The Show-Me Institute recently launched a website that ranks Missouri school districts. Of the four Cole County school districts, Blair Oaks R-2 performed the best, and Jefferson City School District performed the worst.
Yet comparing Cole County districts may not be apples to apples.
Size and student makeup vary from school to school; Jefferson City School District had an enrollment of more than 9,000, compared to Blair Oaks' enrollment of more than 1,200, according to moschoolrankings.org.
To see how Jefferson City stacked up against similar schools, the News Tribune examined the Jefferson City School District alongside 7 similar-size school districts within plus or minus 2500 students. The rankings assessed various areas of achievement for every school in the state.
The analysis included Fox C-6, of Arnold; St. Joseph; Ferguson- Florissant R-2, of Hazelwood; Mehlville R-9, of St. Louis; Raytown C-2; Joplin; and Lindbergh, of St. Louis.
However, the numbers and data used by the Show-Me Institute are not from the current school year. Much of the academic data is from the 2018-19 school year, meaning these numbers have changed in the two years following.
Jefferson City Superintendent Larry Linthacum said improvement is always the goal.
"The tremendous efforts of our JC Schools staff and students are leading to great academic progress, and we are extremely proud of their commitment to learning. We recognize that we still have room for improvement, and we intend to continue to keep a laser focus on providing a learning environment in which every student can reach their full potential," he said.
Academic progress
According to the site, Jefferson City's grade-point average was 1.5, slightly below middle for the group of eight school districts, and its graduation rate was 81.3, the second from the bottom.
"The GPA assigned to our district on the school rankings website is from the 18-19 school year, and we fully agree that data reflects a significant need for improvement," Linthacum said. "What the website does not reflect, unfortunately, is the dramatic gains our district has made in student achievement over the past two school years."
"The graduation rate of 81.3 percent in 18-19 is lower than we would've liked it to be, and we have shown significant growth since then to a rate of 86.6 in the 2021 school year. This was the highest graduation rate for the district in the last 18 years (since 2004), and the second highest in the last 30 years (since 1991)," he said.
Jefferson City did well in English/Language Arts (ELA) and math, keeping with the pack on ELA scores at 43.8 percent proficiency and 49.455 percent growth, and 35.3 percent proficiency in math and 49.46 percent growth.
"Our district has intentionally focused on improving student achievement in the area of reading over the past four or five years," Linthacum said. "These efforts have included implementation of a new reading curriculum, a variety of classroom techniques and interventions, and supplementation of state tests with our own reading diagnostic tool (i-Ready) to track student progress throughout the school year."
He said the district is excited about its reading growth.
According to previous News Tribune reporting, the district's i-Ready improvement from the beginning of the year to the end in reading was higher in the 2020-21 school year than in the last full year measured, the 2018-19 school year, indicating more growth overall. End-of-year numbers for 2019-20 were not measured because of the COVID-19 closure.
Though scores initially dipped from the pandemic, the district maintained the percentage of students on or above grade level in reading from the last full year measured in 2018-19, from an end-of-year number of 56.71 percent to 56.8 percent.
ACT scores
The ACT score for the Jefferson City School District was 19.3, slightly below middle.
Linthacum said the district would like to see a higher score. He said the district has offered more pre-ACT opportunities by offering the test for free in the past few years, and he thinks this will increase scores in the future.
"We also offer ACT tutors, pre-ACT workshops where teachers deliver ACT-specific material to students including test-taking strategies, and an online program which offers pre-ACT and ACT prep opportunities for students," Linthacum said.
Spending
Jefferson City had the highest expenditures of the eight schools, with $20,589 per pupil spending. Yet teacher salaries were the second lowest in the group, at $48,459.
Linthacum said a number of factors play into expenditures, including cost of living for the area, staff salaries and maintenance. He said the teacher salaries at Jefferson City are some of the highest in the region, and that figure is considered annually to ensure that the district is competitive with others in Mid-Missouri.
"As far as per pupil spending, our expenditures put us below the state average (we spend $836 less per pupil than the state average per 2020 data). As superintendent, this is something I believe demonstrates fiscal responsibility on our part as one of our three key district pillars is 'Stewardship,'" Linthacum said. "Every year, we look at our district budget to try to find ways to keep expenses down and to keep salaries competitive with neighboring districts. I believe we are able to strike a healthy balance, and I have been pleased with the fiscal stability we have demonstrated over the years."
Of all school districts in Boone, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Howard, Maries, Miller, Moniteau and Morgan counties, Jefferson City had the third highest average teacher salary, behind Columbia and School of the Osage.
Director of Communications Ryan Burns said the district typically compares itself to Waynesville, Sedalia, and Poplar Bluff because of similar free and reduced lunch student numbers, and to Joplin, Fort Osage, Carthage, and St. Joseph based on size.
For those schools, ELA and math scores fell in a similar place in the distribution, and the graduation rate and ACT scores were near the bottom. GPA also fell at the bottom.
Jefferson City was again in the top for expenditures, but was in the middle for teacher salary.