PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – The City of Portsmouth held the 2024 Portsmouth State of the Schools Wednesday morning.

The event took place at River’s Casino from 8-10 a.m. Attendees heard from Superintendent Dr. Elie Bracy III about the division’s achievements and the future for Portsmouth Public Schools, including the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program.

According to Bracy, chronic absenteeism dropped by over 12% in 2023, the lowest absentee data for the division in over a decade.

“[Dr. Angela Flowers] put together an ad attendance recovery team of experts who come in and work with schools directly and come up with strategies to support the whole family in getting their child to school,” Bracy said. “This included everything from direct transportation for the child, meals provided for the home development, homebound instructional models and instructional recovery opportunities for afterschool and on the weekends.”

Bracy also talked about pay raises for veteran teachers, saying that Portsmouth will be the “highest paying division for teachers in the region” once the budget calculations are in place.