WATCH: Full interview with Jefferson City School District Superintendent Bryan McGraw
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jefferson City School District Superintendent Bryan McGraw is gearing up for the 2024-25 school year.
The district is focused on staffing for teachers, safety and increasing attendance each year since the COVID-19 pandemic. McGraw spoke with ABC 17 News ahead of the first day of school on Monday.
Erika McGuire: I'm here speaking with Brian McGraw, superintendent of Jefferson City School District, and my first question for you, Mr. McGraw, is, what is the top priority for the district this school year?
Bryan McGraw You know, we were always focused pre-K through 12 on getting kids to school and and having them in seat attendance-wise, we put a big impact on it last year, and we saw a rise in our attendance. And when kids are with us, they achieve great things, and that showed in our MAP [Missouri Assessment Program tests] score increases this year, as well as our advanced placement scores that just recently came in. So the more they're with us, the better off we are, and they are. And so that's one of our big focuses.
McGuire: And what is staffing looking like for teachers, substitute teachers heading into the school year, and what's teacher retention looking like for the district?
McGraw: You know, you see out there nationwide, less and less people are getting in the profession. So it's always challenging to staff your buildings and staff them with the right people, champion people. You know, we preach that we're a district of champions and finding the right people to work here and work with our kids. And some of the things we've done is obviously focus on our pay scale, and we've increased that over the last three years. We've had back-to-back years with the highest raises in the history of the pay schedule.
We're bringing in people with more and more experience on that schedule, and then we're offered things like our pre-K program, where we got a grant from the state for child care. So a lot of our employees take advantage of that, where it's free and they can have their kids here while they work for us. So we have that in place. Also career ladder, which is a partnership with the state where teachers can earn up to $5,000 putting in extra time with our students. We have over 500 teachers participating in that. So it's a benefit to our students, it's a benefit to our staff. So many of those programs that we go on help with retaining good people.
McGuire: And then what is the protocol for people getting into school buildings? And what should parents know about safety heading into the school year?
McGraw: It's always a priority. It's a No. 1 priority. We have secure vestibules in all of our buildings, so that process will remain the same, where they have to buzz in to get in, into the school. And as far as safety in general, if they have any type of things that they hear or see on social media, to immediately report to us. We have a great partnership with Jefferson City Police Department. They're valuable members of our school community, and we want to constantly engage them, if there is an issue, and immediately respond.
McGuire: All right, I know you kind of already touched about attendance rates, but I had a question ready for that, if you want to maybe go a little bit deeper in and whether the district is seeing normal attendance rates since COVID-19.
McGraw: I think it was down coming out of COVID, and we've seen it increase more and more every year. We try to work with our parents to show them the importance of getting kids to school. I think that's the mindset of, if you have a little bit of sniffles and stay at home throughout COVID, obviously want people to be safe still. But, try to preach them to get to school, because the longer they're with us, the more their ability to succeed, it becomes greater.
McGuire: Is there anything else parents or students should know ahead of the 2024 25 school year?
McGraw: We have over 8,000 students here, 1,500 staff, and we, just creating a district of champions and looking for more people to join us in our mission of getting kids ready to have post-high school success.
