Christian County School System Superintendent Mary Ann Gemmill was the featured speaker for a Chamber of Commerce Eye Opener Breakfast this morning, where she gave her State of the Schools address.

Ms. Gemmill spoke to a large crowd at the Bruce Convention Center for about a half hour, focusing much of her time looking at recent testing data and putting it into context. She also focused on broader issues such as the dropout rate.

Ms. Gemmill says when students are truant from school as a child, it makes it more likely they’ll drop out when they get older.

Superintendent Gemmill talked about the need for more long-range planning by the school system, saying every bit of looking ahead must be done in the context of promoting student academic achievement.

State Representative John Tilley, State Senator-Elect Whitney Westerfield and Todd County School System Superintendent Wayne Benningfield were among those in attendance. You can hear Ms. Gemmill’s entire speech Sunday morning at 9am on our public affairs program “Don’t Be Afraid to Say It” on Lite 98.7.

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11/29/2012/am