Tri-County Regional School Board has had the lowest Grade 12 math exam passing rates since 2006. (CBC)

The Tri-County Regional School Board says students across the district are having trouble with math, with results well below the provincial average.

According to the provincial Department of Education, 34 per cent of students in the Tri-County Regional School Board who took the Grade 12 math exam passed in the 2010-11 school year.

The provincial average was 52 per cent passing rate, with the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board achieving the highest scores with 66 per cent of their Grade 12 students passing the exam.

Tri-County Regional School Board has had the lowest Grade 12 math exam passing rates since 2006.

Lisa Doucet, the superintendent of the board, said fixing the problem is one of her board's top priorities.

"We do consider it a high priority, it is one of our goals in our board business plan," she told CBC News on Monday.

"Our elected board members take this very seriously as well as our board staff."

CBC News heard from some Grade 12 math students at Shelburne Regional High School who said they were unprepared for the provincial exam after going through seven math teachers in one semester.

All but one Grade 12 math student at the school ended up failing the provincial exam and the average class mark for the exam was 24 per cent.

Doucet said the Tri-County Regional School Board is focusing on professional development and bringing together high school math teachers for brainstorming sessions to exchange ideas on what's working in their classrooms.

This year for the first time, Grade 10 students will write board-wide exams, with those results being used to help teachers identify which math concepts are giving students the most trouble.

Doucet said staff can then better help students during grades 11 and 12.