State Releases School Report Cards

The school report cards for Oklahoma have been released, and overall, the results were underwhelming. Reading proficiency showed a decline overall, from 27.2% to 26.3% - a net decrease of 0.9% from 2022. Eighth grade reading scores showed only 19.3% were proficient in 2023, a 5.7% decrease. No other grade had more than a 0.4% decrease in reading.

Fourth and sixth grade reading scores saw small gains statewide and math scores increased in proficiency from 24.9% to 25.1%. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade math scores increased by more than a percentage point.

“While these scores show data from previous years, they are simply unacceptable,” said State Superintendent Ryan Walters. “I will not allow Oklahoma to continue to fail. We are implementing robust school choice options for parents, have rolled out the greatest teacher recruitment program in the country, and are reinstituting accountability for discipline in the classroom. The Oklahoma Legislature is investing record amounts to address education in our state. My message to the people of Oklahoma is clear: we are righting this ship, and we will make Oklahoma a leader in education again.”

The story is slightly different in Blaine County. At Canton Schools, the elementary was at 33% of students ready for the next grade, a ‘D’ mark. It was on par with the state average of 56% of students growing when their performance is compared to last year, or a ‘C’ mark. Eighty-five percent of the students had good attendance, compared to 79% for the state, both earning a ‘C’ grade. Overall, Canton Elementary earned a C.

At Canton High School, the students were above state average in academic achievement, at 53% ready for the next grade, compared to 47% statewide, or a ‘C’ grade. It earned a ‘B’ in graduation rate, but was in the basement along with the state average in chronic absenteeism. The school earned a 76.6% compared to the state’s 79.9%, both an ‘F’ mark. Overall the school earned a ‘C.’

At Geary Schools, the elementary is still federally designated for comprehensive support and improvement for an overall score in the bottom 5% of schools. The academic achievement showed 34% ready to move to the next grade, a ‘D’ score, but 75% showing growth over last year. This earns the elementary a ‘B’ grade. Although 81.9% of students had good attendance, well above the 79.9% statewide, the grade was still a ‘D.’

Overall, the Geary Elementary grade was a ‘C.’

This points out the disparity that Geary Superintendent Sean Buchanan has always argued with the report card system, that the playing field isn’t level, and a small school population can skew the numbers toward the failing side, even when the students are performing admirably compared to state statistics.

Geary Middle School showed an academic achievement level of 41% ready to move to the next grade , a ‘C’; 65% with academic growth from the last performance, a ‘B’ and 93.48% with good attendance, a ‘B.’ Overall, it, too, earned a ‘C’ grade.

The high school was a different story. It showed only 11% ready for the next grade, and 58% ready to graduate at the end of four years. That number climbs to 91% at the end of six years, but both categories are ‘F’ grades.

Eighty-two percent of students have good attendance, but that only scored a ‘D’ grade with the school earning an overall ‘F’ grade. It is important to note there are less than 15 seniors in Geary High School, and only 75 students total, with the small numbers impacting the scores significantly.

At Calumet Elementary, the academic achievement score showed 59% ready for the next grade level, a ‘C’; and only 16% showing academic growth year over year, an ‘F’ grade. More than 95% had good attendance, an ‘A.’ It earned an overall ‘C’ mark. There is no middle school designation at Calumet.

The high school showed 74% were ready to go to the next grade level, earning a ‘B’ mark and 85% ready to graduate in four years, or a ‘C’ grade. Ninety-eight percent of students had good attendance, an ‘A’ grade and the school earned a ‘B’ mark overall. There are 76 students at Calumet High School.

There are 328 students at Okeene Schools.

At the elementary level, 55% were ready to move to the next grade, a ‘C’, 72% showed growth year over year, a ‘B’ mark, and 89.6% had good attendance, also a ‘C’ mark. Overall, the school earned a ‘C’.

The junior high showed 64% ready to move ahead, a ‘B’ grade and 60% showed academic growth from one year to the next. That’s a ‘C.’ More than 97.6% had good attendance, earning an ‘A’ and the school garnered a ‘B’ overall mark.

The high school showed 85% ready to move ahead, a ‘B’ mark, and 89% ready to graduate in four years, also a ‘B.’ While 80.8% had good attendance, that only scored a ‘D’ grade with the school earning an overall grade of ‘B.’

Watonga is the largest school district in the area, with 733 students.

The elementary school had 55% of students ready to move to the next grade level, and 67% showed growth compared to the year previous. This earned a ‘C’ mark and a ‘B’ grade, respectively. More than 97% of students had good attendance, or an ‘A’ grade, and the school earned a ‘C’ mark overall.

At the middle school, academic achievement, at 62%, tied with academic growth, plus more than 98% of students having good attendance, added up to an overall ‘B’ for the school.

The high school showed 55% of students ready for the next grade level and 92% ready to graduate in four years. That climbs to 100% in five years, but the school only garnered a ‘B’ in that category. More than 96% of students had good attendance, but the overall score was a ‘C.’

However, Watonga School Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran said that the grade was in part due to some of the classes students can take at Chisholm Trail Career Tech being improperly coded and dragging down the grade. It also failed to take into account that there had been some midterm graduations and he expected to see an improved report once those items had been corrected. Hilterbran also pointed out there had been three years of consecutive growth, most notably at the middle school level. When that school’s growth was compared to pre COVID levels, it jumped to 23.6%, or nearly a fourth higher.

“The work being done in the schools is very impressive and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” he said.