NATCHEZ &045; The ninth-grade and high school principals gave their state-of-the-schools presentations to the Natchez-Adams School District Thursday, and the status of the schools is both positive and negative.

Principal Allison Lack was the first to give a presentation, which turned out to be a rather grim look at Natchez ninth-grade. She reported that of the 358 students enrolled in the ninth grade, 97 are overage repeaters, 37 have repeated more than one grade and 54 have repeated the ninth grade.

&uot;I have one student repeating four times. To me, this is a very sad story,&uot; Lack said.

The report was not easy for board members to hear.

&uot;That’s one-fourth of the enrollment, and I know some of those students are repeated in the statistics. I hope our district can do something. It is just shocking,&uot; Kenneth Taylor, school board secretary, said.

Lack said some of the problems stem from the students who are socially promoted and get to a point where they don’t want to be in school. She also said the layout of the high school campus makes it easy for ninth-graders to associate with students in upper grade levels and some students fall under the wrong influences in that atmosphere.

&uot;They often leave the campus. We catch them later, but the campus makes it difficult to keep them from leaving,&uot; she said.

Natchez High School principal Bobby D. Brown gave the presentation for 10th through 12th grades. Citing statistics for 1999 through 2001, Brown gave a more optimistic look at the upper grade levels at the high school.

Brown showed board members bar graphs and charts detailing the progressive increase in student test scores. Scores in English II and Function Literacy exams are above the state average. &uot;We’re moving in the right direction,&uot; he said.

The principal said the school is strong in areas of staff certification, course selection, athletic facilities and computer technology.

&uot;I think we’re one of the top technological high schools in Mississippi,&uot; he said.

Brown gave credit to those who participated in Wednesday’s career day. He said it’s the willingness of the community to participate in education that can make a difference in a schools success or failure.

&uot;Our community is why we are moving forward,&uot; he said.

In presenting the weaknesses, Brown said the school’s auditorium was too small. He also said there is a need for a written academic curriculum so students and parents will have &uot;a roadmap&uot; to guide them through the courses and requirements in high school.

In other business, eight teachers were given special recognition and presented with Teacher of the Year certificates and one was nominated for state Teacher of the Year.

The teachers of the year were Rose Anderson, Frazier Primary; Pam Hilton, West Primary; Aquetta Butler, McLaurin Elementary; Willie Mae Jones, Morgantown Elementary; Doris Malone, Central Alternative School; and Danny Parsons, Fallin Career and Technology Center. Nominated for state teacher of the year was Aquetta Butler.

The board also recognized Susan Mingee of Natchez for receiving her National Board Certification in the area of Early Childhood through Young Adult Library Media. She is one of 25 librarians in the state of Mississippi to achieve this certification.