LLOYD —
Sue Davis came to Greenup County High School in March 2011 as a consultant to help lift the school out of its low-achieving status.
Shortly after that she took on the principal position and launched a three-year turnaround campaign aimed at boosting accountability test scores and staving off severe sanctions.
Halfway into the turnaround process, Davis is leaving Greenup County for a position as a consultant at the Kentucky Educational Development Corp.
She leaves the school poised to complete the turnaround successfully, Superintendent Steve Hall said.
“She has made a strong, positive impact on the high school and the district,” he said. “Our ACT scores were up across the board and I think when we see our K-PREP scores they will reflect a positive change in student achievement.”
The former Boyd County Middle School principal had retired from the Kentucky Department of Education when she hired on at Greenup County. The school had just been named one of 10 “persistently low achieving” schools in the state, based on math and reading test scores. The designation is a product of Kentucky’s new accountability system.
The stakes were, and still are, high. One immediate casualty was then-Principal Jim Dunaway. While Hall and other administrators praised his work, a state assessment team insisted on a new chief. Also, the school’s governing council of staff and parents was stripped of its decision-making authority and remained as an advisory panel only.
If the three-year turnaround doesn’t bring scores up to meet accountability benchmarks, the school will face further sanctions and could be forced to replace much of its staff.
In the meantime, and with the help of about $1 million in state aid and an educational recovery specialist, teachers are receiving intensive training and professional development. Equally intensive math and reading programs are already lifting student scores in those areas.
The educational recovery specialist remains to work with faculty. Hall said the school has shown a turnaround in its culture of expectations, not only for students but for teachers. “Expectations have been a focal point. We’ve communicated our expectations to students and also been supportive of them by telling them we believe they can meet expectations,” he said.
Greenup’s approximately 60 teachers have embraced expectations for their performance, too, he said. “Their approach to their jobs has been more intensive and purposeful.”
Hall predicted pulling out of failing status by the three-year limit.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or
(606) 326-2652.
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