BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
While the Bradford School District has received a C grade for a decade now, administration is highlighting the numbers behind the grades to emphasize greater achievement.
Bradford Elementary School earned 58% of possible points to be the district’s only B school this year. Sixty-two percent was the threshold to earn an A. Elementary schools are awarded points based on how students performed in English, math and science, third-grade achievement in English, learning gains in English and math, as well as learning gains among the lowest quartile of students.
Bradford Elementary earned 463 total points to go from a C to a B. Starke Elementary and Lawtey Elementary earned 420 and 419 points, respectively, and both received a C grade. This was a drop for Lawtey Elementary, which received a B in 2023. Starke earned 53% of total points, and Lawtey earned 52%. 
The threshold for a B was earning 54% of total possible points, so both schools were very close.
Brooker Community School in its first year as the district’s only charter school and no learning gains to demonstrate was scored in just three categories, earning 150 points and a C grade. This was 50% of the total possible points.
Bradford Middle School and Bradford High School were also C schools, earning 50% and 53% of total points, respectively. Upper grades received even more points through categories such as accelerated coursework, dual enrollment, industry certifications earned and the graduation rate. Fifty-seven percent of total possible points were required for a B grade.
BHS Principal Chris Coffey pointed out that the 531 points earned was the school’s highest point total in five years. Also, ninth-graders had the highest English proficiency demonstrated since 2015. The learning gains among the lowest quartile in English and math were the highest in the school’s history, he said. Students taking the geometry exam demonstrated the third highest growth in the state, and the algebra students had the sixth highest growth in the state.
Finally, he pointed out the school’s graduation rate jumped five percentage points to 83%.
Superintendent Will Hartley is also highlighting growth, saying Bradford was the second highest in the state for proficiency growth in English and math. There were also 102 more Level 5 testing achievements this year. For further comparisons to the state, districtwide Bradford was at or above the state average in fourth- and sixth-grade English and in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade math.
Lawtey Elementary was higher than the state average in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade math, and third- and fourth-grade English.
Bradford Elementary was higher than the state average in fourth-grade English and sixth-grade English and math.
Starke Elementary was higher than the state average in third-grade English, fourth-grade English and math, and sixth-grade math.
Hartley also touted proficiency growth between the first and third administration of the FAST exam. Bradford was seventh in the state in English proficiency growth between the two tests and 14th in the state in math proficiency growth.
“On that list you will find a lot of the top districts in the state: Lafayette, St. Johns, Clay, Gilchrist, Nassau, etc. I think that speaks volumes about our teachers and the quality instruction that our students are getting,” Hartley said.
In neighboring Union County, Lake Butler Elementary School earned 53% of the total possible points, falling just shy of a B and dropping to a C. Lake Butler Middle School and Union County High School both earned 59% of the total possible points which was good enough to receive a B. This was an improvement for LBMS, which earned a C last year.
The only A schools in the Telegraph-Times-Monitor coverage are were in the Lake Region. McRae Elementary earned 66% of total possible points and Melrose Elementary earned 64%.
Keystone Heights Elementary School earned 58% of total possible points to maintain its B grade, but Keystone Heights Jr./Sr. High fell to a B with just 60% of the 64% of points in needed for another A.
Statewide, the highest number of schools are now A schools. At 1,290 schools, this was a 6% improvement over 2023. C schools, formerly the highest number in the state, are now the second highest at 1,097. There were also a greater number of B schools and fewer D and F schools.
