Should Savannah school system have two North Stars? Attendance could trump literacy

The metaphor of the North Star implies a unified focus on a singular fixed point. That point should guide all members of an organization or community toward achieving a common goal.

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed.D, dubbed literacy her and the district’s North Star as she embarked on her first year at the helm. During a recent conversation with Savannah Morning News, Watts said, “Had I known attendance was as dismal as it was, I would have said we have to fix attendance first…we can't teach the kids if they don't come to school.”

Attendance as second North Star?

According to a report released by Attendance Works back on Oct. 12, 2023, “In 2021-22, two-thirds (66%) of enrolled students attended a school with high or extreme levels of chronic absence.” Last September, the White House issued a statement on Chronic Absenteeism and its negative effects on people’s health, the economy and COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

At last month’s Savannah school board meeting, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Bernadette Ball-Oliver shared the district’s SY 2023 Cohort Graduation Report. The reported showed that the graduation cohort’s attendance overall rate was 56.86%. That is 14.4 points lower than the state average and 34.32 points lower than the district’s pre-pandemic 2019 cohort rate.

Low attendance in schools has been a national issue since the pandemic started. The problem persists due in large part to a national school bus driver shortage. A Business Insider article from Sept. 28, 2021, covered how Amazon planned to hire 4,800 workers in Philadelphia, which worried school leaders who faced steep hiring challenges at the time. As of Aug. 24, 2023, the School District of Philadelphia began paying eligible families $300 per month to opt out of the district’s transportation system under its Parent Flat Rate Program.

Watts said that when she was onboarded as superintendent, attendance was not highlighted as the key challenge. Literacy was. She confirmed that she has regularly received attendance reports since the 2023-24 school year began. “I don’t need a report to tell me we have a problem, though,” Watts said, citing observations she has made herself in classrooms during her 100-Day Plan.

“The first step is to signal that [attendance] is our second North Star, or whatever other galaxy name we want to give it.” Her point was that the district needs to declare it as a focus of equal weight as the literacy challenge. With a report on 2023-24 school year first semester attendance forthcoming from the Data and Accountability department at the February board meeting, the focus will be on the key factors affecting attendance.

Regardless of what the report may present in its findings, Watts reiterated her comments from the school board meeting earlier this month. She feels the district needs to find ways to “break out of our traditional mindsets around school and think of other ways that we can keep kids engaged.”

The efforts of what Watts called “reimagining what school could be” are being worked into revisions to the district’s Way Forward 2026 Strategic Plan. When it comes to keeping an eye out for future innovation, Watts said that role belongs to Deputy of Superintendent I - Strategy, Performance and Innovation Stacy Taylor.

Outside of the day-to-day tasks and challenges, Watts said, “Somebody has to be thinking about where we need to be six months from now. She [Taylor] will be guiding strategy, not necessarily developing it.”

Specific strategies are being assessed in accordance with the strategic plan development and implementation timeline that Watts shared in her 100-Day Plan report.

100-day report: What are new Savannah-Chatham Schools superintendent's takeaways?

Literacy Effectiveness Officer hired, curriculum selections forthcoming

Watts confirmed that the Literacy Effectiveness Officer will start Feb. 1. No other information about the new employee has been provided to date.

Watts did share insight on the scope of the Literacy Effectiveness Officer's role. The position will eventually oversee the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training, which began for teachers this month. Watts also confirmed that the district’s selection for literacy curriculums at the elementary, middle and high school levels will be presented for approval at the Feb. 7 board meeting. Georgia’s House Bill 538 requires school districts to approve “high-quality instructional materials for students in kindergarten through third grade,” by Dec. 1, 2024.

The Literacy Effectiveness Officer will also manage a more strategic approach to engaging with community partners focused on student literacy and writing improvement, such as Deep Center, Loop It Up Savannah and United Way of the Coastal Empire, among others. Many such nonprofit community groups do not require their volunteers or employees to be professionally certificated in reading or writing instruction. Watts said she aims for the district to train and onboard outside partners in alignment with the district’s plan.

“There are multiple partners that are…saying we want to support and that feels great, but that support done in a way that's not organized and coordinated is chaos.”

She also envisions customized performance metrics for community partners based on their strengths. “We don't need every partner to offer tutoring programs,” she said, as an example. She talked about identifying key areas for each to address based on what they already do well.

Literacy curriculum selection: Savannah public schools asked parents to help choose textbooks

LETRS training for teachers: SCCPSS kicks off literacy teacher training with fanfare and film screening

Joseph Schwatzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Attendance, literacy top Savannah-Chatham superintendent’s 2024 priorities