Despite Bumps, St. Johns Schools Remain Stellar

St. Johns County has long been a gold standard among Northeast Florida school systems.

It still is after the release of the latest Florida Department of Education rankings. The school district earned an A for the fourth year in a row and most of its schools ranked as A schools.

But there’s a couple of nicks in the district’s gold cup that officials hope to see buffed out for the future.

All the high schools rated as B schools for the first time since 1999.

That’s exciting news when it comes to St. Augustine High School, which had logged a D for the last two years, and also for Pedro Menendez High, which finished with a C last year.

But it’s disappointing to see Nease and Bartram Trail high schools – both among Newsweek Magazine’s Top 500 high schools last year – falling off the A list.

School Superintendent Joseph Joyner told the St. Augustine Record that a change in standards led to a “statistical anomaly” that did not reflect the true performance of those schools.

Both schools had plenty of overall points to be A schools based on the state system. But A schools must have at least half of their lowest 25 percent students make gains on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, the newspaper reported. That means just one or two students who do not improve could cost a school a letter grade.

Joyner, the new president of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, told the newspaper various superintendents want to see the rule changed.

And it probably should be, given the reality that many youths who are academically challenged may never be able to extend beyond where they are now – even though the state continues to raise the bar for them and their schools.

But this is also a time for some self-evaluation.

Nease and Bartram Trail have all the advantages that a high school could want, even if the FCAT scoring methods are flawed.

They have stellar track records of success, an elite student body with a large number of college-educated parents. They also have outstanding parent and booster support systems.

Various high schools throughout Florida have far fewer advantages and far more students who are economically and educationally challenged.

The state grading system does need adjustments.

But the St. Johns school system should stay focused on what it has done well: continuous improvement for all students at all grade levels.

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