ST. LOUIS — Acknowledgement and a resolution -- that's what the superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District is offering as he works to overcome challenges in student performance.
The move comes after Missouri released new, tougher ratings for districts across the state.
Tiffany Scherry said she wants to be a parent who is involved.
“How is the growth development as a whole?" she asked.
It's why she came to a community forum sponsored by her children's school district Thursday night.
"I was concerned about the accreditation with Ferguson-Florissant,” Scherry said.
Fortunately, the district still has its accreditation although the state just gave the district a 66% performance rating. That's compared to some other districts in our area, such as Clayton and Ladue that ranked in the 90s.
“The pandemic certainly hit our community hard, and we've seen that effect on communities like ours and they were hit much greater than most communities,” Superintendent Dr. Joseph Davis said.
Scherry said she can relate. When the pandemic hit, her two daughters were just starting elementary school.
"I'm a single mom and both of them were doing virtual learning at the same time ... so it really called me to go into a field I knew nothing about ... being an educator,” she said.
She also had to work full-time.
As many students everywhere work to catch up, Davis said other factors contribute to the district's rating, including changes in the way the state scores districts.
In cases where the district did well this year, they may not have received as much credit for that progress this time.
"The cut off for the achievement levels also changed,” Dr. Davis added.
Educators knew these changes were coming.
"We know that when this system came out, it was really designed to spread districts out,” Dr. Paul Ziegler said.
He said he wants communities to stay encouraged.
"I think the hard thing is for people to understand ... since it’s a new system and it spread everyone out ... don’t look at your district score and say, ‘We used to be a 95 and now we’re a 78. We’re terrible.’ No, it’s a new test."
That’s why Dr. Davis held this meeting, to inform, acknowledge, and show a commitment to improvement.
"We’re taking steps to improve the quality and education of each of our students. We’re not there yet but we’re headed in the right direction,” he said.
"I just feel like with all hands-on deck, we can make it better,” Scherry added.
Dr. Davis points to gains students in his district made in math.
Dr. Davis' immediate goal is to work on a new curriculum for English and Language Arts and use that to reach students early.
He's also proud the district received the maximum number of points from the state for its improvement plan, which is based on the district’s mission and vision.
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