By GARETT VALCOURT
Holmes District Schools received a “C” district grade from the Florida Department of Education for the 2025-26 school year, a decline from the “B” earned the previous year, according to recently released state accountability results.
Among the district’s six graded schools, Ponce de Leon High School was the lone campus to earn an “A” rating, while the district’s remaining schools each received a “C.”
The 2025-26 school grades are:
- Bethlehem High School – C
- Bonifay K-8 School – C
- Holmes County High School – C
- Ponce de Leon Elementary School – C
- Ponce de Leon High School – A
- Poplar Springs High School – C
Florida’s annual accountability system evaluates districts and schools using multiple indicators of student performance. Rather than relying solely on standardized test proficiency, the grading formula measures student achievement, year-to-year learning gains, graduation rates, acceleration success and the academic progress of the lowest-performing students.
Under the state’s accountability model, schools may earn points across as many as 12 components, including achievement in English Language Arts, mathematics, science and social studies, Grade 3 English Language Arts proficiency, learning gains in English Language Arts and mathematics, learning gains among the lowest-performing 25% of students, middle school acceleration, four-year graduation rate and college and career acceleration. Each component is worth up to 100 points, with school and district grades determined by the percentage of available points earned.
Schools must also test at least 95% of eligible students to qualify for a school grade under Florida’s accountability system.
Holmes District Superintendent Buddy Brown said the district faced significant staffing challenges throughout the school year, citing teacher turnover as one of the primary obstacles.
“There is so much mobility in education nowadays,” Brown said. “The way contracts are done, the way laws are done, teachers can go from point A to point B, and they tend to do it because when it comes to education right now, it’s a seller’s market and teachers can go to the highest bidder, for lack of a better term.”
Brown said salaries, working conditions and personal circumstances all contributed to the turnover.
“I’ll be the first to say that our salaries are not where they need to be,” Brown said.
According to Brown, one district school began the academic year with 14 new teachers among a faculty of 21, illustrating the extent of staffing changes experienced during the year.
While mathematics remains an area of concern, Brown said improving literacy is a key strategy for raising achievement across multiple subjects.
“The nature of how we do math now is the ability to read the problem and understand what they’re asking for,” Brown said. “We have got to focus and we are doing that in Holmes County, on increasing our reading skills and capabilities to understand what we see in front of us.”
Although the district’s overall grade declined to a “C,” Brown said district data showed improvements in several measured areas compared to last year and believes those gains provide a foundation for continued progress.
The Florida Department of Education releases district and school grades annually to provide parents and the public with a standardized measure of school performance statewide. The accountability model is intended to evaluate not only student proficiency but also academic growth, graduation outcomes and college and career readiness.
AMBER PATINO 