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State education leaders release performance grades for CMS

CHARLOTTE — State Department of Public Instruction leaders released performance grades Thursday for schools in North Carolina.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials boasted about gains in certain key areas and said there are signs the post-pandemic academic recovery is underway.

CMS interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said the performance data released is a mixed bag for the district.

Data indicated 50 CMS schools received a D or F performance grade, labeling them as low-performing schools.

The 2018-2019 school year had 42 schools with those grades.

The graduation rate dropped slightly from 84% in 2021 to 83.3% in 2022.

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DPI stated that 14 CMS schools that were identified as low-performing in 2019 improved in 2022.

The latest performance grades prior to 2022 were released in 2019.

Data indicated that 83% of schools met or exceeded growth this past school year and 54% of schools earned grades of A, B or C.

Student performance grades released were from end-of-grade and end-of-course tests, and improved considerably in reading, math, and science. However, student performance but decreased in English.

“We did well last year,” said Frank Barnes. “Season’s over. We’re on day four of the new season. We need to do it all again and do it better, faster, harder than we did last season. And we still have a labor shortage hitting all sectors, particularly academics. We still have issues we need to address, so am I nervous? I’m nervous every day, but I’m excited about the opportunity.”

CMS was second to Wake County in reading, math and science when compared to other districts of similar size across the state.

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Jonathan Lowe

Jonathan Lowe, wsoctv.com

Jonathan is a reporter for WSOC-TV.