The Muskogee Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday heard effectiveness reports from Pershing Elementary and Ruffer Alternative Academy and a call from Valerie Ragsdale, president of the Muskogee Education Association, to join educators in marking Public Schools Week.

The presentations gave the board a snapshot of student enrollment, staffing and year‑over‑year academic and attendance trends at two district schools and outlined goals for 2025.

Valerie Ragsdale, president of the Muskogee Education Association, told the board she wore red “for Ed” to represent district educators and urged the board to support statewide Public Schools Week. “Public education is foundational to our democracy,” Ragsdale said, and called on board members to join educators in contacting lawmakers with personal stories about public education.

Lisa Rogers, principal of Pershing Elementary, summarized the school’s enrollment and staff and highlighted academic gains and lower chronic absenteeism since 2022. Pershing’s current enrollment was presented as 346 students; Rogers listed 26 certified staff and 16 support staff. She said Pershing’s state report card moved from roughly a 30.88 in 2022 to a 41.35 in 2024 and described growth in third‑ and fourth‑grade English language arts and math proficiency. Rogers also said the school reduced chronic absenteeism from a score described as 71.28 in 2022 to 90 in 2024, moving the school’s chronic‑absenteeism indicator into a B range.

Rogers described Pershing’s instructional practices, including biweekly data meetings that use STAR reading results to place students in tiered interventions, and laid out site goals for 2025: increase STAR end‑of‑year reading and math scores by 10 percent for all student groups, raise daily attendance to 95 percent through incentives, and improve targeted Tier 2/3 students’ OSTP reading scores by 5 percent through after‑school intervention.

Miss Charbonneau, principal of Ruffer Alternative Academy (RAW), described RAW as three programs in one — an alternative recovery program, a more disciplinary “boot” regimen, and a revamped REAP program that serves students in lieu of out‑of‑school suspension. Charbonneau said RAW serves secondary students from across the district and provides academic instruction, social‑emotional learning and reintegration planning.

Charbonneau reported RAW had served about 136 students so far in the year, with average daily membership (ADM) projected near 80 for the year. She said RAW graduated 12 students in December and expected 30–35 total graduates by year end. Charbonneau described academic progress on district NWEA measures — modest percentile gains in reading and algebra — and said RAW aims to raise overall NWEA RIT scores by three points and increase attendance toward a 90 percent target.

Both principals highlighted community partnerships and student activities: Pershing noted a school trip funded by a grant to the Oklahoma Science Museum and community support such as coat donations from Lifepoint Church; RAW described partnerships with ICTC, authors and community volunteers, therapy animal visits, and student projects that include writing and presenting children’s books to elementary reading buddies.

The board took no formal votes on the presentations; they were provided as informational reports.