After receiving its scores from the statewide annual performance rating, the Warren County R-III School District has amplified its focus on improving attendance in the district.While its overall score ranked well among peer districts, one glaring statistic continues to be a source of concern for R-III.Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith says the district was disappointed to see its overall score drop as well, with a total APR of 92.3 percent for 2018. This followed a significant rating of 95.4 percent for 2017, a nearly 12 percent increase from 2016.“You never like to see your scores go down, but overall when we looked at our test scores we’re ranking higher than average,” said Klinginsmith. “When we look at where we’re ranking, we’re over-performing.”Attendance ratings dropped for a third year in a row, with R-II receiving an 87.6 percent in that area, despite ongoing efforts to keep students in the classroom.“The thing that is the most concerning is our attendance numbers,” said Klinginsmith. “We continue to see those numbers go down, which is not good. We also know that’s the No. 1 correlation to student achievement.”R-III has managed to avoid taking a major hit in the area of achievement despite those attendance concerns. The district was awarded 38.2 out of a possible 40 points for academic achievement this year.Klinginsmith says the district is still working to determine how to overcome the attendance dilemma, with staff and administrators already making home visits and attempting to help families overcome barriers to getting to school.“We’re going to continue to bring awareness to the importance of attendance,” said Klinginsmith. “These are the same things we’ve been doing for a while. We’re always trying to work with families in getting to school.”Klinginsmith says he is hopeful the implementation of the four-day school week for 2019-20 will help raise those attendance numbers.There were areas in which R-III excelled, including graduation rate, where it received a perfect 30 out of 30 points for a third consecutive year.“Graduation rate is an area that I really think we do a wonderful job,” said Klinginsmith. “When we’re in the mid 90s, that’s really wonderful.”In the category of career and college readiness the district received 26 out of 30 possible points.Klinginsmith attributes some of the declining scores to struggles with teacher retention.“We had such a high teacher turnover that some of our scores dipped,” said Klinginsmith. “We have people who haven’t been trained in how we do things in the district.”He says there will be special training sessions held this summer to help close those gaps and bring everyone onto the same page.Warren County R-III School District logo