Bibb County Schools Superintendent plans to boost literacy, attendance and staffing

Dr. Dan Sims' State of the District highlights plans for literacy improvement, tackling absenteeism and enhancing staff benefits

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Bibb County School District Superintendent Dr. Dan Sims laid out his plan for tackling key issues in the district during his State of the District address on Thursday.

Dr. Sims said district will be focusing on five areas: literacy, engagement, chronic absenteeism, mental health and wellness and recruitment and retention.

Chronic absenteeism is a big problem in the district, with more than 26% of students missing 11 days or more of the school year. To combat this issue, the district has created breakthrough teams in many of its schools to have daily contact with absent students and make home visits.

The district is also working on improving literacy. Dr. Sims mentioned says the district has a strong curriculum that leaders want to continue to strengthen to make students more competent and confident in reading on all grade levels.

“Having the State of the District address and giving us real data where students are performing well and some of the challenges really helps us to understand better what our needs are as a community and how we can help the school district,” Sylvia McGee with Read United and United Way of Central Georgia said.

Dr. Sims also spoke about the district’s plan for recruitment and retention.

“My priorities moving forward is compensation,” he said. “We realize that that is something that helps us recruit and retain the best and brightest, so that will be a part of our focus for our upcoming budgets, not just this year, but in years to come.”

He also announced the district’s plans to introduce electric buses.

Also Thursday, Wesleyan College announced its partnership with the Bibb County School District. The college will offer a $5,000 scholarship to Bibb County School District employees who want to return to school for a master’s degree.