More than a dozen Northern Kentucky schools have been flagged for poor performance, including four that ranked among the bottom 5% of performers in their school group last year. The designation triggers an intervention and improvement process overseen by the commonwealth.
It’s the first time the region has had schools of any level perform among the bottom 5% according to report card data released last week since the 2021-22 year. Last year, Kentucky returned to evaluating schools meeting that criteria annually, rather than every three years.
How are those schools identified?
Federal law requires Kentucky to identify schools performing at the bottom 5% of any school level and schools that meet other criteria for poor performance.
Performance during the 2025-26 school year landed 15 Northern Kentucky schools under one of the following federal designations for poor performance:
- Designation: “Comprehensive Support Improvement,” or CSI identifies schools that perform among the bottom 5% of any school level under Kentucky’s accountability system. This is the most serious designation.
Schools with this designation are required to complete a performance audit within 45 days of receiving their new designation.
After that, schools are required to create “turnaround plans” with actionable steps to improve achievement, including at least one “evidence-based” intervention, according to the Kentucky Department of Education. Those plans are submitted to the Kentucky Commissioner of Education for approval.
CSI schools are able to apply for state funding to support their intervention plans.
- “Targeted Support Improvement” or TSI identifies schools that have at least one demographic group, such as students with disabilities, perform for three consecutive years at the bottom 5% of any school level.
- “Additional Targeted Support Improvement” or ATSI identifies schools with persisting TSI status. The state evaluates whether to move schools previously identified for TSI to ATSI status every three years.
TSI or and ATSI schools are required to revise their school’s general improvement plan, which is mandated for all schools by the state.
Where do Northern Kentucky schools stand?
Four Northern Kentucky schools newly received a “Comprehensive Support Improvement” or CSI designation based on 2025-26 report card scores:
- Howell Elementary School in Elsmere
- Holmes Middle School in Covington
- Newport Primary School
- Newport Intermediate School
All of those schools contain some of the region’s highest rates of low-income students.
Both of Newport’s schools moved from an “Additional Targeted Support Improvement,” or ATSI for continued underperformance of a specific group to the “Comprehensive Support Improvement” or CSI designation.
Though Newport Primary School students are not directly tested within the state’s accountability system — the school contains only grades K-2 and state testing begins in third grade — the school received the state designation because it feeds into Newport Intermediate, which ranked in the bottom 5%, according to Newport Superintendent Matt Atkins.
Two Northern Kentucky schools newly received “Targeted Support Improvement” or TSI designations based on performance during the 2025-26 school year:
- Simon Kenton High School in Kenton County for the low performance of students with disabilities.
- Larry A. Ryle High School in Boone County for the low performance of English language learners and students with disabilities.
Stephens Elementary School in Boone County dropped its TSI designation for students with disabilities last year.
Nine Northern Kentucky schools retain federal designation
Nine other Northern Kentucky Schools, including seven in Boone County, retained federal designations from the 2024-25 school year.
School District Federal designation Underperforming student subgroup A M Yealey Elementary Boone County ATSI Disability Rector A. Jones Middle Boone County ATSI Disability Ockerman Elementary Boone County ATSI Disability Boone County High Boone County ATSI English language learners and disability Conner High Boone County ATSI Disability Randall K. Cooper High Boone County TSI Disability Florence Elementary Boone County TSI Disability Campbell County Middle Campbell County ATSI Disability Tichenor Middle Erlanger-Elsmere Independent ATSI Disability
School responses to new designations
District-level leaders of schools with new CSI and TSI designations told LINK nky they’re ready to improve outcomes.
First-year Erlanger-Elsmere Superintendent Matt Engel said his district faces challenges like some of the region’s lowest kindergarten readiness scores, which impact performance.
He’s said he’s ready to face the data and work toward improvements at Howell Elementary School, newly designated for CSI based on last year’s data, and the district’s three other elementary schools which all declined in performance.
“I’m not going to run from the back of our baseball card. I’m looking at this hopefully as an opportunity, as the incoming new superintendent, and working with that staff to to move this needle even further forward,” he said.
Atkins, in his first official year leading Newport Independent Schools, owned the district’s low scores and said the CSI designation will ultimately bring in other layers of support.
“For us, this is going to bring in additional people from the Kentucky Department of Education to support us to help us improve. That’s the way I look at it. We have to look at this in terms of an added layer of support and resources that we’re going to receive, and to help our kids and help our schools move forward,” said Atkins.
In an emailed statement, Covington Superintendent Cortnei Flucas said the district also takes ownership of the designation and will work toward better outcomes for students.
“Holmes Middle School’s CSI designation is a clear indication that our students are not yet experiencing the academic outcomes they deserve. We take that seriously, and we recognize that improving those outcomes is our responsibility as district leaders,” Flucas wrote.
Kenton County Schools Chief Academic Officer said the district is planning to examine the root causes of low performance for students with disabilities at Simon Kenton High School.
Boone County Schools did not provide a comment on the district’s federal designations.
