Birmingham City Schools is continuing a four-year trend of improvement on Alabama’s State Report Card, raising its overall score to 79, up two points from last year.
District leaders announced the latest results Thursday at Hayes K-8 School, highlighting gains in academic achievement, graduation rates, college and career readiness, and student attendance.
The district’s overall score has increased seven points since 2023, when it received a 72. Despite the improvement, Birmingham City Schools remains at a C. Superintendent Mark Sullivan said the district is within reach of its next goal.
“We are six tenths of a point away from a B,” Sullivan said.
The latest report card also shows an increase in the number of schools receiving higher grades. The number of BCS campuses earning an A or B rose from five in the 2022-23 school year to 12 this year. All district high schools maintained or improved their letter grades during that period.
One of the most notable improvements came at Hayes, where the school moved from an F to a C, increasing its score by 13 points in one year. The school had appeared on the state’s failing schools list every year since the category was established in 2009.
Former Hayes principal Jerry Davenport credited the improvement to a collective effort involving students, teachers, school staff, district leaders and community partners. He said getting students into the classroom consistently was a major part of the school’s progress.
“These students committed to coming to school every single day last year, and because they came, we was able to get them the instruction that they needed,” Davenport said.
Attendance and academic progress
Chronic absenteeism has been one of the district’s most significant areas of improvement. The rate declined from 29% in 2023 to 11% this year.
Sullivan said the district examined why students were missing school and found that some families were dealing with housing instability, transportation challenges and other barriers.
In response, the school system partnered with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office through a program called Helping Families, which connects families with resources such as clothing and shelter. The district also arranged bus transportation for some students who lived within two miles of their schools, a distance that does not qualify for state transportation reimbursement.
Another partnership with the city, called Every Day Counts, provided financial incentives through a drawing to encourage consistent attendance. Sullivan said participation grew from fewer than 30 qualifying families early in the year to more than 300 by the end of the school year.
“Putting those things in place, we saw a huge decrease in our chronic absenteeism,” Sullivan said.
The district also reported progress in other areas between the 2022-23 and 2025-26 school years:
- Academic proficiency increased from 20.25% to 29.13%.
- College and career readiness increased from 59.46% to 83.69%.
- The graduation rate increased from 82.98% to 87.72%.
Chief Academic Officer Pamela Williams said the district has expanded targeted interventions, tutoring, summer learning and other academic support to help students meet grade-level expectations.
She said the focus moving forward will be on maintaining consistency in classroom instruction rather than introducing new initiatives.
Math remains a challenge
While district leaders celebrated the improvements, Sullivan acknowledged not every school improved and that math achievement remains a concern.
He said math scores have not rebounded as strongly as reading scores following the COVID-19 pandemic. The district plans to place additional emphasis on math instruction across grade levels.
Sullivan said consistent implementation of instructional programs and identifying schools that need additional support will be important to sustaining the district’s progress. The district plans to continue high-dosage tutoring, targeted instruction and optional learning opportunities during school breaks.
For now, Sullivan says the goal is to build on the latest results and move the district closer to a B.
“Our students can be shoulder to shoulder, toe to toe with anybody in this state and in this nation,” Sullivan said.
