Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Superintendent Denise Watts led another of her promised regular media updates on Wednesday Sept. 20.
Wednesday’s press conference focused on three main topics: Attendance Awareness Week, the LETRS literacy training program, and the fallout of the Savannah High and Cross Creek High School football.
Watts prefaced the speakers by saying, “Today we will be touting progress, not success.” Some elements of progress shared were the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) school year 2023 data. SCCPSS showed that the district outperformed the state in foundations of school success, mathematics and English language arts. Data also indicated that students who attended an SCCPSS Pre-K program had greater K performance than those students who did not.
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SCCPSS literacy plan to the LETRS
Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Bernadette Ball-Oliver reiterated the school board’s recent approval to purchase the Lexia LETRS Suite. LETRS (pronounced “letters”) stands for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. It is described as, “comprehensive professional learning designed to provide early childhood and elementary educators and administrators with deep knowledge to be literacy and language experts in the science of reading.” Dr. Louisa Moats is credited as the key developer of LETRS. It had been adopted school districts in at least 23 states as of 2022, according to an EdWeek article that details exactly what LETRS teaches.
The school board unanimously approved the $2.7 million purchase of the LETRS Suite during this month’s board meeting. Ball-Oliver said that the purchase exemplifies the board’s and district’s commitment to ensure that all students are reading on grade level. Since the August release of the 2022-23 academic year Georgia Milestones Assessments Systems results, SCCPSS leaders have pointed out year-over-year gains across grade levels and subject areas. Most notably, they have emphasized the third graders’ performance, which entails an 11% increase in English Language Arts scores. The Georgia State Superintendent of Schools, Richard Woods, will be speaking at A.B. Williams Elementary School on Thursday to acknowledge those students’ efforts.
“However,” Ball-Oliver said, “when we talk about this data, we would be remiss if we didn't point out that when we say 57% of our students are reading on grade level, the math means 43% of our students are not reading on grade level.” She was likely referring to the 2022-23 Reading Status Lexile numbers for SCCPSS third graders. According to the state’s official GMAS results, which is one measurement of reading literacy, third graders whose English Language Arts (ELA) scores were proficient or above was 29.5%. GMAS results indicated that third graders whose ELA scores were developing or above is 53.7%.
SCCPSS administrators will begin the LETRS professional learning in October. Among the administrators will likely be the four recently hired Literacy Specialists. “All four of the elementary literacy specialist roles have been filled,” said Ball-Oliver. She said the district plans to hire two more for sixth through twelfth grades. “And we will begin the interview process within the next seven to 10 days for the Literacy Effectiveness Officer.”
The Literacy Effectiveness Officer would report to Ball-Oliver. The district is seeking a professional who, has, “experience with both State and national literacy standards, assessments, and scientifically based programs” among other qualifications listed on the job description. The posted salary range for the position is $86,804 - $139,116.
Just over 1,800 elementary teachers will begin the LETRS training in January. Most will be K-3 teachers, but SCCPSS has identified certain schools where K-5 teachers will be a part of the training. LETRS is rooted in the science of reading. “So we're talking about phonological awareness, we're talking about phonics. We're talking about fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and the written language as well,” said Ball-Oliver.
LETRS has many components, but, according to Lexia’s website, the suite essentially covers two broad categories of Literacy Competencies. The first focuses on Word Recognition. The second volume focuses on the Language Comprehension. Both adhere to the model known as Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Ball-Oliver also noted that LETRS aligns with the State House Bill 538, also known as the Georgia Early Literacy Act, related to training teachers in the science of reading research and methodology.
District leaders have mapped out a two-year “phase-in” for the LETRS teacher training. The district expects to see continued progress within that timeframe. While the initial focus is on elementary teacher training, Ball-Oliver said, “We're committed to a K-12 literacy strategy in our district.”
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Attendance Awareness Month
September is National Attendance Awareness Month. “Attendance matters every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every second, because when we lose that time, we lose quality time educating our students,” said Director of Student Affairs, Quentina Miller-Fields. The main aim of her attendance messaging was to make the community aware of the compulsory school attendance law stating that students between the ages of 6 and 16 must be in school.
Aside from asserting that SCCPSS takes attendance seriously, she specifically addressed the efforts of school social workers. “Their job is to remove any barriers to academic attainment, but we can't do it if we are not aware.” She also acknowledged SCCPSS collaborations with external partners such as the juvenile court system. “We're putting our heads together and finding resources and finding out what those barriers are to have our students in school,” she said.
To highlight the partnership with the courts, the district welcomed Judge Lindretta Kramer to speak. She echoed Miller-Fields by saying, “Children don't belong in courtrooms. They belong in classrooms. The idea is to help children before they ever have a reason to come and meet me.” Judge Kramer received her formative education from SCCPSS.
Miller-Field mentioned the efforts that the district makes to track attendance on a weekly basis. She also shared that SCCPSS is going to form an attendance data team. The plan is to work with internal and external partners, including similar districts throughout the state on attendance improvement strategies. She did not directly address whether there are any major attendance issues or concerns within SCCPSS.
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Consequences for Savannah High after football game incident
Ball-Oliver, and Senior Athletic Director John Sanders addressed concerns regarding the incident that occurred during the football game on Friday night between Savannah High and Cross Creek High School.
Sanders provided some updates on his communications with the Richmond County School District’s Athletic Director. He also mentioned that the students who might have suffered minor injuries during the altercation were all back in school as of this week. Ball-Oliver shared consequences handed down by the Georgia High School Association for Athletics. Savannah High is required to forfeit its game on Friday Sept. 22. The Savannah High School football team is on a severe warning status, which is probation for one calendar year beginning Sept. 19, 2023. The district is also conducting its own investigation so further consequences could be forthcoming.
For more detailed reporting on the Savannah High situation, refer to Dennis Knight's reporting.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at jschwartsburt@gannett.com.
