Nonprofit Mississippi News The State Board of Education made an unexpected decision to delay the approval of the statewide school grades. The Mississippi Department of Education releases the state results each year under embargo to media. The embargo was to be lifted at noon on Thursday, but member Johnny Franklin requested that the decision be moved to October. He had heard from the public concerns and wanted to give members more time to review the grades and accountability model. Franklin asked, “What are you rushing to?” “There is no reason to rush this, is there?” Franklin asked. Carey Wright, state superintendent, said there was a reason. Districts have been asking for their results earlier in the year for years. Therefore, the department decided to release them in September. They are usually released in October or November. The board decided to delay the approval of the grades to next month. The Department of Education immediately sent an email to the media, advising them that they should wait until October to report the grades. Some media outlets had already published the accountability ratings because the embargo was due to be lifted at noon on Thursday. However, all grades are preliminary and not official until the board approves them next week. According to unofficial grades, more Mississippi school districts received the state’s highest grade, but the number of those at the lowest level has increased. For the 2017-18 schoolyear, 18 districts received an “A”, 42 received a B, 38 received a “C”, and 28 received a “D”. 23 districts received an F. In 2017, 65.8 percent of schools districts were rated as C or higher. This is a decrease from the 69.33% in 2017. Paula Vanderford, Chief Accountability Officer at MDE, stated that this was due to changes made by the State Board of Education to the grading system. Districts were permitted to keep the higher grade for the 2016-17 school years if they received lower ratings under the new baseline cut scores that are used to determine the A-F grades. The preliminary results for this year used the same cut scores but there wasn’t a safety net. She stated that 21 districts would have been given F’s if they had not had the opportunity to choose the higher score. Unofficial grades were also awarded to a few districts this year, which some superintendents deemed unfair. Mississippi uses a complex system to assign letters grades to schools and districts. Schools are graded at the elementary and middle school levels on a 700 point scale. This system measures student performance, improvement in test subjects like reading and math, and growth over the school year. The 1000-point scale is used to measure high schools and school districts. This year, the State Board of Education modified this model to ensure that schools with 12th grades were accurately measured. These schools are rated based on factors such as graduation rates, participation in advanced placement classes and international baccalaureate classes and how students progress during the school year. Five of the 23 F-rated areas received the preliminary grade for the second year consecutively, opening them up to state intervention. These were Sunflower County Consolidated and Holmes County, Humphreys and Noxubee, as well as the Jackson Public Schools District. Schools with an F rating for at least two consecutive years can be considered for the Achievement School District or District of Transformation. Both situations see the state replacing the local school board and the superintendent being appointed by the state. Last year, the Jackson Public School District was nearly taken over by the State Board of Education for its poor performance. Instead, it was placed in a partnership with the City and Gov. Phil Bryant’s Office, and the W.K. The Kellogg Foundation will examine and correct systemic problems. The Noxubee Country School District was seized earlier this year due to serious academic and financial problems. Wright stated that there are a few school districts that can be placed in the Achievement School district. She hopes to have it operational by the start of the next school year. The district can accept schools with at least half of their schools being rated F. Amite County and Clarksdale Municipal, East Tallahatchie Consolidated. Jefferson County, Humphreys. Philadelphia, Durant. Holly Springs. Jefferson County. West Bolivar Consolidated. West Tallahatchie. Yazoo Municipal schools also meet this criteria. Midtown Charter School (charter school are both a district and an independent school) was also given an F in the last two years. The state Department of Education does not assign accountability ratings. However, the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board can decide whether or not to intervene. Wright spoke to reporters by phone and said that charter schools in Mississippi were founded with students below grade level. They continue to add one grade every year so it is unrealistic to expect “significant progress in one or two more years.” The Authorizer Board has the authority to revoke a charter. The Authorizer Board has delayed making a decision on whether to approve or deny the application of RePublic Schools, Inc. to open two new schools next year in Jackson, depending on Thursday’s accountability rating. RePublic currently operates three schools in Jackson — ReImagine Prep (Smilow Prep) and Smilow Collegiate (Smilow Collegiate). In their first two years, ReImagine Prep earned a D. The Authorizer Board delayed making a decision on whether to approve or deny a RePublic Schools, Inc. application to open two new schools next year in Jackson, depending on Thursday’s accountability ratings.