DAC (Dodge County Achievement Center)

DAC (Dodge County Achievement Center) is a small alternative school in Eastman, GA, serving 51 students in grades 6-12 within the Dodge County district, designed for students who have been removed from traditional school settings due to behavioral, disciplinary, or academic challenges.

This school faces significant hurdles that are important for parents to understand. The most striking issue is chronic absenteeism: in the most recent year, about 34% of students were chronically absent—roughly double the district average and triple the state average, though this is a major improvement from the 59% rate seen a few years ago. Test proficiency is extremely low, with 0% of students scoring proficient in Biology and U.S. History in the latest release, compared to district averages of 32.7% and 28.4%, respectively. The student-to-teacher ratio is also a serious concern at 51:1, which is more than triple the ratio at nearby Dodge County High School (14.4:1) and far higher than Bleckley County Success Academy (18.4:1), another alternative school that achieves better outcomes with a more reasonable staffing level.

There are some signs of progress worth noting. The graduation rate has improved from 33.3% in 2019-2020 to 55.2% in the most recent year, though it remains well below the district's 88.5% and the state's 85.4%. The school also spends more per student ($17,145) than traditional schools like Dodge County High School ($11,703), which likely reflects the additional support services these students need. However, the combination of high spending with a very high student-to-teacher ratio suggests resources may not be going toward classroom instruction. While the school serves an extremely challenging population—100% of students now qualify for free or reduced lunch—the comparison to Bleckley County Success Academy suggests that investing in more instructional staff could be a key step toward helping DAC's students succeed.