Sarasota School District keeps 'A' rating from state, Manatee maintains 'B'
Sarasota and Manatee counties are still on the state's honor roll.
Sarasota maintained its lofty A grade from the Florida Department of Education and Manatee its B rating for the 2021-22 school year. The A rating continues a streak dating back to 2004 when the state started assigning grades.
Sarasota County tied for fifth in the statewide ranking this year, and was one of only 14 counties in Florida to achieve an A rating. Manatee County now ranks 25th, its highest rank ever.
District grades are calculated based on several factors, including test score achievement, learning gains, graduation rate, and college and career acceleration. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 11 school districts agreed to receive an optional grade last year.
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Sarasota Schools Superintendent Brennan Asplen praised the district's teachers, staff, students and parents in an email statement Thursday.
"While maintaining our A-rating is tremendous cause for celebration, let us not lose sight of all the effort and hard work that was required to uphold our pattern of excellence," Asplen said. "We knew going into the year that, more than ever, our students, teachers, and staff members would be stretched and challenged in unprecedented ways."
Jane Goodwin, the chair of the Sarasota County School Board, said she's thrilled the district maintained its top grade.
"There's always room for improvement, we know that," Goodwin said. "Hopefully we'll get some things done this year that will really pay us big in dividends for the next few years."
Despite the "A" rating, the district's reading scores continued to fall following a two-year trend. This year, the number of third-graders who passed the FSA English and Language Arts test fell by three percentage points.
However, reading learning gains from the lowest 25% of students increased by three percentage points to 43%, and math learning gains from the lowest 25% of students increased by eight percentage points to 49%.
Goodwin said she expects the district's new strategic plan to yield improved test results in the next few years.
Manatee Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said the district's B ranking is a "victory."
“I think the results we are seeing today are a strong reflection of the persistence and resilience of our students, teachers and instructional staff,” she said in a statement. “We have been through unprecedented times together in the last several years, so to receive evidence of academic improvement in spite of the obstacles is a victory for all of us."
School districts have dealt with considerable upheaval and controversy in recent years, from debates over mask wearing and other pandemic measures to cultural debates over textbooks and critical race theory.
How did Sarasota Schools score?
While the district did keep its A rating, several schools’ grades fell this year.
Schools not listed below maintained their previous grade. The only school to improve its grade was Garden Elementary, which increased from a C to an A.
The following schools fell from an A to a B rating:
Island Village Montessori School
Sarasota High
Brookside Middle
Skywood Academy
Englewood Elementary
Fruitville Elementary
McIntosh Middle
Glenallen Elementary
Atwater Elementary
North Port High
The following schools fell from a B to a C rating
Sarasota Military Academy
Gocio Elementary
Booker Middle
Booker High
Imagine School at North Port
The following schools fell from an A to a C
Sky Academy Venice
Gulf Gate Elementary
Lamarque Elementary
Booker Elementary, however, improved from a D to a C.
The following schools dropped from a C to a D rating.
Suncoast School for Innovative Studies
How did Manatee Schools score?
Schools not listed below maintained their previous rating.
The following schools rose to an A rating.
Freedom Elementary increased from a B to an A
Oasis Middle increased from a B to an A
The following schools were rated B.
William Monroe Rowlett Academy dropped from an A to a B
Braden River High dropped from an A to a B
Myakka City Elementary School dropped from an A to a B
Team Success a School of Excellence dropped from an A to a B
Palma Sola Elementary dropped from an A to a B
Marjorie G Kinnan Elementary, however, rose from a C to a B
The following schools dropped from a B to a C.
Samoset Elementary
Blackburn Elementary
Martha B King Middle
Braden River Middle
Carlos E. Haile Middle
Buffalo Creek Middle
Imagine Charter Schools in North Manatee and Lakewood Ranch
Parish Charter
Palm View K-8, however, dropped from an A to a C
The following schools fell to a D rating.
Manatee Elementary dropped from a B to a D
Oneco Elementary dropped from a C to a D
The following schools were rated F.
Visible Men Academy dropped from a B to an F
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota, Manatee school districts maintain state grades
