Board of Education talks new middle school, status of sixth graders
Mar. 6—CORRECTION — This updated article clarifies that all sixth grade students in Anson County currently are located in a middle school.
WADESBORO — The Anson County Board of Education has decided to hold off on building a new middle school as they search for ways to gain extra funding or reduce the overall cost of the school.
"The bids for the new school did in fact exceed the not-to-exceed limit of available funds," said chairman Dr. George Truman at their Feb. 27 meeting. "We are now exploring additional options that might provide funding or reduce or defer some of the cost identified in the bid proposal."
The project that has been in the works for five years is on the cusp of being finished. The county has raised around $36 million dollars for the project, just short of the $41 million dollars needed to complete the project. The $41 million includes the school and site development, but not the sixth-grade wing, which adds an additional $6 million.
The project will be on hold as the county looks for additional funding and comes up with a timeline for the build, as well as how students will be sufficiently transferred.
Other business
The school board is also looking for the best placement for sixth grade students within the district. Currently, sixth grade students are in either Ansonville Elementary or Peachland-Polkton Elementary, or in Anson Middle School. Research dating back to the 2017-2018 school year, when the schools split, raise questions about the best placement for the students, as student growth within the middle school went down.
"We took those students and looked at the population that went to Anson Middle School," explained Executive Administrator of Curriculum, Jennifer Collard. "The school letter grade was a D, for that sixth grade group. They did not meet expected growth, with a 43.5% proficiency rating in reading, and a 26.2% proficiency rate in sixth grade math."
Both of the elementary schools resulted in better proficiency ratings in both reading and math, almost 50% better than students at the middle school. All sixth grade students in Anson County currently are in a middle school.
"At that time, Ansonville Elementary School exceeded growth at 57.9% in reading and math, and Peachland exceeded growth. 82.9% [proficiency rating] in reading, 74.3% in math," Collard explained.
After the North Carolina End of Grade (EOG) test was reinstated in 2018-2019 school year, it was shown that student growth was steadily going down. Although there are no results for the 2019-2020 school year, results from the 2020-2021 also revealed declining student growth.
"It was 23.2% for math, the reading was 37.8% proficiency, and we did not meet growth," Collard said. "As for 2020-2021, 28.7% proficiency in reading, 15.1% in math."
Although the percentages aren't quite comparable given the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on students across the state, board members also said that when students transfer schools, there's often a decline in performance.
"When students move from one school to another, you typically see a 5-6 point drop on student performance," explained Dr. Truman.
With sixth graders not meeting expected growth within Anson Middle School, the board seeks to figure out whether sixth graders should be placed within the elementary school or the middle school moving forward. The board will meet later this month to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of sixth graders in both the elementary and middle school, and what to do to address this issue.
