News & Media

County schools see increase in attendance

January 17th, 2012

Attendance is up at Madison County schools. For the first semester, the district reports a one-half percentage increase in average daily attendance, from 96.3 percent of students in their seats in 2010 to 96.86 percent in 2011.

“That may sound like a small number, but it means 607 more students are attending,” Superintendent Ronnie McGehee told the Madison County School Board on Monday. The higher attendance is “a testimony to our teachers and principals.”

The higher attendance follows a higher total enrollment. At the end of the first semester in 2010, the district had 11,713 students in grades K-12 and in 2011, the enrollment stood at 12,084.

Keeping students coming to school every day is important for a number of reasons, McGehee said. “From the academic side, if students come more they’ll learn more.”

The more students in school on an average day can lead to a lower dropout rate, a higher graduation rate and more state funding, he said. The state’s complex formula for funding uses average daily attendance figures to determine how much money a district gets from the state. An increase of 2 percent in the average daily attendance as it figures into the funding formula would mean an extra $800,000 to the the district a year, McGehee said.

Germantown Middle School is one of three district schools that reported an average daily attendance rate above 98 percent for the first semester. In 2010, Germantown Middle had a 97.25 percent attendance rate while the number rose to 98.17 percent in 2011.

Principal Brad Peets attributes the high turnout to healthy kids loving learning: “Our kids enjoy school.”

Rosa Scott and Olde Towne Middle schools also averaged more than 98 percent of students in the classroom. In 2010, Rosa Scott had a 96.94 percent attendance but a 98.58 in 2011. Olde Towne’s attendance grew from 97.53 percent to 98.06.

“Any time you get above 98 percent, that’s great,” McGehee said.

As enrollment and attendance in the district rises, the school board is preparing to create more space for students at Germantown Middle School.

On Monday, McGehee asked the board’s permission to build six classrooms at the middle school off Calhoun Station Parkway. The project, which will add two classrooms at the back of the three wings, will be bid around April.

The estimated construction cost should be about $1.4 million. “We have the money in our district construction fund,” McGehee said.

At the end of the first semester, Germantown Middle had 648 students, up from 571 the year before. “There’s more coming,” Peets said.

In the coming years, “we will take in more students than we exit in the eighth grade,” he said.

Currently, there’s plenty of room in the building for the existing students, but the additional rooms can be put to use when they open in January 2013, Peets said.

“The district is trying to be proactive so we keep students in the building and not in trailers,” he said.