In Clayton County, schools try to meet growing needs with less money

As dozens of 3-year-olds pile out of their parents’ cars in front of the new Riverdale Early Learning Center, their principal, Enika Bryant, is there to warmly greet them. Many are dressed in Western gear to celebrate the day’s theme.

“Good morning, good morning, good morning! Awesome hat!” Bryant says as the children exit their vehicles.

Clad in a plaid shirt, a fringed vest, boots, a cowboy hat and a welcoming smile, Bryant makes sure every child is safely inside the building before turning to enter herself. Her energy matches the children’s as she points out features of the new building that opened this year.

“The architect … wanted (the building) to be bright, airy, very, very student-appropriate,” she says, pointing to brightly-painted walls and floors in different shades of green and large windows that let in plenty of light.

The center, which is part of the Clayton County school system, has pre-kindergarten classes for 3- and 4-year-olds and kindergarten classes. Next year, it will expand to include first graders.

And expectations are high.

“We want our kindergartners — our entering kindergarteners — we really would love for them to be able to read,” assistant superintendent Erica Johnson said.

What lies beneath

What may not be immediately clear to visitors is that this bright, cheerful place is meeting a critical need in the county.

“Students are showing up in our early grades with greater needs and gaps,” said Keith Colbert, the school district’s senior chief of staff for academics and operations. “The kindergarten readiness gap. Students have intensive, real needs early on, but the enrollment is dropping.”

Declining enrollment means less money is coming into the district. Last spring, the district enrolled roughly 50,000 students, almost 2,500 fewer students than it did five years before. The school board recently approved a millage rate increase to shore up its estimated budget of $1.3 billion.

Nearly 55% of third graders in the county were reading below grade level on the most recent state-issued annual tests, compared to 32.5% of third graders statewide.

Clayton officials hope serving students as young as 3 years old, when state law doesn’t require school attendance until age 6, will help address some of these problems. Research shows the earlier kids learn things like numbers and letter sounds, the better prepared they are for kindergarten. The early learning center has a class for 3-year-olds with special needs, such as speech delays.

There are signs at the early learning center that the strategies are working. In Makeba Frazier’s kindergarten class, for example, students have trays of colored sand in front of them. Frazier reads them a word and they have to write the letter the word starts with in the sand with their finger.

“Our first word is ‘marshmallow,’” she says. “’M’ says ‘mmmm,’” the students respond, drawing the letter ‘m’ in the sand.

The hope is that this multisensory approach — where students hear, see, write and say the letter — will help it stick. Every classroom is using a method called Orton-Gillingham, which helps students learn to read and spell partly by breaking words apart into sounds.

In addition to preparation gaps, economic hardships are another challenge for the school district. State data shows about 70% of students in the Clayton County school system are economically disadvantaged, compared to 47.5% of students statewide. It’s the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students among metro Atlanta’s largest school districts. The tax base is lower than surrounding areas, meaning the district can’t afford to pay teachers as much as districts like Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Atlanta Public Schools.

During a recent summit at Clayton State University on social mobility, Clayton Superintendent Douglas Hendrix shared a stage with APS Superintendent Bryan Johnson. The two men joked about competing for teachers, with Hendrix reminding the audience that Johnson has said he plans to bring the average APS teacher salary up to $100,000.

“If you stay a teacher for your whole career, unless you work for APS, you’ll never get rich,” Hendrix said.

“We’re unapologetic about compensation,” Johnson shot back, then turned toward Hendrix and added, “I’m going to recruit you, Doug.”

“If you keep paying like you’re paying, I might (accept),” Hendrix joked.

This year, a new, certified teacher in APS earns a starting salary of $62,434. In Clayton, the same teacher would receive $57,809. That’s not an enormous difference, but it increases over time. A fifth-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree earns $68,851 in APS. In Clayton, that teacher gets $59,604.

The most recent state data shows Clayton County has an 81% teacher retention rate, compared to 82% in APS and 90.4% statewide.

That kind of competition means principals like Michael Faison have to be creative. Faison has been the principal of Riverdale Elementary School for more than 12 years, when it was located on the site of the early learning center. Now, the school is 4.5 miles away from its former location.

Faison understands his students’ needs and greets them by name as he walks through the hallways. Many of them stop for a hug, which he doesn’t hesitate to give. He’s well aware of the challenges his students face. State data shows 72.3% of Riverdale Elementary’s students are considered economically disadvantaged. Additionally, 60.7% of the school’s third graders were reading below grade level on the most recent state-issued annual tests.

He shows off the school’s “Because We Care” closet, where kids can grab snacks, uniforms, shoes and other essentials.

“There is a lot of need in most communities, but in particular our community, there’s quite a bit of need,” he says, adding that he partners with the Atlanta Community Food Bank for monthly food giveaways.

Passion over paychecks

Faison knows he can’t lure teachers with fat salaries, so his goal is to establish a warm, supportive culture for teachers.

“Teachers are often underappreciated, and so … we want to go all out to let teachers know, ‘You are appreciated. What you do is important. You are a difference maker.’ That’s what we sell them on,” he said.

Faison points to an area where staff members are setting up for a banquet to celebrate the school’s Teacher of the Year. The district has a celebration, but he wants his honoree to feel special, he said. Faison points to a teacher’s classroom door that’s been decorated for his birthday as another example of showing appreciation.

Faison said he also tries to build an internal pipeline by encouraging paraprofessionals to earn their teaching degrees.

A few days a week, Faison partners with local vendors who bring food trucks and sell sandwiches to teachers if they don’t want to eat cafeteria food.

“It’s one of the selling points when you’re trying to attract teachers,” he said. “’Hey, let’s go to Riverdale. They’re going to have a food truck. Hey, let’s go to Riverdale. The sandwich person comes over there.’”

His teachers, though, seem to be drawn to the school’s culture and the work they’re doing. Kindergarten teacher Philomena Eugene said she’s committed to teaching in Clayton.

“It’s my county for one,” she said. “I live (here), and I love to see kids succeed. One thing I notice in our county is the reading is low, and I love teaching foundation, and I love teaching the kindergarteners because that’s where they get most of that foundation from.”

Zentrina Choice is a first-year teacher. She wanted to be at Riverdale Elementary because of the way Faison and the rest of the staff welcomed her.