10 Bibb County schools are on Georgia’s list of lowest-performing schools

Ten Bibb County schools are on the 2019 Turnaround Eligible Schools list for Georgia’s lowest-performing schools.

The schools are:

▪ Appling Middle School

▪ Ballard-Hudson Middle School

▪ Hartley Elementary School

▪ Ingram-Pye Elementary School

▪ Riley Elementary School

▪ Southfield Elementary School

▪ Southwest High School

▪ Union Elementary School

▪ Veterans Elementary School

▪ Westside High School

Seven of the schools were carried over from the 2018 Turnaround Eligible Schools list — including the three that have been working with the chief turnaround officer for the state for two years.

Those three schools are Appling Middle School, Ballard Hudson Middle School and Veterans Elementary School.

Three other schools — Westside High School, Ingram/Pye Elementary School and Southwest High School — are new to the list.

Two schools — Bruce Elementary School and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School — came off the list.

The state Governor’s Office of Student Achievement’s list includes schools that have a College and Career Ready Performance Index three-year average score that is in the bottom 5% of the state.

The Telegraph reported in October how Bibb County schools did on the CCRPI, the state’s annual report card.

Under state law, state Chief Turnaround Officer Eric Thomas is charged with identifying schools for intervention from the Turnaround Eligible Schools list.

The 2019 list includes 105 schools with a three-year CCRPI average of 57.0 and below.

In partnership with the school district, Thomas and the Chief Turnaround Office staff have worked with Bibb’s three schools in intervention to provide academic and non-academic support while allowing the schools to retain autonomy.

“We’re very happy with the work of the district, and we’re happy with the overall progress of the schools,” Thomas said. “They’ve laid some good foundational pieces .. with Veterans moving a little bit faster.”

Veterans Elementary improved 10.7 points from last year with a 2019 CCRPI score of 60.5, according to state and Bibb school district data.

CCRPI scores dipped from the two other Bibb schools in intervention, but so did scores for most middle schools across the state, Thomas said.

“The CCRPI score is but a snapshot,” said Keith Simmons, chief of staff for the Bibb County School District. “The challenge is to ensure ... that particular snapshot doesn’t become the holistic picture — not to say ... that snapshot doesn’t have value.

“I think I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the work that students, the parents, the staff are doing to improve outcomes, and at the same time, the snapshot indicates that there’s still work to be done and we recognize that and we’ll continue to work hard to support those schools, to improve them as fast as we can,” Simmons said.

As part of that strategy, members of the community were invited to serve as a “Chief Executive Officer friend” to school principals, according to a Bibb County schools Facebook post. Leadership development is one of key drivers to school improvement identified by the Chief Turnaround Office.

“The effort in this regard was to create relationships with CEO-like individuals that the principals could just develop relationships with and become thought partners with ... without having to be concerned about being evaluated or anything (related) to that,” Simmons said.

As part of the intervention at Appling Middle School, one of the focuses has been helping students achieve grade-level in math and reading. Also, a social worker was placed at the school to help children deal with problems and difficulties outside of school, according to Telegraph archives.

“There are four overarching ... levers that drive our work,” Thomas said. Those include leadership development, talent management (retention/recruitment), instructional infrastructure and support accountability, he said.

Should schools on the Turnaround list fail to meet their improvement goals within three years, the chief turnaround officer may recommend that the state school board take severe actions, according to state law.

Those actions include removal of school personnel, conversion to a charter school, operation of the school by a private party or by another school district or allowing parents to move their children to another school district.

The Chief Turnaround Office has not taken over any turnaround schools in the state, Thomas said.

Thomas said it’s too early to say which schools on the 2019 list may be considered for intervention. The list was released Monday.

Simmons said he thinks it’s unlikely any additional Bibb schools on the 2019 list would be placed in intervention based on the district’s ability to apply what they’ve learned working with the Chief Turnaround Office to other schools in the district.

This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 6:00 AM.