School Corporation Letter Grades: A's For L'burg, Sunman-Dearborn, Batesville

By Mike Perleberg (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - Lawrenceburg, Sunman-Dearborn and Batesville school corporations are among just 48 Indiana school districts to earn an A letter grade for the 2016-2017 school year. Most other area school districts received a B on their corporation report card from the Indiana Department of Education. South Dearborn and Switzerland County each received a C. A grade was not released for Milan Community Schools, as an appeal of the corporation’s grade is pending. The 2016-2017 school year was the second in which new metrics were used to assess schools and districts on their performance. The district grades are largely aggregates of the grades assigned to individual schools. School building grades - you can find local grades here - were released in early October. Statewide, about 17 percent of Indiana’s 289 school districts received an A. A-rated schools more than doubled from 23 in 2016 to 48 this year. Fifty-two percent of corporations received B’s and 22 percent C’s. Less than three percent were hit with a D or F, however, district grades do not put corporations at risk of being placed under state sanctions.

“I am encouraged by the results of our current accountability grades as an indication of the great education Indiana students are receiving,” said Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction “Our work, however, is not finished. As a Department we will continue to partner with stakeholders from the state level to the local community to ensure every school is successful and every student is academically prepared for the future.”