Professional Staff and Enrollment

In 1992, the professional staff numbered 355. Three-quarters of that number were assigned to kindergartens, elementary, secondary, vocational classes, and to the preschool program. The remaining were librarians and teachers for reading, art, music, physical education, and resource classes.

Minimum qualifications for teachers are a bachelor's degree, state certification, and a satisfactory medical report. Approximately 70 percent of the teachers hold the master's degree or above. A number of teachers within the system have been recognized on the state and national level as teachers of the year. All the schools in the system are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The city has seven public schools. Four elementary schools serve 1,987 pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade; two junior high schools, grades six through nine, serve 1,381 students; and 1,036 students in grades 10 through 12 attend the high school. All schools are integrated. The dropout rate is less than 2 percent. The pupil-teacher ratio is fairly constant at 22 to 1, although some classes may be larger or smaller because of scheduling or enrollment adjustment.