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

Featured

8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres