Midway High School graduates face their parents and family after being presented with their diplomas. The school held its graduation ceremony June 11.
                                 File Photo|Sampson Independent

Midway High School graduates face their parents and family after being presented with their diplomas. The school held its graduation ceremony June 11.

File Photo|Sampson Independent

<p>Sampson County Schools graduation rates</p>
                                 <p>Courtesy graph</p>

Sampson County Schools graduation rates

Courtesy graph

With a slight drop in graduation rates, officials from Sampson County Schools are continuing to make efforts to ensure high school students earn diplomas.

The county district’s 4-year cohort graduation rates for 2019-2020 decreased by more than 2%, compared to the previous academic year.

According to a recent report, the district-wide graduation rate was 79.8% for the Class of 2020 and 82.1% for the Class of 2019. The numbers, based on students starting high school as freshman in 2016, were presented during a recent work session for the Sampson County Schools (SCS) Board of Education. Col. Tommy Macon, interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instructional services, expressed that district officials will work towards better rates.

“Certainly, we are aggressively pursuing to improve this,” Macon said.

Three of five high schools for 2019-2020 decreased from the previous graduation group. Lakewood High School’s rate was 75.3%, a decrease from the 83.1% for the 2018-2019 academic period. Union High School decreased from 78.7% (2018-2019) to 73.5% (2019-2020) and figures for Sampson Early College High School show a slight dip with 94.7%, compared to a rate greater than 95%.

To boost rates, Macon said monthly meetings will be held with counselors and other school leaders to raise attendance.

“Our student support specialists are aggressively seeking to identify students that should be in school who have not at this point signed in, or enrolled,” he said about efforts to convince students to return.

Another plan is to find students who may be eligible for an alternative diploma program to continue their education and graduate. Counselors are also looking for students who may be in jeopardy of dropping out of high school and having one-one-one sessions with individuals.

“Our principals and teachers are also actively involved in trying to keep our kids in school so they can get that diploma and continue with their careers and life,” Macon said.

Hobbton High Schools rate increased from 72.3% to 74.3% and Midway High School went up slightly from 86.7% to 86.5%.

Teacher survey released

Macon also presented results from the 2020 NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey Analysis. Results and findings were presented to the State Board of Education and released for the public. The information is used for professional development, instructional practices, improvement plans, and other important matters.

Under the Instructional Practices and Supports portion of the survey, one of concerns involved teachers regularly assigning homework requiring access to a digital device. When it comes to access, the district was at 47% when it came to meeting this need, below the state average of 52%.

“Obviously, we’re not a one-to-one school system at this point,” Macon said. “Hopefully we’ll be in the near future.”

The survey also indicates that 62% of teachers believe that they have sufficient access to instructional technology, including computers, devices, printers, software and Internet access. The local total was lower than the state’s average of 82%.

Another issue of the survey included asking teachers if they felt educators are being protected from duties interfering with their essential role of educating students. According to results, 70% agreed. Macon said it’s a decrease of about 7% from two years ago.

“It’s something that’s on our radar that we’re going to address to make sure we limit it as much as we can, so we can help our teachers do their number one job of educating our students,” Macon said.

One number above the stat average involved student discipline. Results show that 81% of teachers agree that school administrators are consistently enforce rules for student conduct. Sampson County’s rate was higher than the state total of 66%.

Some of the other questions and responses involved cyberbullying with 34% of teachers disagreeing that it’s not a frequent problem; and 57% of educators agreeing that parents and guardians are influential decision makers in schools.

Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.