By Leslie N. Dees
The Star-Herald
KOSCIUSKO —
Ethel High School Counselor Velvet Adcock presented members of the Attala County School Board with data on the 40-plus students that will be tutored in reading during the Monday night meeting.
With Ethel’s “Watch School” status due to low state test scores, grant funds were awarded to the school to provide a reading tutor for 90 days at $240 per day. The grant will also pay for 10 days with an education consulting firm.
Adcock, who will oversee the reading tutor, presented nameless seventh and eighth student profiles and at what level the students are reading and how they have performed in testing, also, any other academic problems that had occurred in the past.
The selected students will undergo two 50-minute sessions a week with the reading tutor.
“We all know that we have a reading problem across the district,” Adcock said. “We understand that.”
She presented board members with a copy of the English II state test.
Adcock explained that a large copy of the state test is given to 10th grade students and they do a reading and writing portion all at one testing period.
“It is written above 10th grade level,” she said. “Even those reading at grade level still struggle with questions.”
We are trying to get them to read and pass the test so that they can graduate high school, she said.
Superintendent Bryan Weaver said on the elementary level, students have an hour of reading and an hour of language and once in the seventh grade they have one hour.
Adcock, who taught seventh and eighth grade English last school year, said it is almost impossible to cover both reading and language in a 50-minute period at the way it needs to be done.
Weaver said if the tutor is successful, then they would look at the possibility of hiring a reading teacher at the high school.
Adcock said that growth couldn’t be monitored on a monthly basis due to the way the computer software was set up. The earliest they would have information would be February.
During the December meeting of the ASCB, Federal Program director Tara Kyle had been asked to attend each meeting to report the growth of students under the tutor.
Reading tutorials were set to begin on Tuesday at Ethel.
Linda Massey retained her title as school board president and Willie Perteet was named secretary. Former School Board member Mack Willie Clark was previously the secretary.
A hunting and fishing 16th Section lease was awarded to Doug Crosby for $6 an acre. A 16th Section lease release from Glenda Bell to Michael Bell. Also, a 30-day lease extension was granted for Linda Bruce.
Resignation of Kathy Kimbrough was accepted. Also, Sasha Malone and Tasha Grantham were hired as teachers.
Two file cabinets were donated by Quill due to the locks being defective.
Claims and the consent agenda were approved as well as substitutes. The minutes from the December 4 meeting were also approved.
