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Manatee district posts record number of A schools; board authorizes targeted incentives under Fla. Stat. 1001.42
Summary
District accountability director presented 2023–24 school and district grades, showing the largest number of A-rated district schools since 2012; the board unanimously authorized the superintendent to use Florida Statute 1001.42 (up to $600,000 in MOUs) to support underperforming Title I schools.
Mister Jensen, the district’s accountability presenter, told the School Board of Manatee County on July 30 that the Florida Department of Education’s final 2023–24 school and district grades show the district has more A-rated district-run schools than at any time since 2012–13. The district’s aggregated score was 62 — a high B — and third-grade reading proficiency improved to 54%.
“Now we have more A schools than we’ve ever had in the district,” Mister Jensen said during the presentation explaining state grading changes and the first-year implementation of the full grade formula. He walked the board through the new cut scores, the inclusion of third-grade reading in accountability calculations, and why combination schools (K–8) were affected by the rule changes.
Jensen identified particular school-level gains — including Abel Elementary and Tellman/Tillman Elementary earning A grades and Parish Community High School also earning an A — and noted Ballard Elementary’s improvement from D to B. He also said four Manatee schools received D grades in the latest cycle; staff described instructional interventions being deployed for those campuses.
Because rapid action is needed before the start of school, Superintendent Wysong asked the board to authorize the district to use flexibility allowed by Florida Statute 1001.42 to establish salary incentives and other strategies intended to improve instructional staff selection, placement and compensation. The authorization includes authority to execute memorandums of understanding up to $600,000. “That authorization will allow us to get going on this as quickly as we can,” Superintendent Wysong said; the motion passed 5–0.
Board members asked for data splits (for example, third-grade reading broken out by district-run versus charter schools) and for details about how Title I and federal grants such as ESSER or UNISIG will complement the local incentive authority. Mister Jensen said Title I funding and other grants will be directed at supports for the targeted schools and that principals for the targeted campuses had already been convened to plan responses.
The board also approved adoption and amendment of a set of school policies that had been workshopped previously; five policies listed in the packet were withdrawn. With those approvals and the incentive authorization, staff said they would return to the board with implementation details and MOU drafts in the coming weeks.
