LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – More than 70 percent of southern Indiana schools earned As and Bs on state accountability grades released Wednesday by the Indiana State Board of Education.
But those who fared poorly will be spared from the consequences that typically come with low letter grades, thanks to "hold harmless" legislation, Senate Bill 2, signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb in February.
The release of state accountability grades had been delayed until such a law took effect in light of poor scores on the first year of ILEARN exams, the results of which showed fewer than half of Indiana's students scored proficient in reading and math.
School corporations could not earn lower grades on the 2018-19 accountability results than they received for the 2017-18 school year under SB 2. For the current school year, accountability results will be the higher of either the 2018-19 grades or the 2019-20 grades.
Overall for the 2018-19 school year, 50 school corporations earned the highest grade of A, good for 17.3 percent of all Indiana districts. Individual schools had a larger share of top scores, with 680, or 31.5 percent, receiving As.
Although no school corporations in southern Indiana received an A, 26 schools earned that grade, 14 of them in Clark and Floyd counties. Those schools are:
- Silver Creek High School
- Silver Creek Middle School
- William W Borden High School
- William W Borden Elementary School
- Clarksville Elementary School
- Clarksville Middle School
- Utica Elementary School
- New Washington Middle/High School
- Charlestown Senior High School
- Georgetown Elementary School
- Floyd Central High School
- Highland Hills Middle School
- Greenville Elementary School
- Floyds Knobs Elementary School
Most Indiana school corporations, 55.7 percent, and schools, 33.5 percent, earned Bs in the state accountability grades.
Twenty-three school corporations in Kentuckiana received Bs, including New Albany-Floyd County, Greater Clark County, West Clark Community and Clarksville Community.
While the district could not have gotten a lower grade under this year's new "hold harmless" law, Clarksville Community Schools Superintendent Tina Bennett said her corporation's test scores for 2018-19 actually improved from the previous school year.
"We were hopeful that our growth was enough to become an A district, but we missed it just by a few percentage points," Bennett said. "But we are making progress. We're moving in the right direction."
Half of all schools in southern Indiana received Bs, including 22 in Floyd and Clark counties.
Those schools are:
- Henryville Junior and Senior High School
- Henryville Elementary School
- Silver Creek Elementary School
- Silver Creek Primary School
- Clarksville Senior High School
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
- Northaven Elementary School
- New Washington Elementary School
- Jonathan Jennings Elementary School
- Pleasant Ridge Elementary School
- Jeffersonville High School
- Parkview Middle School
- Charlestown Middle School
- Riverside Elementary School
- New Albany Senior High School
- Nathaniel Scribner Middle School
- Slate Run Elementary School
- Fairmont Elementary School
- Grant Line Elementary School
- Green Valley Elementary School
- Mount Tabor Elementary School
- S Ellen Jones Elementary School
Nearly 23 percent of school corporations and 19.6 percent of schools received Cs in Wednesday's state accountability grades. Seven Kentuckiana school districts and 28 individual schools earned those marks, seven of them in Floyd and Clark counties.
Those schools are:
- W.E. Wilson Elementary
- Bridgepoint Elementary School
- Maple Elementary School
- Spring Hill Elementary School
- Parkwood Elementary School
- River Valley Middle School
- Hazelwood Middle School
Few districts and schools across Indiana received the lowest marks in the 2018-19 accountability grades. Just two school corporations earned Ds and another two got Fs while 177 schools, or 8.2 percent, received Ds and 69, or 3.2 percent, got Fs.
In Kentuckiana, no districts earned Ds and only Medora Community School Corporation received an F.
Two local schools -- Salem Middle School and Medora Junior and Senior High School -- received Ds and two others -- Medora Elementary School and Crothersville Elementary School -- earned Fs.
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