Superintendent Jerry Guess’ last school board meeting at Watson Chapel was last week. He has been praised by board members for moving the district away from a fiscal cliff and back toward solvency. That was far from easy, requiring him to get rid of 70 certified and classified positions over the three years he was superintendent. He also improved the district’s academic standing, which was said to be more difficult than the fiscal challenges he faced. He also had the support of the principals and other administrators who answered to him, itself not an easy thing to accomplish for a superintendent.
And while Guess, who is 70, may not be ready to retire, he stepped aside from the Watson Chapel district at this time because he said he knew that even if he worked for a couple more years, the district needed someone for a much longer haul to accomplish what would be required. That is someone with wisdom and forethought and someone with a selfless attitude. Thank you, Mr. Guess for your contributions, and best wishes.
For a school district, particularly a school district in modern times, there is always the next hill to climb, and as Guess leaves, the new superintendent, Andrew Curry, arrives with already a lot on his plate.
At last week’s meeting, there were troubling statistics presented to the board: 16% of seventh-grade students performing at grade level; 19% of eighth-graders performing at grade level; only 73 of 535 students being proficient readers; student growth in 10th grade from the beginning of the year to the end of the school at zero in grade-level equivalency, and there was a 62-point drop in the average scaled score in reading.
“Our students must read because if they can read they can do math, science and any other subject you throw at them, and so that’s our focus. We have to teach our students how to read,” said Kristy Sanders, the district’s k-12 curriculum coordinator.
There were some brighter points as well, but there was also the lament by board president Kevin Wilson that there was a general lack of parental involvement involved in the lack of student growth and performance.
The year of covid was hard on all school districts, with virtual learning seeming to be virtually impossible at times. Perhaps, with classrooms filling this fall with students once again, actual learning will take place on a more consistent basis. But of course, that will all fall to the new superintendent. May he be up to the challenge.