Here’s how MCSD schools rank in attendance from best to worst

While Muscogee County School District students enjoy their last few days of Christmas break, now is a good time to find out how often they get there. And that means analyzing the statewide attendance database for Georgia’s K-12 public schools.

The rankings are based on statistics from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. To make more valid comparisons, the Ledger-Enquirer included only county and city school districts in the rankings, eliminating special state schools, charter schools and online schools that are considered school districts.

5 or fewer absences

With 51.1 percent of its students absent five or fewer times in the 2016-17 school year, MCSD ranks 88^th out of the state’s 180 county or city school districts.

The state average is 53.1 percent. Wilkinson County ranks best in the state at 93.6 percent. Miller County ranks worst in the state at 28.8 percent.

Comparing the school districts in Georgia’s second-tier cities, MCSD ranks behind all of them: Chatham County (Savannah) is tied for 34th at 57 percent, Bibb County (Macon) is tied for 63^rd at 53 percent and Richmond County (Augusta) is 72^nd at 52.3 percent.

Comparing other school districts in the Columbus area, MCSD trails Harris County (tied for 46^th at 55.5 percent) but surpasses Troup (tied for 101^st at 50 percent) and Chattahoochee County (109^th at 49 percent).

Comparing schools within MCSD, Wesley Heights Elementary School has the best attendance rate, and Jordan Vocational High School has the worst. Out of 2,271 public schools in the state, Wesley Heights ranks 60^th with 78.2 percent of its students absent five or fewer times in 2016-17, and Jordan ranks 2,260th with 21.6 percent.

More than 15 absences

Comparing the districts according to the percentage of students with more than 15 absences, MCSD is 58^th in Georgia at 12.8 percent. That’s better than Richmond County (Augusta), which is tied for 33^rd at 14.1 percent, but worse than Bibb County (Macon), which is tied for 65^th at 12.5 percent, and Chatham County (Savannah), which is tied for 134^th at 8.9 percent.

The state average in this category is 11.2 percent. Miller County has the most at 28.9 percent, and Wilkinson County has the fewest at 0.4 percent.

Comparing other school districts in the Columbus area, MCSD is better in this category than Chattahoochee County, which is tied for 24^th at 15.2 percent, but worse than Troup County, which is tied for 75^th at 12.1 percent, and Harris County, which is tied for 144^th at 8.4 percent.

Comparing schools within MCSD, Jordan has the highest percentage of students with more than 15 absences, at 42.8 percent, ranking 14^th in the state. Britt David has the lowest percentage within MCSD in this category, at 1.7 percent, tied for 58^th fewest in the state.

Twenty-three Georgia schools had no student with more than 15 absences. Mountain Education Charter High School, with 16 sites and headquartered in Cleveland, Ga., has the most with 83.1 percent. The traditional school with the most is Phoenix High School in Whitfield County at 71.8 percent.

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Here’s how MCSD schools rank in attendance from best to worst."