Atlanta Public Schools reports it has reduced the number of struggling schools that appear on the state’s “turnaround-eligible” list from 16 to 13.
The list, created by a 2017 state law, consists of schools whose three-year average on the state report card, made up largely by test scores, falls in the bottom 5 percent of the state.
APS has the second-most schools on the 2018 list; DeKalb has one more with 14 schools on the list. Last year, DeKalb had 16 on the list. Among other metro Atlanta districts, Fulton County Schools had nine schools on the list, one more than last year. Henry County and Hall County each had one.
Clayton County no longer has any on the list; Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School had been on the 2017 list but no longer appears.
“This is another indication that Clayton County Public Schools is making progress as we continue to grow in our commitment to high levels of performance,” said Superintendent Morcease Beasley, in a written statement.
Gwinnett and Cobb do not have schools on the list.
The state's chief turnaround officer identifies schools from the list for intervention. The state can use the threat of financial pressure to get districts to accept those interventions.
APS launched its own turnaround plan in 2016 to try to improve schools, including handing some over to charter-related groups to operate, providing extra academic support and social services, and closing and merging schools.
APS announced Wednesday that five schools -- Barack and Michelle Obama Academy, School of Technology at Carver, F.L. Stanton Elementary School, Long Middle School, and Kimberly Elementary School -- posted a high enough three-year average to be removed from the state list.
Two other Atlanta schools were added -- Carver STEAM and Douglass High School-- bringing the current total of Atlanta schools on the state list to 13.
Carver Tech has merged into Carver Early College. APS turned over Carver STEAM to an outside operator to run this year.
The state previously designated Georgia’s worst-performing schools as “chronically failing,” of which APS had 23 schools in 2017.
Atlanta Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said the district has been providing more help to its lowest-performing schools.
“I’m encouraged to see that five APS schools that were previously on the state’s list have earned their way off that list, but we’ve still got a long way to go. We remain committed to that work and committed to the transformation of APS,” she said, in a written statement.
Here’s full list of Atlanta’s 13 “turnaround-eligible” schools:
Boyd Elementary School
Gideons Elementary School
Woodson Park Academy
Price Middle School
Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy
Finch Elementary
Douglass High School
Scott Elementary School
Young Middle School
Thomasville Heights Elementary School
Carver STEAM
Fain Elementary School
Harper-Archer Middle School
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