance learning format, had a major impact for various reasons including device availability, teacher capacity with virtual learning, and limited broadband connectivity. It was pointed out that at least 50% of students had limited, or no, Internet service at home.
Pre-COVID, from August 2019-March 2020, there were 11,663 face-to-face instructional days missed, which averages out to 4.3 days per student. There were 1,762.5 teacher absences. With the school shutdown in the fourth term of 2019-2020, students missed an additional 45 days of face-to-face instruction.
The beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year was delayed by 10 days, with the district then utilizing 75 hybrid days, with only half of the students on campus, to limit the number of students on campus and in classrooms. There were an additional seven days of distance learning, meaning that students only attended in-person classes for around 126 days.
Every student missed as least 44 days of in-person instruction, and some received virtual instruction for the entire year. Student absences for the 2020-21 school year were 22,189. Teacher absences increased 18.5% from pre-COVID.
Since the COVID-19 learning disruption, the average LMSD student has missed 124.8 school days of the last 370 scheduled days or approximately 30% of regularly scheduled days.
Luke pointed out that things are essentially back to normal, and there are strategies in place to improve the ratings, with growth being the main factor, and that a “B” rating is within reach. He added he is excited about the potential for the district.
