25-02-2025
Governor's office releases revised list of ‘low-performing schools' in GA
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) released their updated list of schools in the state that are considered 'low performing' this month.
This means that anyone zoned for those schools is eligible to receive the Georgia Promise Scholarship, a grant for private school tuition.
The updated list includes several schools in the Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS).
'They calculated the lowest performing schools based on the lowest 25 percentile,' Chief Academic Officer for SCCPSS, Derrick Butler, said.
When the list was initially released, the district said they were still working to determine how that many schools ended up on the low end of the list.
There have been several versions of the list since it was initially published.
'We're all grappling to understand every time a list goes up and comes back down, it creates more ambiguity, more confusion. That's why we need to go through this for a year to figure out what it means and what the implications would be,' SCCPSS Superintendent Denise Watts, Ph.D., said in December 2024.
A revised list came out this month, and in Chatham County, all the same schools are still on the list, with the stipulation that one of the schools on the list is now closed.
'These are not necessarily new data points for us. I think what was new was how the governor's office would calculate,' Butler said. 'The calculation essentially has taken what was a more comprehensive picture around content mastery, progress, readiness, graduation rate, attendance, literacy, and has created a single score to create the lowest 25 percentile list.'
SCCPSS officials said they don't necessarily believe the list is representative of the entire picture when it comes to their students.
'Our students are more than just a number, more than just a cut score. Our teachers are more than just someone who educated students and it may not have gotten to that bar yet,' SCCPSS Chief of Schools, Raymond Barnes, Ph.D., said.
Some schools in Chatham County have exceeded GOSA's standards, but for those who haven't, officials with the school system said they are working to lift them up.
'Many of those schools that may be on the list as well receive additional funding to help enhance some of the supports based on specific needs,' Butler said. Barnes said, 'We want to make sure that we make every school in our school district a school of choice for our students, right? We 100% believe that parents and students should have choice and free reign over their education. We just want to make sure we are offering a product that all of our families say is a great choice for my child.'
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