Martin County superintendent cites A rating, pledges 'no C' schools and push to be No. 1 in Florida

The superintendent of the Martin County School District said the district has returned to an A rating and pledged to eliminate C-rated schools, praising school staff for raising student achievement and saying the district is “full steam ahead” toward becoming the No. 1 school district in Florida.

The superintendent told families and staff, “We are super excited to welcome back all of our families, our students, our staff.” They credited school-site employees — teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, guidance counselors, school psychologists and social workers — for gains that led to the higher grade. “Staff should be exceptionally proud of the work that they put in because being an a rated school district is not because of things that we do here at the district office,” the superintendent said.

The superintendent said the district moved from a B rating to an A, and that officials “closed multiple achievement gaps” and “reset many of our ESSA subgroups.” The superintendent described the district’s momentum as “Unstoppable,” saying, “there’s nothing that’s going to stop our trajectory and our path forward, to becoming that number 1 school district in the state of Florida.”

As a concrete goal for the coming year, the superintendent said, “This school year is about no c schools. We are gonna have absolutely no c schools in this district. That is my commitment to staff.” The remarks also included a brief administrative pledge: “Your superintendent, I'm committing to keeping us on time.”

The comments were framed as goals and encouragement rather than formal board action; the superintendent did not specify a timeline, metrics, or any new policies or funding to guarantee that no schools will receive a C rating. The district’s references to “ESSA subgroups” relate to accountability groups used under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which the superintendent said had been “reset.”

The superintendent’s remarks combined recognition of past progress — the shift from a B to an A rating and narrowed achievement gaps — with forward-looking goals for district performance. No formal motions, votes, or policy adoptions were recorded in the provided transcript of the remarks.

Details not specified in the remarks include the timeline for achieving the no-C goal, the specific interventions or funding that would be applied to lower-performing schools, and any metrics the district will use to judge progress.