This year, there were 6% more A-rated schools in Florida than the previous year. They did not include the Flagler County school district.
Despite a year of improvements in nearly all nine of the district’s traditional schools and in other categories, the Flagler County School District received a B rating for the fourth consecutive year and the eleventh of the previous twelve years that the state has given school ratings. It simply wasn’t sufficient. Although the bar for an A was far lower than it was two years before, the district was only two percentage points short of the 64 required to get an A, exactly as it was the previous year.
The rating will not help the district’s efforts to position itself as the best option in a time of homeschooling, funded vouchers, and dwindling Flagler school enrollment.
Matanzas High School, Indian Trails Middle, and Old Kings Elementary all kept their A grade from the previous year. Old Kings extended their As run to four years, while Indian Trails extended it to seven (with only one B in Indian Trails’ history since 2006).
Flagler Palm Coast High School, Rymfire and Wadsworth Elementary, Bunnell, and Belle Terre all kept their B grade from the previous year. However, Buddy Taylor and iFlagler both dropped from a B to a C. Additionally, Imagine School at Town Center, a privately operated charter school that receives public funding but is still regarded as a public school, dropped from a B to a C.
These losses had a big impact on the final grade, but only because Buddy Taylor’s 518 points from the previous year’s lowest-performing schools were too great to offset the other schools’ generally mediocre performances. Thirteen were lost. Last year, Imagine had 604 points at Town Center. This year, it had 555, a 49-point deficit. 56 percent of the possible points went to both schools. Bunnell Elementary received a score of 55, however it maintained its B thanks to improvements in a few areas.
Twelve factors, each worth 100 points, are used to determine grades. Districts must receive at least 768 points, or 64 percent of the 1,200 potential total, in order to receive an A. (Elementary schools must receive 62 percent, while middle and high schools must receive 64 percent.) Flagler schools scored 749, which was 19 points below the A-cutoff and five points more than the previous year.
Achievement in math, English, science, and social studies are among the 12 criteria, along with improvements among the 25 percent of students who do the worst, results in accelerated courses, graduation rates, and other factors.
The graduation rate at Flagler schools increased by one point to 89 percent. The lowest-performing 25% of students lost ground in both math and English, while students made progress in science, social studies, and English but regressed by two points in math. Additionally, college and career acceleration dropped from 48 to 47 percent, a one-point decrease. Graduates who passed advanced courses like the International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Cambridge AICE, dual enrollment college courses, and industrial certifications provide the basis for this component. What was recorded this year represents the scores of 2023–24 graduates, as opposed to other categories where the scores are based on results from the previous year.
According to Florida’s 2024–2025 school grades, 28 out of the state’s 67 districts are A districts, 31 are B districts, eight are C districts, and none are D or F districts.
With 74 percent each, Nassau and St. Johns have the highest scores, followed by Lafayette and Walton with 73 percent. The next highest ranking counties were Miami-Dade, Sarasota, Indian River, and Collier.
Gadsden County received 49 percent of the possible points, the lowest possible score. Jefferson, at 51 percent, Hamilton, at 52, Okeechobee, at 53, and Madison, at 54, were the next counties above Gadsden County.
Incoming Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas stated at a news conference in Jacksonville on Monday afternoon that the governor’s creative policies and his directive to school board members and superintendents throughout the state to return education to its foundations and concentrate on student success are the main reasons why Florida schools are getting better overall.
For an A in 2022–2023, middle schools required to receive 68 percent and high schools needed to receive 70 percent.
This year, 61 schools scored a D, 10 schools received an F, and no districts received a D or F.
The department reports that 1,908 schools (56 percent) raised or maintained an A grade this year, while 347 schools (10 percent) dropped their grade from the previous year. According to state data, this year’s A ratings are 6% higher than last year’s.
Department data shows that 71 schools had a D or F rating in 2025, compared to 573 schools that received a D or F rating in 2015. 117 schools were in the bottom two grades last year.
Next year, the administration expects that roughly 12 districts that are currently ranked as A will no longer obtain that grade, and another 12 districts will be classed as C. If more than 75 percent of schools are rated as A or B, the scale must be adjusted in accordance with state law.
Kamoutsas and Governor Ron DeSantis attributed the improved ratings in large part to the recently concluded third year of administration of the progress monitoring evaluations. The Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, a progress tracking examination, focuses on student performance all year long rather than simply at the conclusion of the year.
I believe that improved student performance and achievement are the results of progress monitoring. We’re always striving to improve, and if there are state-level rules that need to be implemented—either through the education department or by going to the Legislature to seek reforms—we won’t think twice about doing so, DeSantis stated.
According to a survey published last month by The Phoenix, reading scores rose by 4% and math scores for all Florida students improved by 3% in 2024–2025 compared to 2023–2024.
Florida Phoenix’s FlaglerLive and Jay Waagmeester
Flagler County School Grades, 2005-2025
| School | 2005 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunnell Elementary | A | B | B | A | A | B | B | A | B (C)* | A | B | C | C | C | C | C | C | B | B |
| Belle Terre Elementary | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | B | B | B | A | A | B | B | B | |
| Old Kings Elementary | A | A | A | A | A | B | A | A | B | A | A | C | A | B | B | A | A | A | A |
| Rymfire Elementary | B | A | B | C | A | A | B (c)* | A | B | B | B | C | B | C | B | B | B | ||
| Wadsworth Elementary | A | A | B | A | B | B | A | A | A | A | A | B | C | C | B | B | B | B | B |
| Imagine | D | A | C | A | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | C | ||||
| Indian Trails Middle | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | B | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | |
| Buddy Taylor Middle | B | A | A | A | A | A | A | B | C | C | B | C | C | C | C | C | C | B | C |
| Flagler-Palm Coast High | C | B | C | A | D | B | B | B | A | B | B | C | B | B | B | C | B | B | B |
| Mantanzas High | C | D | A | B | B | B | A | A | B | A | B | B | B | B | B | B | A | A | |
| iFlagler | B | B | A | A | C | ||||||||||||||
| District | B | A | A | A | A | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | A | B | B | B | B |
