By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–At a busy meeting of the Henry County Schools Board of Education, Director of Schools Dr. Leah Watkins shared the “absolutely wonderful news” that the district’s active COVID cases have shown a “drastic reduction” in recent weeks.
The district has transitioned from the red to the yellow phase and seen a dramatic decline in the number of weekly positive cases. “We’ve seen a tremendous reduction,” she said. “We’ve had zero positive cases for several days now and I can’t tell you what a relief that is. Our kids are staying healthy and staying in school.”
On the other side of that coin, however, district students have lost several parents who have passed away due to COVID during this school year, she said.
Just prior to the board meeting, new Board Member Russ Orr was sworn in by County Mayor John Penn Ridgeway. Board members were introduced to the new Student Representative, Taylor Dunagan, who is a senior at Henry County High School and very active in a number of organizations, including as President of the Paris FFA and President of the National Honor Society.
A short reception was held mid-meeting for the over a dozen new teachers to the district. Dr. Watkins noted that the reception had been postponed from an earlier meeting due to the high number of active COVID cases at that time. The new teachers–along with the administrators who have changed duties–were introduced to the board.
Student Management Systems Director David Kibbler reported on the high success rate shown in recent District Data from the State Department of Education. He noted that Henry County Schools out-performed the state average in all areas, including success rate, math, ELA, social studies, science and other academic areas.
The 2021 school year was unlike any before, he said, and the district faced ‘challenges we never had had before. So this is something to celebrate.”
He also noted that in the Ready to Graduate area, Henry County showed 52.4 percent while the state average was 41.5 percent. In the graduation category, he noted Henry County was at 97.9 percent, compared to the state average of 89.6 percent. The county drop out rate is less than one percent.
Henry County Schools has been designated as a Level 5 school district by the state, which he said is “outstanding. That’s the highest you can get.”
Dr. Watkins said, “I attribute this to the teachers, administrators and the students who showed up and the parents who got their students there.”
Areas that still need work, Kibbler said, are student achievement, chronic absenteeism and sub-group success rates.
“Based on the challenges that the schools faced, we have a lot to celebrate,” he said.
In other business:
–Dr. David Huber reported on the success of the AVID (Advancement Via Independent Determination ) program, along with Students Terriann Ray and Melinda Thornton.
Dr. Huber said the AVID program began with Grove School and has expanded to where the program now involves 150 students and has moved into the home rooms at the high school.
Thornton said AVID “is a family. When I started, I wasn’t motivated. Now I am and it’s because AVID has helped me connect with other students.”
Dr. Huber noted this class will be the first AVID graduating class. “I want to make this exciting for them because it is exciting,” he said.
–Dr. Watkins noted that long-time Maintenance Superintendent John Akers is resigning to take another job and the district has been advertising to fill his position. Meanwhile, the board approved a resolution of appreciation to recognize the maintenance department for all its work.
–The board approved an interlocal agreement with the city of Paris to pay for damage to Harding Road caused by construction of the new turf at Patriot Stadium. The city has approved the agreement, too.