Macon sees progress among low-performing schools, but challenges remain

Howard High School in Macon made enough progress to exit the list of schools identified by the state as needing targeted improvement, but two other Bibb County schools are on the annual list, which was released in December.

In all, 13 Bibb County schools have been identified as underperforming in some way, up from 11 last December, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

The federal government requires states to identify schools in need of additional support. In Georgia, these designations are Comprehensive (CSI) or Targeted Support & Improvement (TSI).

TSI schools are identified every year. This designation means that the schools met the criteria for having one or more consistently underperforming student groups.

Howard High is one of 55 schools statewide to exit the TSI list in December 2025. During a December board of education meeting, district officials said the school showed gains among its students with disabilities subgroup on the Georgia Milestones assessment in English language arts, math, science and history.

“I’m just so happy with all of the hard work that has taken place to see the gains, and some were drastic gains over a year,” board member Lisa Garrett-Boyd said at the meeting.

But some challenges remain, as other schools remain on state and federal watch lists.

Two more Bibb County schools were designated as TSI schools, both due to underperformance among students with disabilities. Lane Elementary School replaced Howard High on the list, while John R. Lewis Elementary School remains identified.

Board member Henry Ficklin said he was pleased by Howard High’s progress but expressed concern that Lane Elementary is now on the TSI list. He also urged district leaders to provide transparent information to the board on each school’s state-defined performance targets.

“We never get the target. Once a school is placed on CSI or TSI or ATSI, the state gives a target that the school has to reach, and by saying they improved so many percentage points does not tell us how close they are to the target that the state has identified for them to reach,” Ficklin said at the meeting.

Other Macon schools on the watch lists

CSI schools are identified every three years and include the lowest-performing 5% of schools statewide, as well as high schools with a four-year graduation rate of 67% or lower.

Eight Macon schools are identified as CSI: Appling Middle, Bernd Elementary, Bruce Elementary, Hartley Elementary, Ingram-Pye Elementary, Rosa Taylor Elementary, Union Elementary and L.H. Williams Elementary.

Westside High School is designated under Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI), which applies to schools with one or more student groups whose performance ranks among the lowest statewide. ATSI schools are also identified every three years.

Ballard-Hudson Middle School and Southfield Elementary School are classified as Tier IV schools, meaning they rank among the lowest-performing 10% of schools in the state.

Despite the designations, six of the listed schools were recognized by the state for making progress on their improvement plans and academic performance. To be recognized, CSI schools had to show a 5% increase in the CCRPI Content Mastery component score from 2024 to 2025 and have a score of 80 or higher on one of the other components (progress, closing gaps or readiness).

District plans to provide support

In partnership with the Georgia Department of Education, the Bibb County School District will implement a multi-year plan of support for its federally identified schools to close achievement gaps, associate superintendent of schools Tamara Candis said at the board meeting.

State School Superintendent Richard Woods said the purpose of targeted support and improvement is to make sure schools have the right support in place, not to label or define them.

“Year after year, we see schools make real progress when they receive focused support from our School & District Improvement team,” Woods said in a news release. “We look forward to partnering with these schools to support their continued growth on behalf of Georgia’s students.”

The district’s plan includes a goal of achieving a six-percentage-point gain in each tested subject on the Georgia Milestones assessment, Candis said.

Action steps include weekly instructional walkthroughs and a progress-monitoring model that provides feedback to school leaders to improve accountability and communication.

A second goal aims to reduce chronic absenteeism by 14% and increase average daily attendance to 95% through weekly support for school-based attendance teams and a mentorship program pairing chronically absent students with trained mentors.

Board member and president Myrtice Johnson said she is encouraged by the growth shown across several schools but acknowledged the work ahead.

“While I realize we still have a long way to go, I’m very grateful for the growth that I’m seeing, especially in those schools (that) grew across the board,” Johnson said, adding that she hopes district leaders will continue to support schools in their academic improvement efforts.