Superintendent Gonsoulin presents updates on Clay schools

By Terry Schrimscher, For The Tribune

CLAY — The Clay City Council met Tuesday night, Dec. 13, for the first scheduled meeting of the month. Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, superintendent of Jefferson County Schools, delivered an update on schools to the Council and capacity crowd in lieu of the usual City Manager’s Report.

Superintendent of Jefferson County Schools, Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, delivered an update on schools during the Clay City Council meeting on December 13. (Photo by Terry Schrimscher)

“During COVID, we learned some students can learn best in virtual. Not a whole lot,” Gonsoulin said. “Now that we’re out of COVID, we have an attendance issue.”

Gonsoulin said most students do better in brick-and-mortar locations with face-to-face interaction.

The state defines chronic absenteeism as students who miss 18 or more school days in a school year. Gonsoulin reported the chronic absentee rates of the five Jefferson County schools service the Clay area. The rates for each school were: Clay Elementary (17 percent), Chalkville Elementary (22 percent), Bryant Park (22 percent), Clay-Chalkville Middle School (26 percent), and Clay-Chalkville High School (29 percent).

In the most recent school report cards, Clay-Chalkville High School was added to Alabama’s list of failing schools. The Alabama Accountability Act of 2015 mandates that all schools in the bottom 6 percent of scores be listed as failing. Clay-Chalkville High School received a grade of 69, with 13 percent of students considered proficient in English language arts and only 4 percent proficient in math.

“I don’t think people realize how important attendance is to student achievement,” Gonsoulin said. “You have 4536 students. Of that, 1101 of those students missed 18 or more days. That’s a total for those students; at a minimum, that’s 19,818 days. The message here is clear. I can’t teach you if you’re not there.”

Gonsoulin took questions from the crowd and Council about ways to improve test scores. He also introduced the school board’s Signature Academy program, which is designed to increase student engagement by offering specialized courses throughout the school system on a wide variety of professional subjects ranging from agriculture, biomedical, technology, art, music, and more designed to allow students to move quickly into a career or secondary study.

In other business, the Council passed four proclamations honoring freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior youth cheerleading squads for their hard work and success in competitions in 2022. Each age group, ranging from kindergarten to 6th grade, competed and won recognitions in the United Youth Football of Alabama and Battle of the South cheerleading competitions.

Girls from each age group were present, with their coaches, to receive a trophy and a copy of the resolution for their group from Mayor Webster.

Due to the holiday schedule, the next meeting of the Clay City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Dec. 20.