Hillsborough, Pinellas scores rise in new Florida school grades

Florida schools received their long-anticipated state grades Wednesday for the 2023-24 school year, less than three weeks before classes are scheduled to resume.

The news brought cheer to Pinellas County, which earned its first district-wide A grade, and to Hillsborough County, which saw a dramatic decrease in the number of D and F schools after having had the most statewide a year ago.

Pasco County officials, meanwhile, looked for the highlights within a mixed report that included ups and downs across the district.

The results arrived shortly after the State Board of Education, meeting in Orlando, approved this year’s formula to calculate the grades. Changes were needed because the state shifted its testing model two years ago, and last year established the baseline.

The grades are based on student test scores in the younger grades and, in a typical year, improvement that students show over time. For middle and high school students, test scores are part of a larger set of data that also includes items such as participation in college-level programs.

Since their implementation, the grades have become a quick way for communities to judge the success of their local schools.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz attributed statewide improvement to the new system, which tests students three times a year instead of once annually to monitor their progress and make adjustments.

”Once again Florida schools continue to improve year over year,” Diaz said. “A testament to the work that the department, the districts, the schools and especially our teachers have done to improve the outcome of our students.”

Hillsborough County

For Hillsborough County, the news was dramatically better than the 2023 grades, which included 33 D’s and F’s.

This year, of district-run schools, there were no F’s and only nine D’s. The two F grades in Hillsborough were earned by The Collaboratory, which is a charter school, and the Hillsborough Virtual Franchise School.

Seven Hillsborough charter schools, which are independently operated, had D grades as well.

Potter and Shaw elementary schools, which are run by the district, jumped from F to C grades. Sheehy Elementary moved from an F to a D. Twenty-seven schools improved from D to C. Only two — Edison and James elementary schools — remained unchanged with D grades.

The 33rd school on the 2023 list, Just Elementary, had closed before its F grade was released. Three others in the group — Monroe and Adams Middle, and Kimbell Elementary — closed this past June.

Points from year-to-year gains played a big role in the improved grades. Passing rates on the English language arts exam were as low as 22% in some of the C schools. Around the district and state, about half of all students passed the test.

There was also progress in the district’s high schools. Alonso moved from a B to an A, and seven others maintained their A grades. East Bay, Hillsborough, Leto and Spoto high schools all moved from C grades to B.

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“We are excited with our momentum and are ready for the new year to start so we can continue our work,” Superintendent Van Ayres said.

Since assuming his role a year ago, Ayres has worked to strengthen workplace morale despite chronic teacher shortages and pushed for widespread reading proficiency, with a greater emphasis on phonics instruction in the early grades.

Ayres is now pursuing a lawsuit aimed at allowing voters to decide on a tax that would help the district pay competitive salaries to teachers.

Pinellas County

Pinellas schools Superintendent Kevin Hendrick used words like “incredible” to describe his district’s report. Pinellas earned its first district-wide A grade since the state began issuing these reports two decades ago, and also had no D- or F-rated schools for the first time.

“We always think all of our schools are high performing,” Hendrick said. “It’s good when the grades reflect that.”

Among the many successes: Five schools improved from C to A. They included Tyrone Middle, which received an F just two years ago, and 74th Street Elementary, which had been a D in 2022.

The district also had four schools increase from D to C, 20 rise from C to B and 14 improve from B to A. More than half the district’s elementary schools earned A grades.

School board chairperson Laura Hine marveled that when she first became involved in the district, it had 19 D or F schools. Now it has none.

“I’m so excited,” Hine said. “It’s the result of leadership having sustained laser focus on the work at hand — 100% student success.”

Hendrick said the district’s enhanced focus on early literacy, such as an expansion of prekindergarten classes, is one of the efforts that has paid off. He noted that 63% of third graders scored at or above grade level on the language arts exam, about 10 points higher than a year earlier.

That type of achievement will build upon itself over time, he said.

As for critics who have said it’s not good enough, Hendrick said, “Before you can get to 100, you have to get to 60. There’s tons more work to do. But today it’s good to sit back and celebrate the successes of our schools.”

Pasco County

Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning said he found reasons to be pleased with the 2024 grades and causes for concern.

“We’ve done away with our F’s,” Browning said, referring to the two elementary schools that earned the lowest mark a year ago and rose to a C. “That is part of the master plan.”

The district also had two schools improve from B to A, and 16 maintain their A grades. All but one of Pasco’s charter schools, which are run separately, earned an A or B, too.

The district’s overall grade remained a B.

At the same time, it saw four schools drop from C to D, six from B to C and four from A to B. Gulf Middle School and Pasco and Cox elementary schools received D grades for the third consecutive year.

“We pour supports in a school trying to get them up to a C, and to some degree we take our eye off another school and the next year they pop up,” Browning said, likening the situation to the whack-a-mole game. “There’s always more work to be done.”

Browning said he expected schools to enhance efforts to track individual students’ performance and ensure they’re making progress on the state academic standards.

“Some schools are stuck,” school board vice chairperson Alison Crumbley said. “We’ve got to figure out why.”

Although grades offer important information, Browning said, they’re not the only way to rate schools. He singled out Stewart Middle School, noting its rise from D to C.

“They are not a D school,” Browning said, noting Stewart missed a C by one point a year earlier. “There’s a lot more that goes into a school than a test on a given day.”