Some Schools No Longer A 'Priority'

Caption

Burdell Elementary School in Macon is on the state's Most Improved list. / GPB

Over a quarter of the schools on the Georgia’s Priority Schools List are moving on.

In total, 74 out of the 243 schools on the list have worked their way off the list. Most of those schools are in the Atlanta metro area, especially in the Atlanta Public School system and the Dekalb County School System.

What Does Leaving The "Priority Schools" List Mean?

Getting off the list doesn’t necessarily mean a school will be off of the radar of the new Chief Turnaround Officer. That position was created by HB338, an education bill passed in the last Georgia legislative season. That law says any school in the lowest five percent of Georgia schools could potentially be the Chief Turnaround Officer’s to run.

The metrics that will decide which schools are in that bottom five percent have not yet been put into place. Like the yet to be hired Chief Turnaround Officer, the metrics are on the way.

So what does it mean to roll off the Priority Schools List? The schools still on the list have coaches from the State Department of Education on campus to help them work toward academic success.

What about the schools rolling off the list but which will find themselves in the bottom five percent? Until the Chief Turnaround Officer is hired and on the job, those schools will be on their own.