More Fulton schools rated unsatisfactory for “climate”
A worsening sense of safety and other elements that inform school culture, such as disciplinary incidents, led to a drop in rankings for several Fulton County Schools on Georgia’s latest “School Climate Star” ratings.
A third of the district’s 103 schools were rated below satisfactory or unsatisfactory during the 2014-15 school year, as an additional five fell to that level from the prior year, for a total of 34. Conversely, seven fewer schools scored above average or excellent. Two schools, Northwestern Middle and Alpharetta Elementary, tumbled in the rankings. Both were at the top in 2013-14, scoring a five, but under the new index Northwestern rates a three and Alpharetta dropped to a two.
In 2013-14, Fulton had no schools at the bottom, but in these new rankings, the district has eight with a score of one.
The ratings released Wednesday by the Georgia Department of Education are derived from a variety of sources, including surveys of parents and school staff and discipline and attendance data.
A five is the top score, and 259 schools statewide ranked there versus 334 the prior year. Twenty more schools fell to the bottom of the list, for a total of 87.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
