A growing number of Florida schools are receiving As, but parents who assess their performance by its letter grade alone might be missing some crucial information.<\/p>\n
About 71% of all K-12 Florida schools<\/a> received either an A or B grade in the 2024-25 school year, according to Florida Department of Education data.<\/p>\n There were 2,461 schools that earned As or Bs during the 2024-25 school year \u2014 an increase of 246 schools from the year before. Only 10 schools received an F and 61 received a D.<\/p>\n Secret Sauce schools: They expose issues with how Florida grades schools<\/a><\/p>\n Florida uses an A-F grading system,<\/a> but it doesn’t mirror the traditional A-F scale<\/a> in which 90% or higher equals an A.<\/p>\n Florida’s elementary schools must meet 62% or more of all its academic benchmarks to get an A. For middle, high and K-8 schools, they need 64% or more.<\/p>\n \u201cA single grade makes it easy to understand, but it doesn’t convey complexity,\u201d said Florida PTA legislative advocate and former professor Lancy Lawther. “There’s a lot you’re not seeing in that letter grade.”<\/p>\n Student subgroups left out of school grades<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s grading system assesses school success based on how the majority of students are doing, even if one or more subgroups are failing.<\/p>\n For example, parents of students at Morningside Elementary School<\/a> in Port St. Lucie may be pleased to see it scored an A (72%) in the 2024-25 school year, but a look at its subgroup data shows it scored a C (48%) for its education of students with disabilities, which make up 13% of the student population, DOE data show.<\/p>\n North County Charter School<\/a> in Indian River County scored a B last year, but it met the mark for only 28% of its Black students, earning the school an F for that subgroup.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is, by trying to make it really simple, they don\u2019t fill in the details,\u201d Lawther said. \u201cIf this is our 16th year as an A School, are we educating every student? No.\u201d<\/p>\n Demographic data can be found on the DOE’s Know Your Schools website at edudata.fldoe.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Secret Sauce Schools<\/p>\n Florida grades its schools based on stud<\/a>e<\/a>nt outcomes<\/a>, such as test scores and attendance, rather than what students bring into school, such as their socioeconomic status, language barriers or previous education.<\/p>\n That means a school such as Fellsmere Elementary with 100% student poverty is graded by the same standard as a charter school with 10% student poverty.<\/p>\n \u201cInputs don\u2019t matter in Florida, only outputs,\u201d Lawther said. \u201cFlorida is assessing student academic achievement as a factor of what the school does regardless of what the student’s background might be.\u201d<\/p>\n Some schools are able to overcome extreme poverty rates to score high grades, which Lawther dubs “secret sauce schools.”<\/p>\n There were only two secret sauce public schools on the Treasure Coast during the 2024-25 school year, balancing over 90% student poverty with A grades: Fellsmere and Parkway Elementary School<\/a> in Port St. Lucie. Martin County has no such public schools.<\/p>\n Changing Florida’s school grading system<\/p>\n State lawmakers have tried to change the A-F school grading system since it was instituted in 1999.<\/p>\n The most recent attempt was in 2025 when State Rep. Susan L. Vald\u00e9s (R-Tampa) introduced<\/a> HB 1483<\/a>, which sought to bring Florida\u2019s A-F school grading scale up to the typical standard. The bill would have increased the grade threshold by 10% each year <\/a>for five years until 90% equals an A, 80% a B and so forth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of this bill is to provide truth and transparency to our parents, students, and teachers on how well each school is preparing its students,\u201d Vald\u00e9s said during a House PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee meeting in April. \u201cDon’t put an A in the window of a school when it’s actually at 60% and tell me to be happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Opponents thought the move would be hard for communities to absorb.<\/p>\n The bill died in the House Education and Employment Committee in June.<\/p>\n Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com<\/a>, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.<\/p>\n