LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) – The Louisiana Department of Education has released its 2018 report cards for public schools across the state.

This year, the Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White announced the department would be using a new way to grade the state’s school systems. According to White, this grading system is more rigorous in it’s report.

• The Allen Parish School System received an 84.9, or B for 2018. In 2017, the parish received a 103.4, or an A.
• The Beauregard Parish School System received an 83.8, or B for 2018. In 2017 the parish received an 89.3, or a B.
• The Calcasieu Parish School System received a 79.5, or B for 2018. in 2017 the parish received an 84.8, or a C.
• The Cameron Parish School System received an 85.9, or B for 2018. In 2017 the parish received a 102.9, or an A.
• The Jeff Davis School System received an 83, or B for 2018. In 2017 the parish received 100.6, or an A.

To see how your school was graded, click HERE.

Below are statements from Southwest Louisiana Parishes School Boards on their rating for 2018:

Beauregard Parish School Board Response

“The State Department of Education is transitioning to a new accountability formula with stringent requirements for schools and districts which make it even more challenging to meet standards. We are elated that Beauregard Parish has maintained a letter grade of “B” and at the same time has improved our score under both the old scoring formula, showing an increase of 2.2 points, and also under the new scoring formula, showing an increase of 2.4 points.”

Calcasieu Parish School Board Response

“With the release of today’s school accountability scores, Calcasieu is proud to embrace the growth our district has made even in the face of tougher state standards. The success of our schools helping to grow our students at all levels is well demonstrated by the state’s new formula growth component, which reflects every school in the district at “C” or above. Calcasieu’s overall performance rating of “B” is a testament to the efforts of classroom teachers and all who support them, and our students working every day to improve. We are proud to say as well that all of our graduating seniors for this school year will graduate from A, B, or C high schools, a first for the district since the letter grade system began.”

Cameron Parish School Board Response

“The Cameron Parish School System is pleased with our District Performance Score of 85.9. Our students, faculties and staffs work extremely hard each and every day to achieve academic excellence. While we are pleased with our growth using the tougher standards we know we must continue to improve each school year. We are very excited to have the highest DPS in the five parish area.”

Jeff Davis Parish School Board Response

“Jefferson Davis Parish school system continues to show overall district growth but earns a “B” in the new tougher state accountability grading system. Although overall student performance for 2017-18 is better than when the district earned a grade score of an “A” for the 2016-17 year, the new grade system standards currently provide Jefferson Davis Parish with a district grade score of 83 which is a “B”. Last year approximately 15 school districts across the state earned a district grade designation of “A” but this year only 4 School districts out of the 75 reported will score well enough to earn an A.

Students who used to earn 100 points for scoring “Basic” on state assessment tests in 2016/17 now earn only 80 points for the exact same performance. “Mastery” performances that used to earn 125 points for the school district now only provide 100 points. These reduced point totals make it much more difficult for schools and districts to achieve the same grades designations as before.

Even with the tougher state requirements, nine of 13 Jefferson Davis Parish schools actually improved their school achievement as compared to their previous year’s performance. Jennings Elementary and Lake Arthur Elementary displayed phenomenal overall growth, while Lake Arthur High displayed impressive gains.

Lacassine High School and Lake Arthur High Schools have been named Top Gains Schools for improving the percent of students that achieved beyond their projections.

Elton High, Hathaway, Jennings High, Lake Arthur Elementary and Lake Arthur High Schools were also identified as prestigious Equity Honorees. This means that these schools out performed 90 percent of all schools across the state in all subgroup areas with no subgroups in need of “Urgent Intervention”.

Lake Arthur Elementary also was the only school to improve their grade designation in the tougher environment in which they went from a “C” grade to a “B “in the new accountability measures while most other schools maintained their grades.

Early Childhood Community Network scores continue to indicate that Jefferson Davis has one of the top Pre-K network programs in the state as they ranked second overall statewide. Elton Elementary continues to have one of the highest pre-K performance in the state by achieving the fourth best state totals.”