Not a single Orange County high school receives ‘A' grade, officials say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Last year Orange County had four high schools with “A” grades from the state.

This year there are none, and while some don’t believe a single letter grade should define a school, realtors say it can define a neighborhood for most people buying homes.

“The schools are important to the buyers, that’s going to be the very first question they’re going to ask,” Orlando Regional Realtor Association President Bruce Elliott said.

Boone, Olympia, Timber Creek and Winter Park high schools all dropped from “A” to “B” grades.

Parent Marsha Chalmers agreed that living in an area with high-ranking schools is important.

“Education is everything for a child, so you have to give them the building blocks so they’re successful when they’re adults,” she said.

Orange County School Board member Linda Kobert said she takes issue with the way grades are calculated, arguing that the data used is incomplete.

“The state uses some lag data, meaning that the graduate rates and AP scores have not even been published yet, but those were used inside those school grades,” she said. “There’s so much more to a school than a single letter grade.”

Cox Media Group