TCSS Superintendent Responds To Holt High Landing On Failing Schools List

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa County School System Superintendent Keri Johnson responded Monday after the Alabama Department of Education named Holt High School to a list of 79 Alabama schools considered that are considered failing.

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As Patch previously reported, Holt High was the only county school to be named to the list, which consisted of schools in the bottom 6% of Alabama schools during the last school year, but was also joined by Paul W. Bryant High School, Central Elementary and Westlawn Middle School from Tuscaloosa City Schools.

Johnson explained that for the last several months, TCSS has been investing intentional, targeted resources into growth and improvement for Holt High. This comes after a new school building was built on 44th Court NE and opened in 2018.

"Data review is a constant process for our administrators and educators, so while the public release of this list is new, our data is not new information to us," she told Patch. "We are aware of where academic growth needs to occur, and we have strategies in place to achieve that growth. This work is happening not just at Holt High, but within the entire Holt feeder pattern, to provide this targeted support to students before they reach high school."

Leadership during the last school year became a question at Holt High School, with Patch reporting in February that the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education accepted the resignation of Holt High Principal Luther Riley after only eight months in the position.

In March, the school announced the hiring of Tuscaloosa County High School Assistant Principal Daniel Dickens to fill the role — a decision that was met with much excitement due to Dickens' reputation within the county school system.

According to the latest data published by U.S. News & World Report, Holt High's graduation rate of 82% is well below the state median. While lagging far behind district and state proficiency in math, reading and science, it's also worth pointing out that the latest data shows 84% of Holt High students are considered economically disadvantaged.

What's more, Johnson pointed out that the data reflected by the recently published list is from the 2021-2022 school year, which does not factor into account significant changes currently in place that are aimed at improving student outcomes.

"Also, due to the pandemic, the 2021-22 school year marked the third straight year of catastrophic interruptions to learning for our students," Johnson said. "This is absolutely not a reason to disregard the data, but it is impossible to discount the circumstances our students faced during this time, and the impact of those circumstances on their learning and overall well-being."

Johnson went on to explain that while the school system views academic data as crucially important, there's no one indicator that tells the complete story for why Holt High was considered a failing school.

"For high schools, the data reflected by this list is from one administration of the ACT college entrance exam, on one single date, given to students within just one grade level," she said. "For high schools, no other data factors into this list. Holt High School is full of outstanding educators and students, who have worked to overcome significant challenges in the past few years. With new strategies and support already in place, we are confident overall academic growth will occur at Holt High School."

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