| COMMENT By Bob Weaver
Recognizing the academic achievement of students at Calhoun Middle-High School is taking a back seat again, with the school system failing to issue an Honor Roll for publication.
Following the dwindling of the Honor Roll during school year 2008-09, it was essentially discontinued during school year 2009-10.
A story on the Herald broached the issue and school officials declared the importance of a published Honor Roll and promised to issue it in a timely manner.
See CALHOUN MIDDLE-HIGH SCHOOL HONOR ROLL DISAPPEARS AGAIN
While the school managed to issue an Honor Roll most of school year 2010-11, they forgot at least once, issuing it after being reminded, and have now failed to issue it for the final quarter, five weeks into the summer break.
In 2010, principal Karen Kirby said, "I personally have not had anyone comment to me on the subject."
Former board president Cynthia Dale said she had not received any complaints about dropping the Honor Roll, but believed in its' academic recognition.
In 2010, Calhoun Superintendent of Schools Roger Propst indicated there was a lack of resources to compile and issue the honor roll, although school officials in other counties said it should be fairly easy to compile with a computerized program.
"We sometimes have to get quite creative in being able to accomplish tasks," Propst said.
Principal Kirby said parents can get an instant report about academic progress through the Edline program, indicating the new technology could be surpassing a published Honor Roll.
Honor Rolls are still published in neighboring counties.
Propst said in 2010 that the Calhoun school system would stick with publishing an Honor Roll, which would be issued in 7-10 days following completion of the reporting period.
The Herald will decline to publish sporadic Honor Rolls issued by the school system.
The Herald has maintained that students should be recognized for their academic achievement, particularly since Calhoun Middle-High School has failed to reach No Child Left Behind academic standards four of the last five years, not meeting Average Yearly Progress.
Many educators, however, question the value of NCLB standards, saying they are based on a set of flawed principles.
Unfortunately, the Calhoun School system often fails to report on its successes, most recently not publicly recognizing the Teacher of the Year and the Service Person of the Year.
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