A year ago, the Oklahoma Department of Education’s Office of Accountability released school report cards for public schools in Oklahoma for the 2021-22 school year.

Of the 25 Sequoyah County schools, 19 received overall grades of Cs and Ds — and the overall grades were better than many of the grades for the five individual categories that factored into the overall grade.

While grades were often dismal for categories such as academic achievement, graduation, academic growth and English language proficiency progress, grading associated with chronic absenteeism was often littered with Ds and Fs.

Such was the case for Roland Public Schools.

Roland High School received an overall grade of D, while Roland Middle School and Roland Elementary received overall grades of C. The three schools also received the same letter grades for academic achievement.

But the most glaring failures were for chronic absenteeism, where all Roland schools received an F. That, however, was last year.

This year, Roland is one of 117 schools in the state that showed enough improvement to no longer be designated Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) sites, a federal designation which closely corresponds to the State Report Card “F List.”

Each of the 117 schools showed remarkable progress and is showing the nation that Oklahoma is leading in education reform and improvements in student achievement, and several schools have shown tremendous gains in the past year, State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in announcing the record turnaround of failing schools.

To be sure, Roland superintendent Lori Wiggins and her staff took the 2021-22 results seriously, and resolved to rehabilitate the district’s grades.

“Although this was not the light we wanted shined on our district [for 2021-22], administrators and staff dove into the process and accepted the challenge to improve above and beyond the needed requirements,” Wiggins said. “Roland Public Schools has met the criteria to be removed from the CSI list. We were confident that this would be the case when we were initially designated.

“End-of-year testing and reports from the 2022-23 school year showed increases in the areas of concerns over the 2021-22 year period, which was sufficient to be removed from the list even before the 2023-24 school year is complete,” she said.

“The additional funds received from this program were used to enhance curriculum, and brought about scheduling changes that will stay in play long after these funds have been depleted.”

According to a list released by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, of county high schools that received an overall grade of D a year ago, Roland was the only school to earn recognition for the dramatic improvement.

Other county high schools from last year with an overall grade of D were Belfonte, Gans, Marble City and Vian.

Likewise, Roland Middle School and Roland Elementary achieved a turnaround this year after last year’s overall grade of C. Other county schools earning an overall grade of C a year ago, but not listed this year among those having turned things around, were Brushy Public School, Central Elementary, Central High School, Gans Elementary, Gore Elementary, Gore Upper Elementary, Gore High School, Sallisaw Eastside Elementary, Sallisaw Middle School, Sallisaw High School, Vian Elementary, Vian Middle School and Vian High School.

Nearby Webbers Falls, in Muskogee County, also received an overall grade of C for its elementary and high school.

A year ago, the two most successful schools were Muldrow Middle School and Moffett Public School. Muldrow Middle School received A’s and Bs in all categories, and Moffett earned Bs across the board.

Likewise a year ago, half as many schools received an A for chronic absenteeism as those that received an F. Earning the top grade in the category were Brushy Elementary, Vian Middle School and all three Muldrow campuses. Those receiving the lowest grade in the category were Belfonte Elementary, Gans Elementary, Gore Middle and High Schools, Marble City Elementary, Roland middle and high schools, Vian High School, and Sallisaw Eastside Elementary as well as Sallisaw middle and high schools.

Statewide a year ago, schools received Bs for academic growth and English language proficiency progress, Cs for academic achievement and postsecondary opportunities, and Ds for chronic absenteeism and graduation.