Luverne High School was among the 54 Alabama public high schools ranked as America’s best, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s second annual list of “America’s Best High Schools.”

“This is something we can be really proud of,” Schools Superintendent Kathi Wallace said at the Dec. 15 meeting of the Crenshaw County Board of Education.

Alabama schools on this list include one Gold Medalist, three Silver Medalists, and 50 Bronze Medalists, with LHS being a Bronze Medalist.

U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, analyzed academic and enrollment data from more than 21,000 public high schools in 48 states. A three-step process was used to determine the best high schools with the first step determining whether each school’s students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state. The second step determined whether the school’s least-advantaged students were performing better than average for similar students in the state. Schools that passed the first two steps became eligible for nationally judging on the third and final step – college-readiness performance, using Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate test data as the benchmarks for success. Luverne High School was among those schools that passed the first two steps.

According to the 2007 Grade 12 Reading and Math Proficiency report, 90.9 percent of LHS students attained reading proficiency, and 95.5 percent attained math proficiency.

When looking at grades K-12, LHS attained 77.6 percent reading proficiency in 2007 and 68.9 percent in math proficiency.

The “America’s Best High Schools” issue of U.S. News & World Report came out on Dec. 8.

In other business, Board member Troy Hudson was named to the Alabama Association of School Boards.

The Board accepted Chad Carpenter’s resignation effective Dec. 19. Carpenter taught Driver’s Ed.

The Board approved military leave for Greg Pittman, who has been called to active duty. The Board also approved for substitute Stephanie Adams to take Pittman’s place at Highland Home School for the remainder of the school year.

The Board approved a motion to award a technology bid to ASI.

Teachers will attend a conference pertaining to the subject of students and bullying during their Inservice program on Jan. 5.

The next Crenshaw County Board of Education meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.