It’s important to note that not all schools are ranked the same way.”

Jeff Koenig, District Superintendent

Test scores are in for Stanley-Boyd and area schools, and the district ‘meets expectations,’ scoring a 65.9 overall for the district.
The score, which is different from a student report card, puts the district in the middle of a normal bell curve distribution, meriting three stars of a potential five at present. The reasons?
Complicated.
“It’s important to note that not all schools are ranked the same way,” district superintendent Jeff Koenig said as he went over the report card Monday at the regular school board meeting. Whereas the district scores high on achievement, its high poverty status means that it is not expected to do as well, leading to a paradox for testing.
“We do really well on achievement, but we don’t do as well on growth,” Koenig said for two of the priority score areas, the others being Target Group Outcomes and On Track to Graduation. Of these four weights, “Growth” counts for 31.3 percent of the weighted grade average, Achievement 18.7 percent, Target Group Outcomes 25 percent, and On Track to Graduation weighted at 25 percent.
Put in plain terms, this makes “Growth” the determining factor in the district performance evaluation.
“When we have high test scores, it’s harder for our students to get higher test scores than they do,” Koenig said of the report tracking student’s progress from third to 10th grade. A lower performance in third grade, for instance, followed by improvement, would signal growth,” and with it a better score.
Consistent scores across grade levels as students advance?
Not so much.
That said and divided into separate parts, Stanley-Boyd Elementary “exceeds expectations” with an overall score of 70.9 on the state report card. Some 39.2 percent of elementary students are “proficient” in mathematics, while 41.0 percent are “proficient in language arts. In addition, 26.7 percent of elementary students are “Advanced” at mathematics, while 11.1 percent are “advanced” at English Language Arts. Of the remaining number, 22.6 percent of elementary students have “basic” math skills while 11.5 percent are “below basic, while in English Language Arts some 32.3 percent of students have “basic” skills while 15.7 percent are “below basic.
Moving up the grades to middle school, Stanley-Boyd Middle School has an overall score on the state report card of 69.1 or “meets expectations. Not the same as a letter grade, it too is heavily weighted on “growth,” with 32.6 percent of the overall score coming from this category.
In terms of ability, the numbers show 29.9 percent of middle schools students as “proficient in English Language Arts, with 8.6 percent “Advanced,” 40.2 percent “basic” level, and 21.3 percent “below basic.” As for math skills, those numbers are 31.1 percent “proficient, 6.6 percent “advanced,” 33.6 percent “basic,” and 28.7 percent “below basic.”
Moving up again to high school, Stanley-Boyd High School scores 58.3 or “meets expectations” on the report card from last year’s test scores, with growth weighted at 31.8 percent of the total score.
In English Language Arts, the report card for 2022-23 shows 34.1 percent of students “proficient,” 6.2 percent “advanced,” 36.7 percent with “basic” skills, and 23.0 percent with “below basic.”
Shifting to mathematics, the numbers show 26.1 percent as “proficient,” 15.0 percent as “advanced,” 28.8 percent as “basic,” and 30.1 percent as “below basic.”
Frustrating meanwhile to those who consider them important, drama and dance aren’t necessarily counted in the state report card rankings.
“Theater isn’t rated even though we have a strong drama program because it’s not a class, it’s an extracurricular,” Koenig told those present at the Monday board meeting. “The same goes for dance.” The report card for 2022-23 represents the first numbers post-COVID, with Stanley-Boyd taking less fallout academically during the pandemic than other districts.
In other school board happenings Monday, the Board voted to find the district in compliance with SL 9 Counsel and Communication to the Board, along with renewing its health insurance contract with Security Health.
“It’s the same deductible, same copays, same out of pocket,” Koenig said of the plan renewal. The district moved to raise its premium contribution for retirees still on the district plan to keep pace with costs, raising these approximately 10 percent to $1,857 for family and $818 for single coverage.
The individual policyholder contribution will be $206.07 come January 1, mirroring a rise in costs.
Lastly, the Board also voted for the district to renew its dental insurance plan, with no increase in costs.