A through F grades released for Washington County school districts

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - The Oklahoma State Department of Education released controversial rankings for the state's districts Thursday, giving schools letter grades based on performance.

The A through F rankings were set to be release last month but officials tabled a vote on the acceptance of the report cards.

Around 300 Oklahoma school superintendents are against the rankings, saying the new system's grading formula is too tough and expects too much of growth.

The group was asking for extra time for the system to be tweaked and checked for inaccuracies.

A quick check of the newly released grades shows Bartlesville public schools received three As, six Bs and one C – the lone C belonging to Jane Phillips Elementary School. Mobile readers click this link -(http://bit.ly/TIHVQq) - to see all the schools in the Bartlesville district.

In a statement released by Bartlesville Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gary Quinn on Thursday, he said while the above grades were excellent, he would still like all the schools to earn As – a goal for which he and district staff will continue to strive.

“I am confident in the ability of our teachers and staff. I know that they will rise to the challenge of the new A-F grading system, and continue to do an outstanding job just as they did with the Academic Performance Index that was used over the past several years,” said.

Dewey public schools (http://bit.ly/TE510m) received an A for its middle school, a B for its high school and a C for its elementary school.

Copan public schools (http://bit.ly/TiQ1De) received a C for its middle school and a C for its high school.

Caney Valley public schools (http://bit.ly/PT2heo) received Cs for its elementary, middle and high schools.

In 2011, the Oklahoma legislature adopted the new A through F system, which State Superintendent Janet Barresi says will provide greater transparency for schools, allowing students and parents to see how their schools are performing.

The system will use school assessment results from the 2011-2012 school year to determine a ranking  based on the school's performance.