DCPS receives ‘B’ grade, fewer failing schools than pre-pandemic in latest state report

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Education released its report card for school districts statewide. Duval County Public Schools received a ‘B’, but more than half of its schools fell below that grade.

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Because students took a new standardized test, it can’t be compared to previous years. But the Florida Education Association said while it’s a new exam, the challenges are the same.

“This overreliance on testing at any level is not a good thing. What we should be using testing for is guiding the instruction. The goal is that students are learning,” Andrew Spar, the president of FEA, said.

A representative for DCPS said underperforming schools are at an even greater disadvantage with the change this year because they look at learning gains, which are missing from this year’s report. After all, there are no previous years to compare with.

Action News Jax dug through the list and found more than half, 57 of 102 Duval schools, still fell below a ‘B’. However, a representative said the percentage of ‘D’ and ‘F’ schools continues to drop from 12% before the pandemic to just 8%.

Statewide, Spar said the scores are as expected. “It’s not surprising — schools in high poverty rates are struggling. Schools with wealthier families do better with school grades.”

DCPS said its score falls in the middle of other similarly sized districts. A representative explained the ‘B’ score is calculated by averaging all students’ scores, not just schools themselves.

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