To comply with a new state law, the Vicksburg Warren School District is making public its own report card today.

Required by the Children First Act of 2009 signed into law in April by Gov. Haley Barbour, the report card was developed and issued by the Mississippi Department of Education. A report was issued for each of the state’s 152 school districts.

“It is basically a snapshot of the district,” said Pete Smith, communications director for the state education department. “The law requires that a copy of that report be placed in each school district office and be available for public viewing. It also requires the district to place an ad (reproducing the report) in a local newspaper.”

Click here for the report card

The VWSD ad is on page A3 in the The Vicksburg Post today.

“We thought the public should know about the performance of the local school district,” said state Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, on the Legislature’s directive. It was not meant to imply that local school officials were withholding information, but to make it easier for people to find, he said. “People should know how the schools are performing so they can made decisions about where to send their kids to school.”

The state also requires school districts to follow a fixed format for informing residents about tax levies. Counties and cities do not face such requirements, nor does the state.

Information in the report mirrors rankings reported a month ago when released by state officials. Otherwise, the report is a profile of the district broken down by various data categories, provided for both the district and, for comparison, the state.

Student information includes enrollment, percentage classified as special education, racial makeup and average daily attendance as well as graduation rates, drop-out rates and occupational diplomas issued.

Staff data includes total employees, total number of teachers, teachers who are sports-certified and those who’ve earned the Highly Qualified endorsement.

District economic data includes local millage rates, debt service, revenue sources and per-pupil expenditures.

The Children’s First Act gave districts until Nov. 1 to publish the report card, Smith said, but an extension was required this year because the state had not issued the new accountability ratings that are part of the report card. Smith said for 2009 districts were asked to publish the report card before Dec. 31.

The 2009 accountability ratings for districts and schools state-wide were released Nov. 23.

VWSD was rated At-Risk of Failing, the sixth of seven possible classifications.

Among individual schools, Bowmar Elementary was the highest-rated in the district, earning a High Performing rank, the second-highest possible. Beechwood Elementary posted a Successful or third-best rating.

The two were followed by Bovina, Redwood and Warren Central High School, rated Academic Watch, or fourth. The district’s other schools — South Park and Warrenton elementaries, Vicksburg and Warren Central intermediates, Vicksburg and Warren Central junior highs and Vicksburg High School — were classified as At-Risk of Failing.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com