The Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting Oct. 24, where benchmark testing results for several schools were released.

Information regarding school status and benchmark testing from Warren Central Junior High (WCJH), Vicksburg Junior High School (VJHS) and Warren Central High School (WCHS) was presented.

Nicholas Dotson, principal at WCJH, said the school is currently a “D” rated school. The goal is to improve the rating to a “C.” He said the school’s current accountability points are 323 points, five points away from reaching “C” level.

Dotson presented statistics regarding recent benchmark testing results at WCJH. In reading proficiency, 17% of seventh-grade students are currently testing at grade-level proficiency, he said; 22% of eighth-grade students are reading proficient, for a combined proficiency reading rate of 20%. In math, 21% of seventh-grade students are grade-level proficient and 26% of eighth-grade students are proficient. The overall proficiency rate for both grades in math averaged 23%. In science/biology, Dotson reported an overall proficiency rate of 25% for both grades combined.

Dotson said goals at WCJH for proficiency are 50% of students proficient in reading, 50% proficient in math and 65% proficient in science/biology, with an overall growth of 60%.

Dotson reported that 96% of students at WCJH participated in benchmark testing. WCJH has an enrollment of 309 students. Average daily attendance has been 92%, and teacher attendance rate has been 97%. There were 12 discipline referrals during the month of October.

Dr. Justin Watkins presented information for VJHS. The current school rating is “D.” The accountability score for VJHS was 301 points, with a goal of 330, which would improve the school’s rating to a “C.”

According to Watkins, current benchmark testing shows students at VJHS have a reading proficiency rate of 36.31%; math proficiency rate at 22.02%; and science/biology proficiency rate at 20.49% for seventh and eighth grades combined.

VJHS has a goal of 35% proficiency in reading, 30% proficiency in math and 45% proficiency in science/biology.

Additional information regarding VJHS showed a total school enrollment of 407 students, with an average daily attendance rate of 91.63%. Teacher attendance rate for October was 95%, and there were 44 discipline referrals.

Drew Rainer, principal at WCHS, presented information regarding the present status of the school. He said the school is currently a “B” rated school with 726 accountability points. Their goal is 763 accountability points, which would raise the school to an “A” score.

Rainer’s presentation of the most recent benchmark testing from WCHS did not disclose a participation rate. Proficiency testing showed 36.88% of students are proficient in reading; 55.78% are proficient in math; a 23.43% proficiency rate for science/ biology; and U.S. history had a proficiency rate of 9.05%.

Rainer’s information showed WCHS has set proficiency goals of 45.37% in reading, 53.74% in math, 22.9% in science/biology and 29.48% for U.S. history.

Documents presented by Rainer showed total enrollment at WCHS is currently 1,146 students, with an average daily attendance rate of 92.8%, Teacher attendance rate was 96.4% and there were 107 discipline referrals during the month of October.

Information for other district schools is expected to be presented during the November school board meeting.

According to the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) website, when calculating accountability scores, schools and districts earn points in several categories. These categories include student achievement, individual growth and participation on statewide assessments. Also included in scoring are graduation rates, college and career readiness, and participation and performance on accelerated coursework for high schools. An assessment participation rate of 95% is expected.

The MDE website also provides information that, in 2024, 54 school districts achieved an “A” rating; 50 districts achieved a “B” rating; 35 districts achieved a “C” rating; and nine districts were rated “D” or lower. Overall, the VWSD received a “B” grade for 2024.

During the meeting, board of trustees President Jim Stirgus also recognized Safety Resource Officer (SRO) Joseph Bell and emphasized that all SROs are certified policemen.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting is set for Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m. in the school board offices located at 1500 Mission 66.