BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
The Mahomet-Seymour School District received a “Commendable” designation on the Illinois Report Card, which was released on Oct. 30.
Each year, the Illinois State Board of Education gives schools summative designations based on data provided.
Schools receive Exemplary School, Commendable School, Underperforming School, and Lowest-Performing School designations.
Mahomet-Seymour High School, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School and Lincoln Trail Elementary receive “Commendable” designations. Middletown Prairie Elementary did not receive a designation.
With 3,181 students district-wide, enrollment in the Mahomet-Seymour School District continues to grow.
From 2015 to 16, enrollment increased by eight students, then by 16 students from 2016 to 2017. Enrollment in 2018 enrollment increased by 44 students from 2017 and from 2018 to 19 enrollment increased by 68 students.
Grades 2, 4, 6 and 9 saw the largest increases at 13, 34, 40 and 37 students, respectively.
The district has 21-percent low-income students, which is near typical. It also has a consistent rate of 10-percent of students with IEP’s over the last five years.
The report shows that chronic absenteeism, meaning students who miss 10-percent or more of school with or without a valid excuse, remained the same over the last two years at 15-percent.
But chronic truism rates, 5-percent or more of school days per year without a valid excuse, is rising. In 2015 and 2016, the rate was 1-percent, 2017 and 2018 it was 2-percent and in 2019 it was at 3-percent.
High School drop-out percentages also increased. In 2015-2016 the district reported zero, but in 2017 and 2018, drop-outs were at 1-percent and in 2019 they were reported at 3-percent.
A five-year look at 4-year graduation rates showed them holding steady. In 2015, 90-percent of the class graduated within four years, in 2016 it rose to 95-percent and in 2017, 92-percent graduated in four years. In 2018 and 2019, 91-percent of the class graduated in four years.
Prior to coming into Mahomet-Seymour High School, eighth-graders at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School who pass Algebra I were at 25-percent, in 2019. In 2016 and 2017, 46-percent and 38-percent of eighth-graders passed Algebra I.
As a class, 91-percent of freshmen were on track to graduate in 2019. The percentage was at 93-percent in 2017 and 2018 as it has risen from 90-percent in 2016 and 88-percent in 2015.
Mahomet-Seymour students see above-state-average scores on their SAT test. In 2017, students received an average score of 564.5 on the English Language Assessment (ELA) part of the test and a 581.4 on Math.
Math scores rose in 2018 with an average of 605 as did ELA scores at 583.9. In 2019, M-S students scored an average of 548.1 on ELA and 578.5 on Math.
A little more than one-third of the Mahomet-Seymour student body in grades 11 and 12 have taken college courses for credit and/or AP courses since 2016.
Since graduating in 2019, 75-percent of Mahomet-Seymour graduates have enrolled in college. That number is down from 2018 and 2016 when it was 80-percent. In 2017, the rate was 76 percent and in 2015, the rate was 78 percent.
The district spends roughly $9,000 per student enrolled. According to ISBE’s report, the district spends $10,815 per student at Mahomet-Seymour High School. Expenditures per student at Middletown Prairie Elementary are at $8,352 per student and $8,333 per student at Lincoln Trail Elementary. The district spends $8,218 per student at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District was designated at a Tier 2 school for Evidence-Based Funding in 2019. At $22,193,057 Evidence-Based Funding Resources, they are at 66-percent capacity to meet the $33,579.603 Adequacy Target.
Average class size throughout the Mahomet-Seymour School District has been above the state average since 2015, but the ISBE report shows that the district is closing the gap.
Kindergarten classes in 2019 are on par with the state average at 21 students per class.
Grade 1 and 2 are within one to two students per class of the state average at 22.7 and 23.4, but the gap widens in grade 3, 4 and 5 where they are two to five students over state average per class size.
Grade 6 class size average is 29.3 while the state average is 23.2. That trend continues in grades 7 and 8 where class sizes are 25.7 and 27.6 when the state average is 22.8 and 22.6, respectively.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District, which has a total of 181 teachers has a student to teacher ratio of 21.1 at the elementary level and 20.1 at the high school level. The state average is 18.1 at the elementary level and 19.1 at the state level.
The teacher retention rate, the 3-year average percentage of teachers returning to work at Mahomet-Seymour holds steady with the state, at 86-percent. The 2019 percentage dropped from 89-percent in 2018.
On average, teachers within the Mahomet-Seymour School district see a lower salary than their state-wide counterparts. This has held true at least since 2015.
Currently, on average, Mahomet-Seymour teachers are paid $54,095 per year. The state average is $67,049.
The percentage of teachers who are absent more than 10 days per year fell in 2019. In 2017 and 2018, 71-percent of teachers had fewer than 10 absences within the school year, but in 2019, 81-percent of teachers missed fewer than 10 days.
Since 2017, 100-percent of Mahomet-Seymour teachers have received Excellent or Proficient designations on their evaluations.
The Mahomet-Seymour School District falls behind the state average of administration to student ratio. The state average of admins to students was 173:1 in 2019, but Mahomet-Seymour was at 245:1.
Average administrator pay was closer to the state average, though. In 2019, Mahomet-Seymour administrators made an average of $103,351 whereas the state administrators made an average of $109,592.
