NEWPORT, Ky. — Report card grades are out for schools across Northern Kentucky, and the Newport Independent School District ranked last in the Northern Kentucky region.
The biggest areas of concern highlighted in the report were early reading, writing and science proficiency. According to the Department of Education's report card data, only 11% of all Newport elementary schoolers were proficient or distinguished in science for the 2025-2026 school year. Meanwhile, 8% proficient of elementary schoolers were listed proficient/distinguished in writing.
Newport students also continue to lag well behind the state average in SAT and ACT testing scores.
"We do take responsibility and we're doing the really hard work to give our kids what they deserve," Superintendent Matt Atkins said Monday.
We asked Atkins what's behind those deficiencies.
WATCH: Newport Independent School District responds to district's struggles, promises improvements
"I wouldn't say that there's one thing that's caused something, but there's also things that we were facing last year," Atkins said. "We had a lot of teacher turnover. So with that said, we really wanted to address our new teacher onboarding systems, making sure they have a mentor, they receive a lot of professional learning before the school year gets started, but then also all throughout the school year."
Teacher turnover has been a problem, with the district recording 37.6% teacher turnover for the 2025-2026 school year, a four-year high. This comes as teachers have actually reported increasingly high work condition satisfaction in the district.
"I think there's a lot of a lot of factors in terms of the reason why a teacher could leave," Atkins said. "We have to focus on what we can control in terms of creating a safe learning environment [and] making sure we're supporting our teachers."
However, the district has seen strides in some middle and high school student outcomes, particularly in reported quality of school climate. Now, the district is focused on where it can improve going forward.
"Last school year we started that [improvement] with teacher leaders and district leaders really looking at our current curriculum we're using," Atkins said. "What are the strengths, what are the areas that are not so strong within those curriculums, and then giving them voice and selecting those new curriculums."
You can find more information on how each district fared in this year's report cards on the Kentucky Department of Education website by clicking here.
