Writer: Jerrica DuBois
2 min read December 2023 — Florida educators and administrators saw the long-awaited release of the state’s school grades, however the results did not bring much holiday cheer to some.
The county’s report consisted of 73 A’s, 42 B’s, 110 C’s, 32 D’s and six F’s. The district also had six incomplete grades. The number of D and F schools more than doubled from the previous years, rising from 14 in 2021 and 2022 to 32 in 2023. It also lands Hillsborough at the top for the district with the most D and F schools in the state.
The result of that work left Hillsborough County with a “B” baseline grade from the Florida Department of Education for the 2022-23 school year. This is the sixth consecutive year the county received a “B”; the last time the school district received an “A” ranking was 2015.
“Over the summer we anticipated what school grades might look like with the state’s new grading formula,” Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Van Ayres said in a statement. “When schools opened in August, our schools immediately began taking necessary steps to help build capacity and provide guidance on systems and structures based on the needs of each school.”
Hillsborough County School District has worked for years to reduce the amount of lower rankings for their schools, which makes this year’s report disappointing.
Throughout the region, Pinellas County reported 42 A’s, 31 B’s, 38 C’s and four D’s, Pasco County had 18 A’s, 19 B’s, 24 C’s, 12 D’s and two F’s, and Hernando finished with two A’s, nine B’s, 10 C’s and one D. Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning, while “overall pleased” with the results, pointed out that the 2023 evaluation did not include points for students who showed learning growth. “Had growth been included, we would have seen more schools improving,” Browning said.
Hernando County Schools Superintendent John Stratton sees the results as an opportunity. “We’ll use this data and refocus on the 2024 action plan,” he said in a statement. “Students don’t stop learning and growing; neither will we.”
That growth road will be admittedly rocky for Hillsborough. Last year, more than half of the students at those 32 D and F schools tested at Level 1 for reading skills. There are five levels as set forth by the state, and Level 1 is defined as needing “substantial support” to succeed in the following year. Kindergarten readiness, a metric as low as 16% at some of the D and F schools, also makes it difficult for students to master reading by the third grade.
Despite the dismal results, Hillsborough County School District officials are optimistic moving forward. Students and teachers are responding favorably to the state’s new emphasis on phonics to teach letter sounds, according to Ayres and Deputy Superintendent Shaylia McRae. Additionally, data about student performance and how it relates to individual teachers is being studied very closely. McRae is also in charge of the high-needs “Transformation Network” of schools, and nearly half of those schools earned C grades on achievement alone.
According to Ayres, this also presents an opportunity to build better schools. “I love accountability,” he said in a statement. “I actually am glad we are at the point where we are talking about all of this.”
