Amherst County instruction leaders told the school board that new state data showed progress across the division, with Manalisen Middle School and Madison Heights Elementary removed from federal identification while Central Elementary was identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI).

Mister Neighbors, the division instructional lead, said the division’s internal calculations matched state results and singled out reading as the area that “pushed them over the edge” for the schools coming off the list. “Reading in particular…is what got us there,” he said, adding that the work reflected “the collaboration of those staff to see all of the individuals in those buildings wrapping around literally every single kid.”

Neighbors described the CSI designation for Central as tied to the division’s framework score and weaker growth measures. “Because of the way the framework score is calculated…they didn’t quite get as much for growth,” he said, explaining that Central’s overall mastery data looked similar to peer schools but the growth component pulled the framework score into the lowest 5% for the state’s Title I determinations.

Board members pressed for specifics on which practices were replicable at Central. Neighbors said many of the interventions that helped Madison Heights and Manalisen were already in place in other schools and that administrators are meeting to identify practical, transferable strategies. He emphasized the division’s approach of using the new state report and locally developed growth assessments to guide targeted supports and teacher planning.

The report also included initial results from fall growth assessments and the division’s monthly standards report; staff cautioned that these snapshots contain “sticker shock” because many assessments measure content students have not yet been fully instructed on, but they noted long-term trends showing incremental improvement, especially in reading.

Next steps identified by staff include: focused collaboration between Central’s administration and central office data teams, continued emphasis on reading instruction, and monitoring growth assessments throughout the year. The board did not take formal action on the identifications at the meeting; staff said additional follow-up and support planning is underway.