Martin County schools regain A district rating; capital projects planned for Stewart, Murray and Warfield schools

Michael Maines, superintendent of the Martin County School District, told the joint meeting that the district achieved an A rating from the Florida Department of Education, a status the district had not held since 2018–19. “Your school district is now an A rated school district by the Florida Department of Education,” Maines said.

Maines and staff highlighted that the district was one of six in Florida to move to an A this cycle and that the district led the Treasure Coast in algebra, geometry and writing. He said the district will focus on improving elementary reading scores, where growth for the bottom quartile is a priority.

District officials reported a number of school‑level grade movements: Warfield Elementary moved from a D to a C; Jensen Beach High School moved from a B to an A; several middle schools moved up (Anderson, Indiantown, Murray). Maines said Martin County High School, Stewart Middle School and South Fork High School missed an A by small margins and that the district has appealed three school grades to the Florida Department of Education because district data suggests higher grades may be warranted.

Facilities updates: Mark Secrist, director of facilities and planning, said the Stewart Middle School cafeteria has cleared inspections and will open in August. He outlined larger capital projects: Murray Middle School will include an Admin/Media Center replacement and a new academic building to replace storm‑damaged classrooms; the project is entering architect and construction manager‑at‑risk procurement steps with contract recommendations scheduled for board action in August and September and a likely design period of 9–12 months followed by a 24–36 month construction timeline. Warfield Elementary will undergo similar Admin/Media Center replacement work; Secrist said the district staggers these projects to manage resources.

Capacity and Indiantown growth: Maines and Secrist addressed capacity issues tied to Indiantown growth. Maines said planned work at Warfield is intended to provide accommodations for the 1,180 approved units in Indiantown plus 4,587 units under review, a total figure the district characterized as representing accommodation for roughly 6,000 units when combined with other capacity planning; the superintendent also noted the county’s student‑to‑unit computation, saying “it takes almost 4 units to make 1 student based on the county calculation we have.”

Playground MOU: County acting attorney Elise Elder told the meeting that the county has approved a memorandum of understanding related to community‑built playgrounds (for example, Jensen Beach Elementary) and said county staff are awaiting school board approval to finalize the agreement and address maintenance responsibilities on a school‑by‑school basis.

Discussion vs. decisions: The district cited completed actions (inspection clearance for Stewart cafeteria) and board actions already taken (architect recommendation approval for Murray project in June) and described upcoming contract approvals. The playground MOU has county board approval and awaits school board action.

Why it matters: The A rating is a notable academic achievement for the community, and planned capital projects and capacity planning affect where new residential growth can be served by schools.

Ending: District staff encouraged the public to attend upcoming workshops on school‑grade calculations and noted future board items for architect and construction manager approvals.