EAST LIVERPOOL — East Liverpool Superintendent Jonathan Ludwig provided board members a blow-by-blow analysis of the district’s recent state report card results during Thursday’s board meeting.

“While it is disappointing that we slipped from a C to a D, we also must remain optimistic as we have many areas of positive growth. We also have a remediation plan for continuous improvement,” Ludwig explained before detailing the five areas of growth over the last three years: Grade 7 English, language arts and math, U.S. government, Algebra I, and At-risk K-3 readers, which jumped 18 points in one year. “This information lends to the fact that the literacy initiative at the elementary level is working.”

The district also saw growth in its Grade 4 and 8 math as well as grade 8 science.

The district lost 15 points on the Gap Closing component, which dropped from a C to a F. “This is what brought us down a letter grade on the district report card,” Ludwig added. The district report card was a D.

In a nutshell, the Ohio Department of Education grades the Gap Closing component on how well a district meets performance expectations for its most vulnerable populations. According to the state’s website, “Schools must close the achievement gaps that exist between groups of students that may be based on income, race, ethnicity of disability… A district or school cannot earn a final letter grade of A on the Gap Closing components if any of its evaluated subgroups have a math or English language arts performance index score lower than 60 points or a graduating rate lower than 70 percent in the current year.”

Affecting a district’s Gap Closing component typically are minority, economically disadvantaged, disabled and English as second language students.

“We plan to provide in-service for all teachers that details how these scores are calculated. We already are deconstructing standards to align our instructional activities and assessments to Ohio’s learning standards. In teacher-based teams, we are identifying vulnerable subgroups and implementing instructional/intervention strategies to better service these groups,” Ludwig continued.

Noting their biggest problem area is math, the district already has implemented a new seventh-and eighth-grade math curriculum.

The district continues to work towards improving ACT scores and honors diploma rates. Even though their graduate rate among students was 91.9 percent, which outperformed state averages by 6.6 percent, educators still seek to improve that number.

The shining moment of the report card was recognition of East Liverpool’s efforts among their 174 career tech students. Ludwig points out that the achievement grade jumped from a D to a A and the district performed “as well, or better in most cases, than career tech districts (throughout) Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana (counties).”

Board member Richard Keith Wolf voiced that he would like to see the parent participation rate somehow reflected on the report card, because he believes that parent and guardian involvement is key to student performance.

Larry Walton agreed, stating that he is concerned about the report card and the way that the state scores it. Describing it is as “too variable,” he said that most of the educators have little respect for it because of that. “We are asking for a levy right now, and our grades don’t reflect what we are doing here,” he added.

East Liverpool schools has a 6.5-mill, five-year emergency levy renewal on the November ballot that raises just more than $1 million annually towards district operational expenses.

In other action:

— Briana Cline was hired as the Destination Imagination coach for LaCroft Elementary School, Jeffrey Cornfield as both advisor for the winter high school drama as well as high school student council; David Raghanti as Gaming Club advisor at both the junior and senior high schools, Greg Adkins as freshman volleyball coach, Scott Hiemstra as varsity wrestling coach; Josh Stansbury, varsity assistant wrestling coach, and both Joshua Reed and Jenna Page as eighth-grade basketball coaches.