The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) today released school grades for the 2022-23 school year. Escambia County earned a B for the fourth consecutive year.
Why this matters: Former Superintendent of Schools Tim Smith earned B’s his two years leading Escambia Public Schools. His predecessor, Malcolm Thomas only got for four B’s from 2010-2019.
The school grades show where the Escambia Children’s Trust should focus its Out-of-School Time dollars – will they pay attention or just rubber stamp the agenda item tomorrow?
Elementary Schools: Nine A’s but Three D’s and Four F’s
HELLEN CARO ELEMENTARY | A |
N. B. COOK ELEMENTARY | A |
CORDOVA PARK ELEMENTARY | A |
PINE MEADOW ELEMENTARY | A |
PLEASANT GROVE ELEMENTARY | A |
A. K. SUTER ELEMENTARY | A |
MOLINO PARK ELEMENTARY | A |
KINGSFIELD ELEMENTARY | A |
PENSACOLA BEACH ELEMENTARY , INC | A |
JIM ALLEN ELEMENTARY | B |
BRATT ELEMENTARY | B |
SCENIC HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY | B |
BEULAH ELEMENTARY | B |
R. C. LIPSCOMB ELEMENTARY | B |
BLUE ANGELS ELEMENTARY | B |
BYRNEVILLE ELEMENTARY , INC. | B |
BELLVIEW ELEMENTARY | C |
FERRY PASS ELEMENTARY | C |
MYRTLE GROVE ELEMENTARY | C |
NAVY POINT ELEMENTARY | C |
OAKCREST ELEMENTARY | C |
SHERWOOD ELEMENTARY | C |
C. A. WEIS ELEMENTARY | C |
WEST PENSACOLA ELEMENTARY | C |
REINHARDT HOLM ELEMENTARY | C |
LONGLEAF ELEMENTARY | C |
L. D. MCARTHUR ELEMENTARY | C |
BRENTWOOD ELEMENTARY | D |
ENSLEY ELEMENTARY | D |
O. J. SEMMES ELEMENTARY | D |
MONTCLAIR ELEMENTARY | F |
WARRINGTON ELEMENTARY | F |
LINCOLN PARK ELEMENTARY | F |
GLOBAL LEARNING ACADEMY | F |
Middle Schools: The only A is the Brown Barge magnet school. However, Ernest Ward earned a B – remember this is the middle school that Urban Development Center got nearly $300K to try and help.
The focus for Children’s Trust should be Bellview and Warrington.
BROWN BARGE MIDDLE | A |
RANSOM MIDDLE | B |
ERNEST WARD MIDDLE | B |
FERRY PASS MIDDLE | C |
J. H. WORKMAN MIDDLE | C |
JIM C. BAILEY MIDDLE | C |
BEULAH MIDDLE | C |
BEULAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCE | C |
BELLVIEW MIDDLE | D |
WARRINGTON MIDDLE | D |
High Schools: West Florida – a magnet school – got an A.
WEST FLORIDA HIGH | A |
J. M. TATE HIGH | B |
ESCAMBIA HIGH | C |
PENSACOLA HIGH | C |
PINE FOREST HIGH | C |
WASHINGTON HIGH | C |
NORTHVIEW HIGH | C |
The most useful “district-level” analysis is to look at how many schools got better scores and how many got worse grades in each category and by how much. Elementary Schools: Seven schools went up one grade. Six schools went down one grade. One school went down two grades. One school went down three grades. Net loss of four grades. Middle Schools: One school went up one grade. Net gain of one grade. High Schools: One school went up one grade. One school went down one grade. Evens out. Overall for District: Net loss of three grades. By anyone’s measure, a net loss of three grades is a bad thing. Probably didn’t help Superintendent Smith that the school board was conspiring to get rid of him. Some teachers told me it was an open secret that an effort was going to be made to get rid of Smith. As I pointed out to the school board in writing, it got rid of Smith in the middle of the night without public notice using a shady procedure that violated the board’s own rules for holding its meetings. The fact that the board’s lawyer said nothing at the time or later suggests that she was in on it too.
What are the standards for each classification? What is required to be designated an “A” school?