Holmes District school grade released

In addition to students getting report cards, so do Florida schools in a sense.

The Florida Department of Education released school grades for the 2022-23 school year on Dec. 11.

“As a part of Florida’s first-in-the-nation transition to using progress monitoring instead of traditional high stakes testing, grades for the 2022-2023 school year serve as a baseline and carry no negative consequences,” the Department of Education said in a news release. “Using this baseline, schools and districts can work toward improved performance in future years.”

The singular grade for a school in Holmes District was a C in Ponce de Leon Elementary School. 

Superintendent Buddy Brown addressed the Department of Education’s rankings during a Holmes District School Board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

“The system that they’re using this year to establish school grades is a pile of crock,” Brown said. “Our achievement should be recognized. It’s not. … Where you were previously is probably where you’re going to fall again even though, across the board, at every one of our schools we showed improvement.” 

School Board members said the grades were curved and schools could still appeal ratings.