BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
Clay County is an A school district once again, while Union received a B, and Bradford remains a C.
This is the third year in a row Clay County earned an A, nonconsecutively because grades were not issued in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, and 2021 grades were optional and assigned only by request. Union received its fifth B in a row, and Bradford received its seventh C in a row.
Grades are based on student performance on standardized tests and, in higher grades, accelerated work and graduation rates. Points are assigned for each achievement level, including learning gains achieved in English and mathematics, and improvement in the lowest quartile of students. The percentage received of the total possible points determines the district and individual school grades.
Receiving an A requires earning 62% or more of the total possible points.
That’s what Clay County did overall, earning 63%. The elementary schools at Keystone Heights and McRae received B grades after receiving A’s in 2019. (KHES also received an A in 2021.) McRae was only one percentage point away from an A this year.
Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School maintained a B for the third time in a row, but it was just one percentage point above a C.
All Union County schools opted into a school grade for 2021 and they maintained those grades this year: Lake Butler Elementary School received an A, Lake Butler Middle School received a C and Union County High received a B. It was the third A in a row for the elementary school and sixth B in a row for the high school.
With 62% of the possible points, Lake Butler Elementary had just enough to earn that A. Two more percentage points would have given the high school an A.
Overall, Bradford has only ever received a C or a D (twice) districtwide. This year the district had one B school, Starke Elementary, the first B the school has received since 2012.
Bradford’s other two elementary schools, Lawtey and Southside were both D schools this year. Each earned only 40% of the total possible points available, one percentage point shy of a C. While Lawtey had higher achievement in English and math, improvement demonstrated for bottom quartile students was low.
After two prior B’s, Bradford High School received a C this year. It received 36 points for English achievement and 28 points for math. The school received higher points for learning gains, however.
Bradford Middle School has been given an incomplete score, at least for now. Schools must test 95% of their students, and those tests must be scoreable (answers filled in properly). The district is investigating and may have a chance to appeal, according to Superintendent Will Hartley.
All testing scores have now been released. In reviewing how local schools performed in English and math exams, remember scoring Level 3 or above out of five is considered passing. Scoring Level 1 is the lowest possible performance.
Starke Elementary School: 46% of third-graders, 43% of fourth-graders and 59% of fifth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
41% of third-graders, 49% of fourth-graders and 62% of fifth-graders scored Level 3 or above on math.
Southside Elementary School: 38% of third-graders, and 34% of fourth and fifth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
35% of third-graders, 49% of fourth-graders and 29% of fifth-graders scored at Level 3 or above in math.
45% of third-graders and 42% of fifth-graders scored at Level 1 in math.
Lawtey Elementary School: 62% of third-graders, 47% of fourth-graders and 50% of fifth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English. 7
73% of third-graders, 65% of fourth-graders and 27% of fifth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
31% of fifth-graders scored at Level 1 in math.
Keystone Heights Elementary School: 59% of third-graders, 46% of fourth-graders, 53% of fifth-graders and 56% of sixth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
63% of third-graders, 71% of fourth-graders, 60% of fifth-graders and 79% of sixth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
McRae Elementary School: 63% of third-graders, 59% of fourth-graders, 71% of fifth-graders and 63% of sixth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
51% of third-graders, 73% of fourth-graders, 76% of fifth-graders and 71% of sixth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
Lake Butler Elementary School: 56% of third-graders and 58% of fourth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
67% of third-graders and 63% of fourth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
Lake Butler Middle School: 52% of fifth-graders, 44% of sixth-graders, 43% of seventh-graders and 54% of eighth-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
45% of fifth-graders, 36% of sixth-graders, 56% of seventh-graders and 52% of eighth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
In sixth grade, 29% of students scored Level 1 in math.
For students taking Algebra I, 71% passed at Level 3 or above.
Bradford Middle School: 47% of sixth-graders, 34% of seventh-graders and 25% of eighth-graders scored at Level 3 or above on English.
In eighth grade, 55% of students scored at Level 1 on English.
56% of sixth-graders, 49% of seventh-graders and 14% of eighth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
In seventh and eighth grades, 33% and 65% of students scored at Level 1 in math.
For students taking Algebra I, 58% scored at Level 3 or above.
Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School: 43% of seventh-graders, 39% of eighth-graders, 54% of ninth-graders and 47% of 10th-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
34% of seventh-graders and 65% of eighth-graders scored Level 3 or above in math.
33% of seventh-graders scored at Level 1 in math.
For students taking Algebra I, 51% scored at Level 3 or above, and 31% scored at Level 1.
For students taking geometry, 63% scored Level 3 or above.
Bradford High School: 38% of ninth-graders and 30% of 10th-graders scored Level 3 or above on English, while 42% of ninth-graders and 41% of 10th-graders scored at Level 1.
For students taking Algebra I, 21% scored at Level 3 or above and 64% scored at Level 1.
For students taking geometry 37% scored Level 3 or above, and 41% scored at Level 1.
Union County High School: 49% of ninth-graders and 42% of 10th-graders scored Level 3 or above on English.
For students taking Algebra I, 49% scored Level 3 or above, and 33% scored at Level 1.
For students taking geometry, 55% scored at Level 1.
A previous version of this article contained a misprint. At, Lawtey Elementary School, 73% of third graders scored Level 3 or higher in math. We apologize for the error.
