Published: October 22, 2009 07:44 pm      

Low income rates challenge schools

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a series of stories outlining information recently released as part of the Community Report Card.

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Many schools in the county are battling low income rates and mobility as they work to keep test scores high and provide extra learning opportunities, according to information contained in the Community Report Card.

Jefferson County School data show in 2008, among elementary schools, the Primary Center had the highest percentage of low income students, at 77.6 percent, followed by J.L. Buford Intermediate Center at 77 percent.

Low income students are defined in the Community Report Card as students between the ages of 3 to 17, inclusive, from families which receive public aid, living in institutions for neglected or delinquent children, being supported in foster homes with public funds, or eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches.

According to District 80 Superintendent Dr. Kevin Settle, the challenges for educators in schools with a higher level of low income students is exposing the students to material and experiences they may not have at home.

“In many cases, parents can’t afford to provide them with additional opportunties, since there are costs involved,” Settle explained. “Many times they do not have educational materials in their home. If a child does not go home to a place where there is print material — children’s books, newspapers, magazines — they are not exposed to a lot of the things other children whose parents do have means, are. There is nothing against the parents, they can’t afford to buy those extra things.”

The experiences of children from low income households are also different, Settle said.

“I am an advocate of the balanced calendar with intersessions and after school programs that can provide additional things for students,” Settle said. “During the summer or during long breaks, children from low income households regress. They don’t have things and experiences. Other parents may take their children on vacations, to the museum, the zoo, participate in sports programs and all those nurturing kinds of things. It’s not that kids can’t learn, it’s not that at all. It’s that they are not exposed to near the learning that takes place outside the school day.”

Grand Prairie Grade School had 74.1 percent of its students in the low income range; Casey Middle School had 70.3 percent; Bethel Grade School had 65.3 percent. Then the low income percentages drop with Ina Grade School at 43.4 percent; Opdyke-Belle Rive at 37.6 percent; Farrington Grade School at 37.3 percent; Bluford Grade School at 37.2 percent; McClellan Grade School at 33.3 percent; Dodds Grade School at 31.3 percent; Rome Grade School at 31 percent; Woodlawn Grade School at 28.9 percent; Summersville at 28.7 percent; Field Grade School at 24.6 percent; and Waltonville Grade School at 20.5 percent.

Among high schools in the county, Mt. Vernon Township High School has a low income rate of 35.4 percent; Woodlawn High School at 28.4 percent; Webber Township High School at 17 percent; and Waltonville High School at 14.3 percent.

When combating low test scores, studies have shown a direct correlation between mobility rates and lower achievement, which has precipitated the Illinois State Board of Education to monitor those rates in districts throughout the state. In Jefferson County, Rome Grade School is showing the highest mobility rate at 42.6 percent, followed by the Primary Center with a 33.2 percent rate. According to Rome Grade School Superintendent Dr. Dwain Baldridge, the mobility rates can be misleading.

“That rate is at 40.6 percent now,” Baldridge reported. “Everyone was surprised that it was so high. It’s very misleading. You can have a child who leaves and they may come back, then leave again. There’s some duplication of kids with the same family. That rate doesn’t sit well with the rest of our figures whatsoever.”

In 2008, students meeting or exceeding standards in math and reading at Rome Grade School were at 89 percent. Baldridge said although the school isn’t driven by testing, the Illinois Standards Achievement Testing is taken seriously, and the staff tries to make it a positive experience for all students. Another factor that could play a part in keeping test scores up while the mobility rate is higher could be the teacher to student ratio, which is at 16.5 to one in 2009.

“Class size is consistently below, and sometimes five or six students below, the state average,” Baldridge said.

According to the Community Report Card, Bluford Grade School has a mobility rate of 29.5 percent; J.L. Buford, 27.4 percent; Bethel Grade School, 26.3 percent; Casey Middle School, 25.6 percent; Opdyke-Belle Rive Grade School, 24.5 percent; Ina Grade School 22 percent; McClellan Grade School, 15.2 percent; Summersville Grade School, 13.1 percent; Field Grade School, 10.1 percent; Farrington Grade School, 10 percent; Woodlawn Grade School, 9.4 percent; Waltonville Grade School, 8.8 percent; Grand Prairie Grade School, 7.5 percent; and Dodds Grade School at 6.9 percent.

Among high schools, Webber Township High School shows a 15.4 percent mobility rate; Woodlawn Grade School an 11.5 percent rate; Mt. Vernon Township High School a 10.5 percent rate; and 9.9 percent for Waltonville High School.

The Community Report Card shows chronic truancy rates for both grade and high schools, and among grade schools, J.L. Buford Intermediate Center had a 4.8 percent chronic truancy rate. The rate is determined by taking the number of chronic truants, divided b the average daily enrollment, multiplied by 100.

“Chronic truants include students subject to compulsory attendance who have been absent without valid cause from such attendance for 10 percent or more of the previous 180 regular attendance days,” the report card states.

Most grade schools in the county have a very low percentage of chronic students — with many at zero. Opdyke-Belle Rive has a 1 percent rate, while Summersville Grade School, Casey Middle School and Woodlawn Grade School each have .8 percent and the Primary Center has a .1 percent chronic truancy rate. All other grade schools in the county are showing no chronic truancy percentages.

At the high school level, Mt. Vernon Township High School has a 5 percent chronic truancy rate. Woodlawn comes in at 2.4 percent, Waltonville at 2 percent and Webber at 1.6 percent.

Attendance rates among county high schools are above 90 percent. Mt. Vernon Township High School reported the lowest percentage at 91.7 percent among its 1,372 students. Woodlawn High School reported 95.6 percent attendance of 208 students; Webber Township High School at 94.4 percent attendance of 188 students; and Waltonville High School a 94.5 percent attendance among 98 students.