Carson City schools decline in math, English proficiencies mirroring statewide fall following COVID disruptions

English and math proficiencies and graduation rates in schools are dropping statewide, as well as closer to home, with 43 percent of Carson City students being English proficient, and only 26 percent being proficient in math, according to the Nevada Department of Education.

Additionally, Carson City has a chronic absenteeism rate of over 40 percent, significantly higher than statewide and regional numbers.

However, according to Carson City School District's Dan Davis, that is due to the fact that if students were exposed to a COVID-positive individual, they were required to isolate based on criteria set out by the CDC.

"We were putting the safety of our students before anything else," said Davis.

Despite this decline in statistics, Carson City's statistics are still generally higher than the statewide numbers when it comes to graduation rates, amount spent per student, and more.

Data has been fluctuating since the pandemic had children in and out of school, but in the 2020-2021 school year year, all assessments were required.

However, the 95 percent participation requirement for assessments was waived, thus assessment reporting for 2020-21 may look different than in prior years.

2020-2021 at a glance in Carson City

There are 7,500 total students enrolled across 13 schools, taught by 492 teachers.

There is $11,101 listed as per pupil expenditures, and there is an 84.04 percent (Down from 86.8 percent in 2020) graduation rate.

There is a 40.9 percent chronic absenteeism rate.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 10 or more days of school within a school year whether or not the were excused, which was directly linked to COVID isolation, according to Davis.

English Language Arts Proficiency:

• Elementary 38.2 percent
• Middle 42 percent
• High 49.3 percent

Math Proficiency:

• Elementary 34.4 percent
• Middle 23.3 percent
• High 21.2 percent

In the 2018-19 school year, 45.6 percent of students were proficient in English and 33 percent were proficient in Math.

Safety

There were 19 total instances of bullying reported, with 4 leading to suspensions.

There were 4 bullying and cyber bullying incidents that resulted in suspension from school.

There were 38 suspensions resulting from violence to other students, and one suspension resulting from violence to school staff.

Six suspensions were due to possession of weapons, while 18 were due to possession or use of a controlled substance.

Two suspensions were the result of distribution of controlled substances, and one was due to the possession or use of alcohol.

Lyon County, Douglas County comparisons

Lyon County

In Lyon County, there are 8,817 students enrolled across 20 schools taught by 524 teachers, with an average of $10,830 spent per pupil.

There is an 85.58 graduation rate and Lyon County has an 18.5 percent chronic absenteeism.

There were 3 instances of bullying and cyber bullying resulting in suspension. Five suspensions were caused by violence to other students, 1 was for violence to school staff, 1 was for possession of weapons, and 5 were for possession or use of a controlled substance.

English Language Arts Proficiency:

• 
Elementary 34.3 percent, lower than Carson City
• Middle 34.9 percent, lower than Carson City
• High 36.1 percent, lower than Carson City

Math Proficiency:

• Elementary 24.5 percent, lower than Carson City
• Middle 18.1 percent, lower than Carson City
• High 18.8 percent, lower than Carson City

In the 2018-2019 school year, an average of 42.5 percent of Lyon County students were proficient in English, and 30 percent of students were proficient in math.

In Lyon County, 86.6 percent of students are graduating, higher than in Carson City.

Douglas County

In Douglas County, there are 5,385 total students enrolled across 17 schools and taught by 362 teachers, with $11,067 spent per pupil.

Douglas County has a graduation rate of 88.9 percent with a chronic absenteeism rate of 16.9 percent.

There were 8 suspensions due to bullying, 1 due to violence to an other student, 4 from possession of weapons, and 8 for possession or use of a controlled substance. One student was expelled for possession or use of a controlled substance.

English Language Arts Proficiency:

• Elementary 52.8 percent, higher than Carson City
• Middle 48.8 percent, higher than Carson City
• High 51.9 percent, higher than Carson City

Math Proficiency:

• Elementary 45.4 percent, higher than Carson City
• Middle 31.1 percent, higher than Carson City
• High 26.8 percent, higher than Carson City

In the 2018-19 school year, 56 percent of Douglas County students were proficient in English and 43.6 percent were proficient in Math.

Statewide Comparisons

Carson City has had a higher graduation rate than the state by approximately 2 percent consistently throughout the past three years.

Carson City also has a higher average daily attendance of over 94 percent, while the state is at 92 percent.

Statewide, 43.6 percent of students are proficient in English, and 25.2 percent are proficient in math.

This is a decrease from 48.9 percent in English and 34.4 percent in math in the 2018-19 school year.

Carson City currently has a higher chronic absenteeism rate of 40.9 percent versus 31.2 percent at the state level. However, in the 2018-19 school year, that percentage was lower than the state's at 15.3 and 18.8, respectively.

Carson City class sizes are similar to statewide class sizes, with between 21 and 25 students per core subject.

Carson City has a higher student to teacher ratio at 21:1 versus the state’s 19:1, meaning for every 21 students there is one teacher to teach them.

Carson City has a transiency rate of 24.4 percent, much higher than the state’s 18.7 percent. Transiency rate reflects the percentage go students who are not enrolled in the school for the entire reporting school year.

Carson City is less credit deficient than the average state student; 20.8 percent of 9th graders in Carson City are credit deficient versus 23.8 percent of 9th graders statewide. Those numbers both drop by 12th grade, with 12 percent of Carson City seniors being credit deficient versus 13.3 percent of seniors statewide.

Teachers are attending school daily slightly less in Carson City than they are statewide, with 91.7 percent of teachers attending school daily versus 98.6 percent statewide.

Carson City hosts more professionally qualified teachers, with 23.4 percent being deemed highly effective employees, versus statewide numbers of only 17.3 percent.

Carson City is also spending more per pupil at $11,100 per student versus $9,607 statewide.

All statistical information obtained from Nevada Report Card.