District Officials Give Annual Report

LINCOLN — Parents, school board members and teachers filled the Lincoln Middle School auditorium on Sept. 16 to hear the Lincoln School District’s Annual Report to the Public.

Kendra Moore, board vice- president, welcomed the public and introduced the board members. Moore highlighted the successful grand opening of the new football field on Sept. 13 and thanked everyone involved in that event.

Mary Ann Spears, superintendent, reported on the partners and programs that contribute to the district’s success. She discussed the state accreditation status and AdvancED accreditation. The district is recognized yearly for Arkansas Accreditation and has been fully accredited for five years, June 2009-2014, by AdvanceEd.

Spears gave an enrollment history with figures dating to the 2009-10 year, which stood at 1,308. Enrollment in 2010-11 was 1,288; 2011-12 was 1,290 and 2012-13 was 1,218. She said the 2013-14 enrollment figure is 1,184.

Spears said the graduation rate has improved with 87.9 percent of students graduating in 2012. The state average was 84.1 percent for 2012.

Spears stated the goals for the 2013-14 year are to improve individual student achievement; provide a safe, nurturing and orderly environment for teaching and learning; enhance staff development by providing quality professional development, recognition and leadership; improve communication between parents, school and community; build community relationships; and improve fiscal stability.

Melody Sebastian, curriculum director, and Jana Claybrook, district executive master teacher, gave reports on student achievement results from last year.

Third and fourth grade students were above the state average on math scores and just below state average on literacy, according to the report. Fifth grade students scored higher than the state average on both math and literacy. Sixth grade students scored higher than the state average on math and scored the same as the state average on literacy. Seventh graders scored two percent less than the state average on math but equalled the state average on literacy. Eighth grade students scored a lower score than state average on math and scored less than state average on literacy. The state score on math was 66 with Lincoln eighth grades scoring 49 and in literacy they scored 67 to the state average of 78.

Lincoln Elementary School needs improvement as does the high school. Middle school, however, had an achieving status, according to the report based on state test results.

Sebastian said the district is continuing to implement Common Core, building curriculum resources and curriculum interventions for students.

Claybrook said teacher evaluations, weekly professional development, classroom follow-up and support, weekly lesson plan monitoring, classroom walkthroughs and being student achievement focused are part of the district program.

Spears said the district will participate in pilot testing for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers in the spring in fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

PARCC’s goal is to create an assessment system and supporting tools that will help states dramatically increase the number of students who graduate high school ready for college and careers and provide students, parents, teachers and policymakers with the tools they need to help students from third grade through high school to stay on track to graduate prepared. Arkansas is one of 24 states that have joined the partnership

Moore called a brief school board meeting to order in the absence of Dax Moreton, president. Board members accepted the resignations of Stacy Oliver with the Wellness Center, Barbara Matthews, high school resource teacher, and Carman Higgins, middle school aide. Board members approved the hiring of Rebecca McAffee, gifted and talented teacher; Mary Kyle, Wellness Center secretary; Crystal Pitts, licensed master social worker; Shelly Neal, custodian; Valerie Smith, high school counselor; Sally Osburn, part-time director of the 21st Century Community Learning Center.