Report Card: Florida's Highest- And Lowest-Rated School Districts

By Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix

July 8, 2025

Florida has 6% more A-rated schools under its own metrics, the governor announced Monday.

The 2024-2025 school grades show that 28 of Florida’s 67 districts are A districts, 31 are B, eight are C, and none are D or F.

The state calculates the scores using student math, science, reading, and social studies assessment scores, graduation rates, “maintaining a focus on students who need the most support,” and more.

The highest-scoring counties are Nassau and St. Johns, both achieving 74%, and Lafayette and Walton scoring 73%. Collier, Indian River, Sarasota, and Miami-Dade counties were the next highest scoring.

Gadsden County scored lowest, achieving 49% of points available. The next above Gadsden County was Jefferson at 51%, Hamilton at 52%, Okeechobee at 53%, and Madison at 54%.

“Florida schools are improving across the board, and this is a direct result of the governor’s innovative policies and his mandate to school board members and superintendents across the state to bring education back to the basics and focus on student success,” incoming Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said during a news conference in Jacksonville Monday afternoon.

In order to receive an A grade, elementary schools must earn 62% or more points on the rubric while A-grade middle and high schools received 64% or more points.

For districts, the A mark requires 64% points or more, while B grades range from 57% to 63%, C is 44% to 56%, and D is 34% to 43%.

In 2022-2023, high schools needed to score 70% for an A, and middle schools needed 68%.

No districts received a D or F this year, although 10 schools received an F and 61 received a D.

According to the department, 347 schools, or 10%, decreased their grade this year from last year and 1,908 schools, or 56%, increased or maintained an A. State metrics showed 6% more schools are rated A this year compared to last.

According to department data, 573 schools rated D or F in 2015 while, in 2025, 71 schools rated a D or F. Last year, 117 schools fell within the lowest two grades.

The grading scale will change next year, and the department anticipates about 12 districts now rated A will no longer receive that mark and 12 more will be rated C. State law requires the scale to change if more than 75% of schools receive an A or B rating.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Kamoutsas credited the rising grades largely to progress monitoring assessments, which just completed the third year of administration. The progress monitoring tests, the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, focus on student achievement throughout the year instead of on just end-of-the-year exams.

“I think the progress monitoring has led to better student performance and better student achievement. There’s always things that we’re looking to do to improve, and if there’s policies that we need to implement at the state level, either through the education department or if we need to go to the Legislature to seek reforms, we won’t hesitate to do so,” DeSantis said.

The Phoenix reported last month that math scores for all Florida students improved by 3% in 2024-2025 when compared to 2023-2024 and reading scores increased by 4% in that same time frame.

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