Mathews school district ranks excellent on state report card, chief says

By JORDAN A. COHEN

news@vindy.com

VIENNA

For the first time, the Mathews Local School District has been rated “excellent” by the Ohio Department of Education.

Superintendent Lee Seiple said that the designation is based on 29 standards that districts are required to meet. Seiple said Mathews easily exceeded the minimum requirements in 28 of the 29 in the previously concluded 2009-2010 school year.

“My staff has been diligent in making sure our students are prepared to meet the minimum standards but we don’t want to be just minimum,” Seiple said.

According to the ODE website, Mathews had previously been rated “effective” for the 2008-2009 school year, a step below the “excellent” designation.

The rating is based on student proficiency tests in reading, mathematics, writing and science in grades three through eight, additional proficiency testing for 10th and 11th grades, graduation rates and attendance.

The state’s minimum passing standards for proficiency tests is 75 percent. Seiple said many of Mathews’ scores in the various grades easily exceeded 90 percent.

The Ohio Department of Education refused to release report-card scores for other districts in the Valley until their official release date Friday.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.