Selma City Schools drop to a D on state report card; superintendent cites issues with tornado, student deaths

Selma City Schools saw their grade on the latest Alabama State Report Card released by the Alabama State Department of Education last week drop to a D with an overall score of 67 for 2023 from a C with a score of 72 the year before.

Selma City Schools saw a decline in every category of the report from the Alabama State Department of Education except in chronic absenteeism, a category where you want a lower percentage. The percentage of students who missed 18 or more days of school almost doubled from 17.6 in 2022 to 32.31 in 2023. College and career readiness dropped from 63.5 to 57.8.  

The report card, which was posted to DOE website on Dec. 14, gives school systems an overall grade and numerical scores in the areas of academic achievement; student improvement in reading, English and math; career or college readiness; graduation rate; and the percentage of students who miss 18 or more days of school (chronic absenteeism). 

Citing challenges that include the January tornado, the death of kindergartner to gun violence and a high school student to drugs on campus last school year, Superintendent Dr. Zickeyous Byrd said efforts have already started to ensure improvement is made at each school.

“Poverty, crime and trauma are major factors that impacted the school district,” Byrd said in a statement. 

“Also the district was plagued with unimaginable violence and shooting that took the life of one of our elementary scholars and injured many more around the community,” Byrd said. “In addition, we suffered the loss of a high school scholar.” 

Byrd said, “We do not highlight these issues as excuses. Instead, we highlight the fact that our employees and students remained dedicated despite the trauma and losses that still impact many homes in the community today.” 

Byrd said in a statement that “efforts have already begun for improvement in every school, classroom and office.”

Byrd noted that the system’s academic achievement and graduation rate “basically remained the same” from 2022, but the system saw “significant decreases” in academic growth, college and career readiness, and absenteeism. Byrd said the graduation rate has already increased from 73.87% to 77.67%. 

The tornado that struck Selma on Jan. 12 displaced many families and took place a few months before student testing. The tornado particularly affected the Meadowview and Sophia P. Kingston communities, he said. Students were also relocated from School of Discovery that was housed at the time at former Knox Elementary and took a direct hit from the storm. 

In a recent communication to employees, Byrd said Selma City Schools will address these deficiencies as follows: “1. We must reduce chronic absenteeism and follow attendance procedures. 2. We must improve academic growth through intentional daily tiered intervention. 3. We must improve our college and career readiness rates through intentional scheduling.” 

Furthermore, the schools are asking for parents to help. “The most important thing parents can do is ensure that their child attends school each day and that they understand how important their education is to their bright and successful future,” Byrd said in a statement.

See how other Black Belt schools performed here.

Both the state and federal report cards can be accessed here:

Here’s a breakdown of how Selma City schools performed in the 2023 report card: 

Selma City Schools

Systemwide Score

Grade C with a 72 score

Academic Achievement 37.22

Academic Growth 93.6

Graduation Rate 73

Chronic Absenteeism 17.6

College and Career Readiness 63.5

Clark Elementary School

Grade F with a score of 47

Academic Achievement 29.42

Academic Growth 57.6

Chronic Absenteeism 34.69

Edgewood Elementary School

Grade D with a score of 64

Academic Achievement 35.35

Academic Growth 89.5

Chronic Absenteeism 35.2

Meadowview Elementary School

Grade D with a score of 68

Academic Achievement 52.36

Academic Growth 80.31

Chronic Absenteeism 25.5

Payne Elementary School

Grade C with a score of 70

Academic Achievement 37.86

Academic Growth 93.88

Chronic Absenteeism 16.5

Saints Virtual Academy

Grade D with a score of 63

Academic Achievement 27.75

Academic Growth 82.14

Graduation Rate 65.52

Chronic Absenteeism 12.85

College and Career Readiness 44.83

School of Discovery Genesis Center

Grade D with a score of 63

Academic Achievement 34.83

Academic Growth 80.2

Chronic Absenteeism 16.23

Selma High School

Grade D with a score of 64

Academic Achievement 24.2

Academic Growth 83.95

Graduation Rate 75.29

Chronic Absenteeism 47.55

College and Career Readiness 60

Sophia P. Kinston Elementary

Grade C with a score of 70

Academic Achievement 41.42

Academic Growth 91.19

Chronic Absenteeism 19.63

RB Hudson Elementary School

Grade D with a score of 63

Academic Achievement 35.26

Academic Growth 87.62

Chronic Absenteeism 36.72