According to Section 1003.631 of Florida Statutes, the State Board is required to designate a school as a School of Excellence if the school’s percentage of possible points earned in its school grade calculation is in the 80th percentile or higher for schools comprised of the same grade groupings (elementary, middle, high and combination) for at least two of the last three school years.
Congratulations to the following Plato Academy Schools that were designated as School of Excellence within Pinellas County (in a total of seven K-8 schools) for the third year in a row:
Plato Academy Clearwater
Plato Academy Palm Harbor
Plato Academy Tarpon Springs
A School of Excellence will have the following administrative flexibilities outlined in the law:
- exemption from any provision of law or rule that expressly requires a minimum period of daily or weekly instruction in reading;
- principal autonomy as provided under section 1012.28(8), Florida Statutes;
- instructional personnel may substitute one school year of employment at a School of Excellence for 20 in-service points, up to 60 in-service points total in a five-year cycle, toward the renewal of a professional certificate;
- exemption from compliance with school district policies or procedures establishing times for the start and end of the school day; and
- calculation of class size compliance based on the average number of students at the school level.
We are confident that the rest of our schools will follow, as we are all working on improving and making every year better than the prior!
