BY KARISSA MILLER
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education met recently with district administrators to conduct a year-end review at the Career Academy and Technical School.
I-SS Superintendent Jeff James said that the school system has taken positive steps aimed at improving student growth.
The district’s graduation rate has increased from 86.5 percent to 91.1 percent, which is above the state average of 87.7 percent.
“We have the highest graduation rate in our history,” James said, noting that he’s proud of the district’s continuing progress and outstanding work by staff members and students.
He also said that several schools made significant gains worth highlighting, including:
• Statesville High met growth for the first time in at least 11 years;
• West Iredell High improved its letter grade to a C;
• West Iredell Middle met growth for the first time since 2019;
• South Iredell High met growth for the first time since 2018; and
• North Iredell High exceeded growth for two years after not meeting growth for at least 11 years.
The district’s strategic plan targets include having 75 percent of schools meet or exceed growth annually on end-of-grade and end-of-year tests, the superintendent said.
Another focus, James said, is increasing post-secondary readiness by increasing the number of students participating in the International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, and College Career and Promise programs.
Other goals include increasing the number of students earning industry credentials, and increasing the graduation rate to 95 percent.
Teacher vacancies
North Carolina’s statewide teacher vacancies have increased in recent years, hitting a new high mark with 7,138 vacancies reported by the 40th day of school in the 2024 school year.
The attrition rate for teachers in North Carolina is 9.9 percent (8,896 teachers) in 2024. I-SS attrition rate for teachers that year was 8.9 percent (113 teachers).
According to I-SS Deputy Superintendent Billie Berry, the number of teachers entering education through alternative licensure has increased 23 percent since the 2017-2018 school year and now represents nearly half of new teachers in the state.
“The district continues to focus on attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers,” Berry said.
I-SS is providing support to beginning teachers and to teachers entering the profession through non-traditional pathways, offer leadership development, and focusing on providing a positive school and staff culture.
Student Discipline
I-SS had 20,254 students in the 2024-2025 school year. The district reported the following data related to student discipline:
• Students with a referral: 2,035 (10 percent)
• Students with ISS days: 937 (4.6 percent)
• Students with OSS: 477 (2.3 percent)
• Students with a minor referral: 3,347 (16.5 percent)
• Students with Northview placements: 27 (Less than 1 percent)
The district noted that 83 percent of students have had no incidents in school resulting in a minor Office Discipline Referral (ODR). Around 90 percent of students have not had a major ODR.
Administrators told the board that Black students are being suspended at higher rates than their peers.
Black students made up 14.3 percent of the student population and accounted for:
• 43 percent of ODRs
• 40 percent of In-School Suspension days,
• 45 percent of Out-of-School Suspension days and
• 54 percent of school-based criminal charges.
District staff members are working with principals and advisory councils to address this issue.
“Do we look at ourselves closely to make sure we aren’t targeting the Black males?” asked school board member Brian Sloan.
“I don’t necessarily think anyone is being targeted,” Berry said.
The district is addressing this issue through several strategies, including making sure teachers are managing discipline well in the classroom, making students know why they are written up and offering mental health support.
Mental Health Summit
Berry said that I-SS Chief Students Officer Shayla Savage recently did a tremendous job leading a mental health summit for district staff. The event included discussions of mental health challenges and improving access to resources for students.