The Kentucky Department of Education has released its 2024-2025 overall ratings for all 171 public school districts across the Commonwealth.
The department uses a color-coded scale to judge the performance of districts at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. The scale ranges from red (lowest) to blue (highest), with orange, yellow and green in between. Test scores, student success and student readiness for life after high school are some of the factors considered in the report.
Northern Kentucky's highest-rated district this year was Beechwood Independent Schools, which earned blue ratings at all three levels. Fort Thomas Independent Schools also earned high marks, landing blue ratings at the elementary and high school levels, and a green rating at the middle school level.
Boone, Kenton and Campbell county school districts scored green ratings for all or most grade levels. Out of these three, Campbell County Schools improved the most from the previous year, raising both its middle and high school ratings from yellow to green.
In a statement shared with WVXU, Campbell County Superintendent Shelli Wilson says her staff deserves the credit for the district's progress.
"Over the past year, we have intentionally aligned our districtwide efforts and strengthened opportunities for collaboration. Bringing staff together through districtwide Professional Learning Communities has created a shared focus on high-quality instruction and consistent expectations across schools," Wilson wrote. "I’m especially proud of how our teams look closely at every individual child, their needs, their growth, and their limitless potential, and adjust instruction to support them."
Other districts, like Covington Independent, Newport Independent, Ludlow, Erlanger-Elsmere, Walton-Verona, Dayton and Southgate showed some improvement from last year, scoring mostly in the orange and yellow range, with some green ratings.
Bellevue Independent Schools notched some higher grades, too, raising its overall middle school score from red to orange and its high school score from orange to yellow.
Superintendent Misty Middleton told WVXU the strides Bellevue has made on this report card reflect the hard work of staff who have implemented more engaging and challenging curriculum over the past couple of years and the work of students who have stepped up to the challenge.
"[I'm] just so proud of our students for rising to the rigor," she said. "We've definitely increased rigor in our classrooms, and our students have met it."
No local school districts scored in the red at any level this year. In the last school report card, Covington Independent received a red rating for its middle schools, but improved to orange this time around, and also boosted its elementary and high school performance grades from orange to yellow. Newport Independent, which earned a red rating for its elementary schools in the last report, moved up to an orange rating.
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