Eight Northwest Georgia public schools have been identified by the state’s Department of Education for improvement, but one superintendent said four of those schools should not have been listed because of a data reporting error.
On Georgia’s 2022-23 list for improvement were six Walker County Schools and one school each from Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools, according to the Georgia Department of Education. Three schools in Murray County’s school system exited the listing.
“It is our responsibility as a state to provide the support all schools need to improve,” state Superintendent Richard Woods said in a statement. “Over the last several years our schools have faced enormous challenges beyond their control, and school leaders, teachers and families have worked hard to get students back on track.”
Those identifications mean additional resources and support are made available for the schools, Woods said. Schools were last identified in 2019, because Georgia received a waiver from the federal government due to data limitations during the pandemic.
Statewide this year, 116 schools were identified as in need of overall improvement and 59 were identified for improvement in specific areas, while 57 schools made the improvements to exit the support listings.