As the new school year dawns, and you - the loyal taxpayer - send your
darling cherubs back to the halls of academia, I wanted to take a moment to
review the many accomplishments of last year.

By almost every numerical standard, Morgan County schools had the best year
we've ever had. The failure rate for state tests (CRCT) at the Primary,
Elementary, and Middle Schools were in the low single digits - the lowest
they've ever been. Keep in mind that just a few years ago, we were failing
some of these tests by 25%. At the Middle School we halved every failure
rate for 6th and 7th grade. They are now twice better than the state. Even
better, we had more children in all three schools score in the "Exceeds"
(best) category than ever before. This was in the face of the tests that got
harder, not easier.

There was a new state-wide writing test for 5th graders. The Elementary
school took this challenge by the horns, literally doubling its passing rate
in one year. They also quadrupled its "exceeds standards," absolutely
clobbering the state. (We were twice better than the state's score!)

Kudos to the High School for their fabulous graduation rate. MCHS graduated
an amazing 80% of its seniors, placing us in the top 17% of the state.
Compare that to the economically-similar counties around us: Walton - 74%,
Newton - 72%, Greene - 66%, Putnam - 64%, and Jasper - 60%. We were even
better than Fulton, Rockdale, Gwinnett, and Dekalb counties. The state
average was 71%.

Keep in mind, not too many years ago our graduation rate was in the mid
60's. Perhaps even more importantly, we've closed the "achievement gap."
Last year the gap between black and white students was only 5.3%, down from
18.9% three years ago.

"So," you say, "you graduate a lot of kids - how about the other end of the
spectrum? Are you challenging the smart kids as well as getting the others
to pass."

Well, as a matter of fact, we are. Last year, over one third (331) of MCHS
students attended a college placement course. That means a third of our high
school kids took college-level classes. The AP and IB (International
Baccalaureate) programs we offer are unprecedented for a school our size. In
fact, we are one of a kind.

This achievement is hard to overstate. Because of the rigorous and
aggressive programs the High School principal has implemented, MCHS has
received three national awards. We've been the subject of several state
conventions, hosted dozens of educational-guru-type visitors, and will even
make a presentation in our nation's capital. We were also one of four
schools represented on a state math advisory board, will be recognized as
one of only five model high schools for Secondary Redesign, and one of nine
schools for the Governor's AP Honor Grant.

You can certainly shell out the bucks and send your kid to private school,
but I challenge you to find a more rigorous curriculum than what MCHS now
has to offer.

I'm not going to talk about sports, as I'm vastly unqualified to comment on
this sacred subject. I am, however, (somewhat) more qualified to talk about
taxes, which I am happy to report did not increase. The Board of Education
was able to set the millage rate at the "roll back rate." This means that
"on average" your taxes for the Board of Education did not go up. I know "on
average" is very subjective phrase, and folks whose property was previously
undervalued would probably differ with my analysis. But millage rates are a
science of averages, and "on average" - we did the right thing.

On a state level, Atlanta has finally given our teachers a set of standards
and a curriculum to teach these standards. "GPS" has been a lot of extra
work for our teachers, yet it has also been rewarding. They have literally
hit the ball out of the park, as evidenced by our most excellent CRCT
scores.

Here at home, I was amazed to discover we've logged over 600,000 bus-miles
without serious incident. We served almost 581,000 student meals, a 93%
participation rate. (Who knew the lunch ladies were so busy!) We offer
music, visual art, physical education and foreign language in every grade
kindergarten through twelve, and drama from six through twelve. We also
offer more men's and women's sports than any other school system in our
region. (How about that new women's volleyball team!)

Another exciting addition is "Infinite Campus." This new computer network
not only allows all five schools to electronically talk to each other, but
also allows any parent of any child to check their current grade at any
moment. Especially impressive is the new ability for the Superintendents to
create mind-numbingly complex spreadsheets to confuse us lowly board
members.

Finally, for the second year in a row, the entire school system made AYP.
This may not seem that big a deal until you consider that only around  33%
of the systems in Georgia made AYP last year. AYP is an incredible challenge
- one child who misses one test can fail an entire school. I know this
program desperately needs to be overhauled, but at least it forces schools
to measure themselves and thus create accountability. It has also helped us
focus on narrowing (and hopefully erasing) the "achievement gap" between the
"red and yellow, black and white" who are so precious in our sight.

We still have room to improve. Until we have 100% of our students graduate,
we will still have work to do. But we're headed in the right direction, and
find I must agree with our Superintendent when he says, "We had the best
year we've ever had."