The Hernando County School District earned a “B” grade on the Florida Department of Education’s (FLDOE) annual report of school and district performance grades for 2023. Five of Hernando’s schools improved full letter grades, and all five of the district’s high schools and two of the four middle schools maintained their grades from last year.
Based on Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) test, the grades form a baseline that provides teachers, students and parents with real-time, immediate and actionable data at the beginning, middle and end of the school year to drive student improvement. Applied for the first time this year, FAST testing monitors progress but does not carry the negative consequences connected to traditional high-stakes testing.
According to the FLDOE, the grades are intended to provide a baseline for improved performance in the future.
According to the FLDOE report released on Dec. 11, the Hernando School District earned 58 percent of the total points possible, maintaining a district grade of B.
Five of Hernando’s schools improved a full letter grade, with Brooksville, Deltona, Moton and Westside Elementary moving up from a C to a B. Eastside Elementary moved from a D to a C.
Meanwhile, all five of the district’s high schools and two of the District’s four middle schools maintained their grades from last year.
Fox Chapel and Powell both dropped a grade and with the exception of Winding Waters, which moved from a B to a C, K-8 schools maintained their grades.
Hernando eSchool, The District’s virtual school, moved up from a B to an A, the report said. “The district increased our total points earned from 56 percent to 58 percent,” said Hernando Schools’ Director of Research and Accountability Sonsee Sanders.
This marks the sixth year since 2015 that the school district received a B grade by FLDOE, Stratton said. Hernando Schools did not receive grades for 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19’s impact on District schools.
According to the FLDOE, the grades are intended to provide a baseline for improved performance in the future.
Hernando County School Superintendent John Stratton said that the data from the state will help the district formulate its 2024 action plan. “Students don’t stop learning and growing,” Stratton said. “Neither will we.”
