School report cards are in — and they’re not good

The numbers are in, and they speak — loudly — for themselves.

Wayne County Public Schools has been designated a Low-Performing District, according to standards set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

The district’s report card — released annually — is littered with a bevy of Ds and 5 Fs — Brogden Primary, Brogden Middle, Dillard Middle, Eastern Wayne Middle, Goldsboro High, and Grantham Middle — and equally distributed ratings of “not met” when designating score improvement, also known as “expected growth.”

Low-Performing Districts are defined as those that have more than 50 percent of schools identified as low-performing. In WCPS’ case, that means 16 of the 30 schools that are included in the tally — Edgewood and Wayne Middle/High Academy don’t count — have been identified as such.

Only 25 of the state’s 115 school districts are low performing.

But there’s more.

Here are some of the takeaways from the student reading and math proficiency test scores:

• Every Wayne County elementary school has a reading proficiency of less than 50 percent.

• Only three elementary schools have proficiency in math over 50 percent.

• Only one middle school in Wayne County has proficiency over 50 percent in reading, while only 4 out of 10 have math proficiencies over 50 percent.

• Students at only three county high schools demonstrated proficiency in English 2.

• Overall, only 4 of the 29 WCPS reported schools had reading/English proficiency over 50 percent.

• Overall, only 9 of WCPS’ 22 elementary/middle schools have math proficiency over 50 percent.