Tucson Unified School District will hold public meetings soon to discuss improvement plans for nine schools that received either D or F grades from the state this school year.
The schools are Blenman Elementary, Booth Fickett K-8, Doolen Middle, Manzo Elementary, Pistor Middle, Safford K-8, Steele Elementary, Tully Elementary and Valencia Middle, according to the agenda for Tuesday’s TUSD governing board meeting.
Each year, the Arizona Department of Education issues letter grades ranging from A to F. The grades are based on a range of quantitative measures including yearly student growth, statewide assessments, English language proficiency and growth, high school graduation rates, and indicators that measure whether students are prepared for high school and higher education.
A D letter grade means the school is minimally performing, while an F means the school is failing and its performance falls in the bottom 5% among public schools in the state.
ADE did not issue letter grades during the pandemic and the most recent grades prior to this year are from the 2018-2019 school year.
Booth Fickett K-8 was the only school on the list that improved its letter grade, going from an F in 2019 to a D this school year. Its assessment showed improvement in student growth from year to year, as well as English language proficiency.
Other schools on the list received the same letter grades as in 2019. Blenman Elementary, Doolen Middle, Pistor Middle and Valencia Middle schools received D letter grades in both 2019 and 2022.
Safford K-8 School received F letter grades both years.
Manzo Elementary showed the biggest drop, from a B letter grade in 2019 to a D this school year. It lost the most points in proficiency on state assessment exams, yearly student growth and readiness for success in high school.
Steele and Tully Elementary schools both dropped from C letter grades in 2019 to Ds this school year. The two schools received less points, compared to 2019, for students’ proficiency on state assessment tests and readiness for students’ success in high school.
State law requires that the district hold separate public meetings to discuss improvement plans for each school that received D or F letter grades. Schools that received an F must hold the public meeting by Feb. 16, and those that received a D must hold the meeting by March 16.
TUSD administrators will work with each school to schedule the meetings, pending board approval, said information given to the board for its Jan. 24 meeting.
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