Indiana school district grades change little with reprieve

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – More than three-quarters of Indiana’s school districts are receiving A or B grades under the state’s rating system.

The State Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve the ratings that are little changed from a year earlier. That’s because of a one-year reprieve from lower grades following discord over big drops in student scores on the ISTEP standardized exam.

The new ratings give A grades to 46 percent of the state’s 289 school districts and B grades to 33 percent of districts. Nineteen percent of districts received C grades and 3 percent got D grades.

The Gary Community Schools in northwestern Indiana received the only F grade.

Legislators last month approved a change to state law under which districts could receive higher grades than last year, but not lower ratings.