Sheepshead Bay HS Gets a “C”, May Turn Charter

City officials released this year’s school progress reports, grading Sheepshead Bay High School a C, down from a B last year. The decrease partially reflects a rise in the raw score necessary to receive an A or a B. Only 75 percent of high schools received an A or a B, down from 83 percent in 2008.

Progress reports for high schools are determined by evaluating schools’ credit accumulation rates, graduation rates, and the percentage of students who pass the Regents exams.

Earlier this month, state officials suggested Sheepshead Bay High School for inclusion on a list of about a dozen city schools targeted for charter takeover, and the decreased grade may add more fuel to the fire. The state plan follows the lead of Mayor Bloomberg and School Chancellor Joel Klein of dismantling large, low-performing schools and turning them into small, privately run charter schools sharing facilities.

So far, the principal of Sheepshead Bay High School has stated that the school won’t go charter, but it’s unclear how much influence she’ll have on the decision-making.

Though state Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch has said that all of the schools targeted will be clear underperformers – “It’s not going to be a controversial list” – a broader view of the grades raises doubt about whether or not Sheepshead Bay High School is a deserving candidate. For its part, Sheepshead Bay High School is not the worst performer in the area. That distinction belongs to John Dewey High School, which repeated last year’s grade of a C with a raw score of 44.2, more than four points below SBHS’s 46.5. William E. Grady High School’s scores were almost identical to SBHS, also dropping from a B to a C with a raw score of 46.6. Additionally, under last year’s grading standards, all of these schools would have received Bs.

The only area high school that improved grades this year was Abraham Lincoln High School, which increased from C to B. James Madison High School held steady at a B, while Leon M. Goldstein High School continued to take top honors as the areas best school. It consistently receives As. The citywide average raw score this year jumped to 66.7, up from 55.4.

You can see the full report below: