The February Whitesboro Independent School District board of trustees meeting was a celebration of student and staff recognition.
Whitesboro Middle School attended their UIL competitions and swept the district. This means that Whitesboro students grades 2-8 won all of their contests. Not only did the middle school students come in first place overall, but they won by more than 200 points. This is a huge accomplishment for Whitesboro.
Each school’s principal also presented Teacher of the Month and Employee of the Month recognitions. At the high school, special education teacher James Small was named Teacher of the Month while inclusion aide Amy Maxey was named Employee of the Month.
At the middle school, 7th grade reading teacher Breana Hendry was named Teacher of the Month while office manager Lyndzey Scarbrough was named Employee of the Month.
At the intermediate school, special education teacher Mary Jo Hollandsworth was named Teacher of the Month while nurse Joy York was named Employee of the Month.
Lastly, at Hayes Primary School, kindergarten teacher Shawna Koerner was named Teacher of the Month while teacher’s aide Kalyn Brule was named Employee of the Month.
WISD Director of Curriculum Shelley Reeves gave a public hearing on the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR). While the accountability rating for the 2023-2024 school year has not yet been released, WISD earned an overall B for 2021-2022. (This rating will change when the new score is released.)
Regarding STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) testing, reading for grades 3-5 is at 83% passing, above the state rate of 81%. Reading for grades 6-8 is 80-85%, also above the state rate. Math for grades 3-5 is slightly below the state average, reflecting the impact of Covid-19 and those children experience remote learning rather than being in school. Math in grades 6-8 is above the state average.
Social studies in grades 5-8 is right at the state average of around 60%, while English I and English II are above the state average. Algebra I and Biology are just below the state average, and U.S. History is at 94%.
The district is seeing growth in special education and emergent bilinguals. District drop-out rate for grades 7-8 is zero (the state is 0.7%) and grades 9-12 is 0.6% (the state is 2.2% while the region is 3.2%).
Attendance is at 94% and graduation in 2022 was at 98% (the state was just 89%). Teacher retention statistics show that 27% of WISD teachers have been here for 11 years; 15% have been here 21-30 years; and 5.5% have been here longer than 30 years.
“These numbers confirm that we’re a growing place, a great place to be for students and staff,” Reeves said. “The proof is in the pudding.”
