Conneaut, Geneva schools react to state report cards
Sep. 21—School report cards from the state of Ohio were released last week, with mixed news for local districts.
Districts can receive between one and five stars in five categories, and the report cards cover the 2021-2022 school year.
In 2021, the Conneaut Area City Schools had an enrollment of 1,544 students, an attendance rate of 90.5 percent, and a graduation rate of 84.9 percent.
Teachers in the district had an attendance rate of 94.4 percent, an average of 18 years of experience and an average salary of $61,753.
The district scored two stars in achievement, three in progress, four in gap closing, two in graduation and two in early literacy.
Conneaut Area City Schools Superintendent Lori Riley said at a meeting on Wednesday that while she does a wide variety of things throughout the community, her first priority is being the instructional leader of the district.
"So when I was at a meeting and you get that email that says the state report card was released, and I opened our report card," Riley said. "your heart sinks a little bit because it's not what you want to see."
Gateway Elementary School scored three stars in achievement, four in progress, five in gap closing, and two in improving at-risk K-3 readers. Lakeshore Primary School scored one star in gap closing and one in improving at-risk K-3 readers.
Conneaut Middle School scored two stars in achievement, five in progress and four in gap closing. Conneaut High School scored two stars across the board in achievement, progress, gap closing7 and graduation rate.
Riley said the district is ahead of the state in some categories, especially English and language arts, while the district's math scores are below state levels. Data shows Conneaut students are making progress in many areas, though, Riley said.
"We're getting there," she said. "We're going to continue to work at this."
In 2021, the Geneva Area City Schools had an enrollment of 2,072, with a student attendance rate of 89.2 percent and a graduation rate of 91.3 percent, according to the Ohio School Report Card.
Teachers in the district had an attendance rate of 95.1 percent, average experience of 16 years, and an average salary of $66,821.
The district scored three stars across the board, in achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation and early literacy.
Geneva Superintendent Terri Hrina-Treharn said in an email she was pleased with the district-wide scores, which showed the district has met state standards in every level.
"However, this doesn't mean we do not have room to continually grow and improve," she said. "We will remain focused on gap closing and making growth with our students as we continue to recover from the pandemic."
On an individual school level, Austinburg Elementary received four stars in achievement, one in progress, two in gap closing and four in improving at-risk K-3 readers. Cork Elementary received four stars in achievement, two in progress and gap closing and three in improving at-risk K-3 readers. Geneva Platt. R. Spencer Elementary School received two stars in achievement, five in progress and two in gap closing and improving at-risk K-3 readers.
Geneva Middle School received three stars in achievement, two stars in progress and two stars in gap closing. Geneva High school received three stars in achievement, four in progress, four in gap closing and three in graduation rate.
"I am particularly proud to see that Geneva Platt R. Spencer Elementary significantly exceeded state standards in the progress component," Hrinna-Treharn said. "Additionally, we exceeded state standards at multiple buildings in the Achievement component and our high school exceeded state standards in both progress and gap closing.
"It is important to remember the report card is only one piece of data districts are measured by, and when looking at any data there are always areas to celebrate as well as areas to grow."
More information can be found on the Ohio Department of Education's School Report Card website, at reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
