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State Release School Grades, But Not For Escambia County. We Have The Grades Here.
September 21, 2021
The Florida Department of Education on Monday released school grades, but don’t expect to find grades for school in Escambia County on the list. The only place you will find them is on a list released last month on NorthEscambia.com, and reprinted below.
Escambia County A-F school grades were not released this year because the district did not request them. In fact, only 11 of Florida’s 67 counties requested and received their school grades.
Checking the school grades — officially called the Florida School Accountability Reports — on the Florida Department of Education website, Escambia County’s 2021 grades are blank.
But in late August, in a NorthEscambia.com exclusive, Escambia County school grades were posted. The letter grades were calculated by Rep. Michelle Salzman using test scores that were released by the state and the precise formula that would have been used by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).
“I received a lot of inquiries about school grades from constituents, community leaders and media outlet,” Salzman told NorthEscambia.com at the time. “I am extremely proud of our teachers, and these grades are a direct indication to the importance of having your children in school. Now that we know where we are, we can navigate together.”
A.K. Suter Elementary, Byrneville Elementary, Cordova Park Elementary, Hellen Caro Elementary, Molino Park Elementary, Pensacola Beach Elementary, Brown Barge Middle, West Florida High, and Escambia Virtual Academy were all A schools under Salzman’s calculations.
On the other end of the scale 11 schools received an F — Bellview Elementary, Ensley Elementary, Global Learning Academy, Lincoln Park Elementary, Myrtle Grove Elementary, Navy Point Elementary, O.J. Semmes Elementary, Sherwood Elementary, Warrington Elementary, Bellview Middle, and Workman Middle
Escambia County opted not to have the state calculate the school grades under a pandemic-related FDOE emergency order issued in April that gave that choice to school districts, just as 55 other counties did.
Escambia County school grades, as calculated by Salzman, were as follows for the 2020-2021 school year:
Comments
17 Responses to “State Release School Grades, But Not For Escambia County. We Have The Grades Here.”
My mom didn’t just make sure I did my homework. She also had her own study plan for me. I had to do her work after I finished my school work. She made absolutely certain that my there were no cracks in my educational foundation. I had both parents at home and my mom didn’t have to “work”.
I
That’s privilege.
There’s no denying that this was made possible because my father earned a living wage.
It’s a conservative value that the nuclear family is the ideal setting. I agree with that. I also respect any family member or loved one who steps up but I won’t back off the position that having both of your real parents, assuming they’re not addicts or abusive, is usually the best. It’s unfortunate that that’s even controversial.
It’s a leftistl value that the minimum wage should be a living wage. Any man working full time at any job should be able to support a wife and two children. Please don’t think this is impossible. The wealth gap is enormous. We can be so much better. Let’s do it!
I really don’t see the correlation between income and school performance. The school only has the students a few hours a day and if the skills learned each day in school are not reinforced at home they are not retained. Parents have a great responsibility when they choose to have children and they should make the time to go over their children’s school work and monitor their progress.
Also, I know the Mentor and Volunteer Programs at the schools have been discontinued because of COVID. The Mentor Program is a great way to help struggling students. Consider volunteering to mentor when the program opens up again. You can become a mentor to an elementary student when they are just starting school and continue with this student as long as they need you. If you can’t mentor, consider volunteering to help your child’s teacher a few hours a week with whatever they need for class preparation. I have noticed that the schools that have the larger volunteer and mentor programs seem to have higher school ratings. Maybe our students see us parents and grandparents involved in the school and they realize school is important?
Just say it made the bestest of points. . If lower income areas perform lower, whilst the affluent areas perform higher because their folks are more involved then why wouldn’t we shift funds to the underperforming? Folks in low income areas typically clean for housewives and whatnot and don’t have the time that affluent families have, just common sense.
The folks in lower income areas care about heir children and their education. The issue is that they have nothing and their parents are scraping by raising them. Affluent areas have time to think about the next vacation, business deal or move whereas the poor literally have to focus on today. Some folks would like to point out these differences without background and it disingenuous at best. The obvious solution would be to focus more on lower income communities since the affluent ones got it, right?
