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NATCHEZ — It wasn’t until taking a closer look at the numbers in preparation for Thursday’s school board meeting that Natchez Adams School District Superintendent Zandra McDonald said she knew the answer to the question, “How close were we” to being a B school district.

“We were only 9 points to a B,” she said.

The near B grade McDonald referred to is the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System performance rating of A, B, C, D or F assigned to each school and district based on established criteria regarding student achievement, individual student growth, graduation rate, and participation rate.

Statewide assessments are used to measure proficiency and growth in proficiency for students in grades 3 through 8 and high school students taking end-of-course subject area assessments in Algebra I, English II, Biology and U.S. History.

To be a B district a score of at least 599 points is needed and NASD scored 590, McDonald said.

In 2023, the district scored 584 points and lost its B rating earned in 2022 with 614 points

However, school board officials did not show any disappointment at the news of being just shy of a B during Thursday’s meeting.

“I want to really commend all of the teachers and administration because when I look at us as a C district, I know it’s actually at least a B based on the composition of the students that we have — the socioeconomically disadvantaged kids that we have,” said school board Vice President Phillip West.

As for each school’s rating, Gilmer McLaurin Elementary earned a B; Morgantown Elementary earned a B; Susie B. West Elementary earned a C; Natchez High School and Natchez Early College together earned a C; and Natchez Middle School earned a D.

An A rating requires 668 points, McDonald said.

“Just to give us an idea of where we come from, in 2019 we were a 517 D,” she said. “We’ve steadily increased to the point where we are now.”

McDonald said the district is moving with purpose in its reorganization of all its elementary schools to evenly disperse highly qualified teachers in the district.

“It was not just about enrollment,” she said. “We want to make certain that our students have equitable access to high-quality instruction.”

Statewide, 85.7 percent of schools and 93.9 percent of districts earned a grade of C or higher.

NASD is among 23.6 percent of school districts in the state with a C rating, while 36.5 percent of school systems earned an A rating.

“Our goal is to be an A-rated school district,” McDonald said.