By: Charlotte Twine and Mandy Miles
The state has released its 2020-21 school year reading scores for Monroe County third graders, and they indicated a “decrease in achievement,” according to a presentation from Dave Murphy, executive director of assessment & accountability, at the school board meeting on June 22. But the board members and staff are not surprised, taking into account the disruptions that COVID caused in the school year.
School board member Mindy Conn said, “It’s not great, but it’s not horrible considering what these kids went through the prior years.”
Third grade reading scores are an important benchmark. Until third grade, students are learning to read. After third grade, they must read to learn, and if they can’t read satisfactorily by the end of third grade, they’re at risk of falling progressively further behind each year.
Students who can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade can be required by the state to repeat third grade unless they can demonstrate they are capable of being successful in the fourth grade.
In Monroe County schools, including charter schools, the number of third graders who can read at or above their grade level dropped by 11.4% compared to 2019 scores, Murphy reported.
In addition, the number of third graders reading at the lowest level increased by 6%.
“But some of the data, when you look at the percentages, can be misleading,” he said, explaining that large percentage drops in small schools are the result of a very small number of students changing performance levels.
In addition, board member Sue Woltanski told Keys Weekly that the reading scores that are being compared are from 2019 and 2021, two very different groups of children, with the pandemic obviously being at least one huge difference.
But Horace O’Bryant School and Sigsbee Charter School were two bright spots that saw an increase in the number of third graders who were reading at or above their grade level despite the COVID disruptions, said Murphy.
As for the students who are not reading at their grade level, Woltanski said state officials are not strictly demanding proof that students can handle fourth grade as they would in a normal year.
This year, because of COVID, “Mandatory retention will be on a child-by-child basis with discussion with parent and teacher,” she said. “I don’t know how many kids will fall into that. We have a robust summer school program. Ideally, we’ll have the supports for the kids to get caught up. We’d prefer not to retain kids.”
In addition, the board discussed that the district had been doing progress monitoring throughout the year that accurately predicted these reading scores, so staff members were prepared for the drop. Thus, officials had planned a more extensive summer school.
Woltanski said more kids than ever are participating in summer school, and they are having a great time.
“I walked into a fourth-grade class at Plantation Key School, and they were reading ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.’ And they said, ‘This is the best day I’ve had in school.’ I hope that carries over into the school year. That’s what school should be like,” she said.
Employee housing
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board voted to ask the city of Key West to set aside 237 building permits for employee housing at the school district’s headquarters on Trumbo Road.
City, school district and housing authority officials had met on June 8 to tour the property and discuss how to move forward on the long-discussed housing.
The building permits and an exception to the city’s height restrictions emerged as two of the top priorities.
Buildings are being crunched between FEMA’s new floodplain rules that mandate higher building elevations, and the city’s height restrictions, losing usable space without a loosening of height limits.
“I spoke with (Key West) Mayor Teri Johnston today, and I met with the Key West Chamber’s economic affairs committee,” Superintendent Theresa Axford told the board. “They are 100% behind on this, so I don’t think we’ll meet with any resistance, but we need to be sure we have our ducks in a row.”