44 Years with the Escambia Co School District and say Without Reservation that GOOD HOMES Interested Parents = Good Students.
Little matter if kids come from Poor, Single-Parent/Grandparent/Aunts/Family Friends run homes….in the end it comes down to Caring, Loving, Sober, Non-Druggie, Home Environment where Education is Valued because it provides a Way UP for the kids.
When Parents Care and Encourage the kids to LEARN then the kids move forward in a positive manner….Bottom Line, Folks.
Look at the demographics of the lower performing schools. The higher the minority rate and free/reduced lunch population, the lower the school’s achievement. It’s not popular to say, but school grades are directly proportional to the income of the community in which it servers. Bottom line, as an average, these communities/families don’t hold education as valuable as more affluent communities. Quit blaming schools for not fixing a community problem.
There are very few qualified teachers now. At the middle and high school levels, teachers used to be required to have their degrees in the fields in which they teach. This makes for more expertise in their subject matter. That is no longer the case. Now you can have a degree in basket weaving and ultimately become a “teacher, ” and guess what? You have three years to pass your certification test –all while trying to teach something to those who have been entrusted to you.
The District simply needs a warm body to be in the classroom for the students. The piper is being paid now. We have way too many people making decisions and too few actual qualified teachers. It has become a serious problem. School scores only show half the problem.
Our children are the ones paying the price.
Solution? Make education more attractive for those who are in the grind every day. Get rid of so much testing. Real teachers cannot even teach because their class time is interrupted for testing. Students are overburdened enough.
Get rid of too many people at the top end. District offices have way too many desk jobs, especially when there are currently around 70 instructional vacancies in Escambia County alone!
As a 33 year veteran secondary English/ History,I would like to make some observations: those A schools have a direct correlation with high parental participation in their child’s education: those D and F schools are situated in areas where there is a one parent family and/or it takes 2 parents to work to pay the living expenses: and finally any test can be manipulated to raise or lower the grading of a school district for financial purposes.
LOL, it did not work hiding report cards so daddy wouldn’t know how bad it was 50 years ago, The same tactic will not work for this school system today. Instead of hiding the truth, this school system needs to do whatever it takes to fix the problem.
Overall, pretty, pretty downright poor. Glad all mine are grown and don’t have to face the unsatisfactory level as reported above.
This is just sad because look at our options at middle schools for our children. Ferry Pass was at least a “B” two years ago. I’m not blaming anyone for this huge drop in all of Florida schools, but at some point SOMEONE needs to find out the problem and attempt to better our schools/school systems sooner rather than later.
Remember, last year was a strange year with COVID and remote learning. I agree with P’Cola Native. There are quite a few great things happening at these schools, in the classrooms and in the area in general. However, with that being said, there were a large number of students who were absent quite a bit last year, and some remote students didn’t log in at all.
I am hoping this year that things will be better now that all students are back with f2f learning! Escambia is usually a C school, so I anticipate they will have that back by next year.
Agree with pcola native. Many of my family members went to Escambia High an Bellview middle an elementary. Parents must make education a priority. I am willing to bet covid didn’t help with grades due to the fact many children were on computer school. Hopefully things will get better now that are children are back in school.
Does anyone else note the “F”s in elementary are higher than the middle and high schools? That will change as those students move ‘up’ the ranks into middle and high school. The next generations are doomed! And BTW, I don’t disagree with the previous comment that it falls to the parents but we all know teachers who don’t care or have given up because they can’t teach the way they need to get students prepared.
….and the school boards answer will be to throw more tax payer money at it…. instead of personal accountability.
There were very good reasons, I’m sure, for the school grades not being released to the public in this manner. Our teachers and students have persevered through so much during the pandemic year. We salute our teachers and students. You had a very challenging year. As a community we can roll up our sleeves and ask, “How can I help?”
Warrington Elementary/Middle. F
Escambia HS. D
This is shameful and not the fault of the teachers. When I attended these schools they were excellent and I received a quality education. Q What has changed? A Parents
Children come to school w no sleep clean clothes food etc.
I feel sorry for good parents whose circumstances force them to send their children to these schools.