After a 3 year hiatus, the state once again assigned letter grades to individual schools. The Arizona Department of Education temporarily dropped the grading system when it moved to a different standardized test -- from AIMS to AZMERIT.
And it's not good news for Tucson's largest school district. 8 TUSD schools received F's.
Overall, there were more F's than A's.
7 -- A
17 -- B
31 -- C
18 -- D
8 -- F
The schools receiving F's:
Anna Lawrence Intermediate School
Cavett Elementary School
Drachman Primary Magnet School
Maldonado Amelia Elementary School
Ochoa Elementary School
Pistor Middle School
Secrist Middle School
Valencia Middle School
Superintendent Gabrielle Trujillo held a news conference to discuss the low scores. He stressed he's not downplaying the gravity of the situation. He plans to tackle the D and F schools first with support from the Arizona Department of Education.
The Arizona Department of Education told us the grading system is more complicated this year. A large portion -- about 80 percent -- is based on the AzMerit scores, but other factors, such as growth, accounts for the remaining 20 percent.
Trujillo's message to parents: "Don't give up on the district. Don't give up on your teachers. Don't give up on your school community. We understand we need to prioritize the support that we are giving to our struggling schools to make sure kids are ready for this test and strengthen their skills in English, Languare Arts, and Math."
The test is an evaluation of standardized AzMERIT test scores.
