It was an emotional week in Clinton Schools last week and last Tuesday night emotions spilled into the Clinton Board of Education meeting. 

Last month, the State Board of Education released yearly designations for Illinois school buildings and Clinton Elementary School received an "underperforming" designation and principal Sasha Young took exception to the small portion of the overall picture.

After the loss of a student in her building, Young emotionally testified to the work of their teachers in the face of that tragedy and says she is proud of the way they came together. 

The designation of underperforming was defended by Superintendent Curt Nettles, who points out the test scores of their special needs students did not do not meet the standards set by the state and pointed out they take the same test as all other students. Young points out they have students showing incredible growth.

Young says they know their deficits, their needs and they are working on those. She is confident they will continue to get better and outpace the state average. She also points out they are going to work with their special needs students to make sure they score better next year.