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State "escalator clause" could raise grade thresholds; St. Lucie schools told to prepare for modest gains to remain A-rated
Summary
Chief of Schools Dr. Craig Sommer warned the board that Florida's escalator clause (section 1,008.34 as read) raises the point thresholds for school grades when 75% of schools earn A/B; applying the change could reduce statewide A districts in an example from 34 to 12 and would require the district to gain roughly 36 points to keep an A.
Chief of Schools Dr. Craig Sommer told the board the state'9s escalator clause will increase the minimum point thresholds for school grades if 75% of schools in a category earn an A or B. He said the adjustment operates by moving cutoffs to the next percentage ending in 5 or 0.
"If you were at 67, it goes to 70. It hits either a 5 or a 0," Dr. Sommer said while walking the board through slides showing statewide and district impacts. Using current scores and the escalator calculation, he said the number of A districts statewide would drop from 34 to 12 in an illustrative projection and that St. Lucie would need roughly 36 additional points (about three percentage points) to maintain its A under the new thresholds.
Dr. Sommer reviewed how the clause affects elementary, middle, high and combination schools differently, identified 14 district schools that would be affected under the projection (point increases ranging from 1 to 5 required depending on school type), and urged principals and district staff to focus on targeted improvements. Superintendent Prince framed the change as a challenge the district is prepared to meet and said district leaders shared improvement plans with principals the prior week.
Sommer cited the escalator language on his slide as "pursuant to section 1,008.34, Florida statute" and used district scores (the district earned 798 points in the presentation) to calculate specific school targets. He recommended monitoring performance metrics over the coming year and reporting back to the board.
