ACT scores for Beaufort County students at these two high schools have school board worried

Class of 2017 seniors at four of Beaufort County school district’s six high schools scored at or above the state composite average on the ACT college entrance exam, but several Beaufort County Board of Education members expressed concern at Tuesday night’s board meeting for the two schools falling below the state average.

Battery Creek High School and Whale Branch Early College High School earned respective scores of 16.9 and 16, below the state composite average of 18.7. The highest possible score is 36.

State data show these two schools have the highest percentage of the county’s public high school students receiving free or reduced lunch, a measure some education experts use to determine the poverty-level of a student body.

In particular, the percentage of students meeting readiness benchmarks — a minimum score designated by ACT Inc. for each subject of the test — worried board members. For example, a student scoring 22 on the math portion of the test would meet the subject benchmark.

Board member Christina Gwozdz called Whale Branch’s and Battery Creek’s science and math benchmark percentages “frightening.”

Six percent of Whale Branch students met the science benchmark score of 23. Twelve percent of Battery Creek students met that benchmark. Between 24 and 31 percent of students at other high schools’ met the benchmark for that subject.

“The staffing formula is failing these two schools,” board member Joseph Dunkle said.

Superintendent Jeff Moss said he will present the board with a list of interventions already in place at the schools to determine if a reallocation of resources should be considered.

As a whole, the district’s composite ACT average was 18.6, down slightly from 18.7 in 2016, but still placing the district 12th out of 82 districts statewide. That’s one spot higher than 13th place statewide in the 2015-16 school year.

“Realistically, we'd like to be in the top 10,” Moss said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "ACT scores for Beaufort County students at these two high schools have school board worried."