Marion County schools celebrate gains
Florida calculates school grades by evaluating up to 12 components.
The Osceola Middle School Band performs during the school’s Centennial Celebration in Ocala on Oct. 2, 2025. The school has maintained its “A” grade for the 2025-26 school year. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]
The 2025-26 school year grades reflect academic improvements to Marion County Public Schools (MCPS), with traditional public schools eliminating failing grades. However, due to shifting state goalposts and the performance of independent charter schools, the district’s overall grade dropped from a “B” to a “C.”
How the state calculates grades
Statewide, Florida calculates school grades by evaluating up to 12 components—such as academic achievement, learning gains, graduation rates, and college and career acceleration—each worth up to 100 points. A school’s final score is determined by adding the points earned across all eligible components and dividing by the total possible points to calculate the overall percentage. To qualify for a grade, schools are strictly required to test at least 95% of their enrolled students.
Additionally, the grading scale is designed to adjust dynamically; by state law, if more than 75% of schools in a specific category earn an “A” or “B,” the state automatically raises the minimum point thresholds required to earn each letter grade for the following year.
How the grading scale changed the district’s grade
Despite the drop in the letter grade, MCPS increased the total number of points it earned this year. The district’s grade decreased primarily because the Florida Department of Education raised the grading threshold.
Previously, a school district needed to earn 57 points to secure a “B” grade. Under the new, more rigorous state requirements, 60 points are now required to earn a “B.” MCPS scored 59 points, missing the “B” threshold by a single percentage point.
Superintendent Danielle Brewer praised the district’s momentum in an email to personnel, noting that 45.8% of graded schools earned an “A” or “B,” surpassing pre-COVID highs.
“The most important takeaway is that we improved across the entire district,” Brewer wrote. “More schools are reaching the highest levels of performance, while we have eliminated failing grades altogether.”
The charter school impact
While traditional public schools managed by MCPS saw zero “D” or “F” grades, the district’s overall grade was pulled down by the performance of local charter schools.
Charter schools operate under independent agreements with the Marion County School Board and control their own curricula. This means the district has little say over their day-to-day academic operations, yet charter school test scores are still factored into MCPS’s overall annual grade. This year, out of the five charter schools in Marion County, three dropped by at least one letter grade. One charter school, the Ina A. Colen Academy, spearheaded by local developer Ken Colen, has maintained an “A” since it started four years ago.
Attendance correlates with low performance
Many of the Marion County schools that struggle with low grades (earning a “D” or “F” in either 2024-25 or 2025-26) are heavily impacted by chronic absenteeism. For example, according to statistics received by the district, McIntosh Area School dropped from a “C” to an “F” and struggles with a 44% chronic absenteeism rate.
Ocali Charter High School dropped from a “C” to a “D” while dealing with a 38% chronic absenteeism rate.
To read prior reporting on what the district is doing to address chronic absenteeism, go to ocalagazette.com/school-district-tries-to-tackle-truancy-and-tardiness
Year-over-year school grade comparison
MCPS garnered 46% more “A” and “B” schools compared to the previous year. Below is the comprehensive list of 2024-25 school grades compared to the 2025-26 results for every graded school in the county:
- Anthony Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Belleview Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Belleview High: B ➡️ C
- Belleview Middle: A ➡️ A
- Belleview-Santos Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Bridgeway Academy: (Not Graded)
- College Park Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Dr. N H Jones Elementary: A ➡️ A
- Dunnellon Elementary: C ➡️ B
- Dunnellon High: C ➡️ C
- Dunnellon Middle: C ➡️ C
- East Marion Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Eighth Street Elementary: A ➡️ A
- Emerald Shores Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Fessenden Elementary: D ➡️ C
- Forest High: B ➡️ B
- Fort King Middle: C ➡️ C
- Fort McCoy School: C ➡️ C
- Greenway Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary: C ➡️ B
- Harbour View Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks: C ➡️ C
- Howard Middle: C ➡️ C
- Ina A. Colen Academy: A ➡️ A
- Lake Weir High: C ➡️ C
- Lake Weir Middle: C ➡️ C
- Legacy Elementary: D ➡️ C
- Liberty Middle: B ➡️ B
- Madison Street Academy of Visual and Performing Arts: A ➡️ A
- Maplewood Elementary: B ➡️ A
- Marion Charter School: B ➡️ A
- Marion Oaks Elementary: C ➡️ B
- McIntosh Area School: C ➡️ F
- North Marion High: C ➡️ C
- North Marion Middle: C ➡️ B
- Oakcrest Elementary: D ➡️ B
- Ocala Springs Elementary: B ➡️ B
- Ocali Charter High: C ➡️ D
- Ocali Charter Middle: A ➡️ B
- Osceola Middle: A ➡️ A
- Reddick-Collier Elementary: C ➡️ B
- Romeo Elementary: C ➡️ B
- Ross Prairie Elementary: (First year) C
- Saddlewood Elementary: B ➡️ A
- Shady Hill Elementary: B ➡️ B
- South Ocala Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Sparr Elementary: C ➡️ C
- Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary: D ➡️ C
- Student Services/ESE: (Not Graded)
- Sunrise Elementary: C ➡️ B
- Vanguard High: B ➡️ B
- Ward-Highlands Elementary: A ➡️ A
- West Port High: B ➡️ B
- Winding Oaks Elementary: (First year) C
- Wyomina Park Elementary: D ➡️ C
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