Chesterfield Schools showing drastic increase of failing middle, high school students

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Data from Chesterfield County Public Schools shows a drastic increase of middle and high school students who are failing, a look at how students are doing in the virtual learning environment.

The numbers from Chesterfield Schools are from the first quarter, showing the percentage of students who failed two or more courses.

The rate of elementary students failing is pretty much the same between last year and this year, but if you take a look at the middle and high school students, there’s a big change.

More than double the number of middle school students failed, and nearly double the number of high school students failed. The school district said 4.76% of middle school students failed two or more courses in 2019 and 12.02% of students failed in 2020. 9.15% of high school students failed in 2019, 17.24% of students failed in 2020.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t surprising at all. I think that’s the expected outcome,” said Alden Eldredge, who has two middle school daughters.

Eldredge is against virtual learning.

“Academically, socially, psychologically it’s definitely digging some holes that are going to be challenging to get out of,” he said.

“I’m actually pleased to see that the number isn’t bigger than what it is because it could’ve been a whole lot bigger, but still even up with that jump in numbers what that says is it’s indicative of what were in,” said Sonia Smith, President of the Chesterfield Education Association.

The school district says these numbers will be presented at a school board work session next month but did say they have several ideas to help students. These ideas include home visits, daily advisory groups, and secondary after school tutoring programs, which are set to kick off in January.

NBC12 reached out to the school district, asking if someone is available to speak more extensively on this topic and haven’t heard back.

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