This week, Wayne County Public Schools (WCPS) announced that it had exited Low Performing School District status within one year and made significant academic strides in student performance over the past school year.

“When I first became superintendent last summer, one of the most disappointing times was in the first week when I received a letter from the state informing me that our school district was given a low-performing designation due to the previous year’s academic results,” said Dr. Marc A. Whichard, superintendent. “In my opening days on the job, I began meeting with principals, teachers, staff, students, and families. I laid out very clear non-negotiable expectations to our schools that were designed to help move them and our district forward. Through the hard work of our staff and students, we were able to make the Low Performing School District designation a ‘once and done’.”

The Wayne County Board of Education received its annual school accountability update for the 2023-2024 school year on Monday evening. Locally, there were many positive gains that occurred across the school district, which include but are not limited to:

• WCPS grew 5.1 percentage points in overall achievement composite scores of all subjects, which is considered a significant gain over one school year.
• WCPS was ranked #1 in the Southeast region for growth in overall achievement.

• WCPS experienced growth in all but one subject area. In particular, Math 1 achievement grew by 12 percentage points surpassing overall regional and state achievement scores.

• Twelve schools exceeded growth, nine met growth, and nine did not meet growth.

• Of the 12 schools that exceeded growth, six ranked in the top 10% and the other six ranked in the top 25% of school growth scores in the state (out of 2,594 schools)

• Nine schools increased one full performance letter grade:

• One school went from a grade of B to an A, five schools went from a grade of D to a C, and three schools went from a grade of F to D. 

• In total, two schools achieved an A performance grade, two schools achieved a B, 16 schools achieved a C, nine schools achieved a D, and three schools achieved an F.

• WCPS was able to exit the Low Performing School District status after six schools exited low performing status, which is considered a significant achievement for a school district of WCPS’s size in one year.

“I sincerely appreciate the hard work that occurs in our classrooms every day, and all of the work that happens with staff behind the scenes to support learning, which is evident in the significant gains achieved last year,” said Dr. Whichard. “While it is important to pause and celebrate our 2023-2024 successes  – because they are worth recognizing –  I am resolute that as a school district we will continue to maintain and build upon these gains in order to continue improving student achievement in the coming school year.”

Once the North Carolina School Report Card website has been updated with the 2023-2024 school year data, families and community members can look at each school’s achievement data.