‘The time is now.’ Macon superintendent calls for action in state of the district

With the auditorium lights dimmed and a projector screen glowing beside him, Bibb County School District Superintendent Dan Sims took a different approach to his state of the district address Friday morning at Central High School.

The address, themed “We Are the Promise,” was largely led by students, who presented districtwide academic gains and their own experiences in Bibb County schools . While students highlighted district progress, Sims briefly acknowledged ongoing challenges — including chronic absenteeism — but didn’t share further details.

Students opened the program with a performance and slideshows with data that highlighted steady gains across individual elementary, middle and high schools based on state College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores, noting rising content mastery and stronger readiness indicators.

The CCRPI is a state accountability report card consisting of five components, each scored on a 0-to-100 scale: content mastery, progress, closing gaps, readiness and graduation rate. The index measures how well public schools prepare students for college and careers.

Graduation rates also were highlighted, with the district’s overall rate of 88.97% being the highest in a decade and exceeding the state average for three consecutive years. Strong performance at several high schools were noted, including Southwest, which had a major graduation turnaround, and Northeast.

The presentations did not address areas that failed to meet state standards or the increase in underperforming schools from 11 to 13.

‘The time is now’

Sims followed the students’ remarks with a story he wrote, accompanied by districtwide photos projected behind him that illustrated the moments he described.

The story imagined a community on the brink of losing its school system, with students and families questioning whether programs they rely on — including dual enrollment, career pathways, arts, athletics and mentorship — would survive amid what Sims described as “an attack on public education from all sides.”

Sims framed the story as a response to what he called the “noise” surrounding public education — criticism and misinformation from “people who don’t know, people who don’t think, people who don’t read, people who don’t listen and people who don’t care.”

He urged supporters to counter that narrative by loudly supporting the district during this “critical time” and focusing on the daily work it does to better all students.

“All I’m asking you to do is to join me in that effort, to stand with me and stand with us, as we continue promoting everything that’s great and everything that’s wonderful for our students,” he said to the crowd.

Sims recognized community members, education partners, parents and students by asking them to stand and be thanked for being part of “the promise.”

“If there was ever a time we needed everybody to band together on behalf of this school district, the time is now,” Sims said.

Sims elaborated on the origin of the idea behind “the promise,” taking a jab at Georgia’s new voucher program, which offers up to $6,500 for students to leave behind state-identified struggling schools for private schools or homeschooling.

“Today, the good Lord gave me ‘We are the promise’ in the midst of a Promise scholarship that is out there, assuming that there’s some greater education on the other side, and we’ll give you a little money to make that happen,” he said.

Near the end of his remarks, Sims only briefly acknowledged the district’s ongoing challenges .

“Do we still have a chronic absenteeism problem? Yes,” he said. “Do we have much more progress that needs to be made? Yes. Are we financially strong? Yes.”

“Can I do it without you?” Sims asked, prompting a chorus of “no” from the crowd.

“God bless you,” he said, stepping away from the podium to loud applause, with many in the audience rising to their feet.