BBH schools earn five stars on state report card

by Melissa Martin

Sept. 17 school board meeting

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District has once again earned an overall rating of five stars by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce on its 2024-2025 state-issued report card. An overall five-star rating is the highest-possible rating a district can receive on the report cards, which were released by the state Sept. 15. 

Since 2022, the Ohio DEW has been measuring school district performance using star ratings on a scale of 1 to 5, instead of the A-to-F grades used previously, as a result of changes to the state’s accountability laws as enacted by the Ohio General Assembly in 2021.

The state report cards continue to analyze school district performance in six areas: achievement; progress; early literacy; gap closing; and graduation. Starting in 2025, a new component has been added – college, career, workforce and military readiness – which measures how well the graduating class is prepared for postsecondary education, entering the workforce or joining the armed forces.

According to the Ohio DEW, 16% of 2024 graduates earned at least 12 college credits, which is up from 13.8% in 2023. Additionally, 25.6% of last year’s graduates earned 12 or more industry-recognized credential points in a single career field or a state-recognized license, which is up from 19.5% in 2023.

“I applaud the continued dedication from school leaders, educators and staff who are working hard to provide Ohio students the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a press release. “We must keep working to ensure our students grow in all areas of academic achievement and career readiness. This is especially important as schools strengthen literacy instruction through the science of reading and as we continue investing in opportunities that prepare students for their futures after graduation.”

According to the DEW, more than 90 percent of school districts earned overall ratings of three stars or higher this year, meeting the state’s expectations for performance.

“Our overall performance index greatly exceeds statewide standards and keeps the BBHCSD in a class of its own,” said Superintendent Jeffrey Harrison. “Congratulations to the students for their performance and achievement, our devoted staff for demonstrating rigor in the classroom, and our families for continuing to elevate the importance of academics and your support with this accomplishment.”

David Martin, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, broke down the specifics of this year’s report card for the BBH Board of Education Sept. 17. He said the district received a rating of five stars in all components, except in the newest category of college, career, workforce and military readiness, in which it earned four stars.

While no district in the state was able to achieve five stars in all six categories this year, Martin said he has aspirations for the district to be the first to achieve that goal starting with the 2025-2026 school year.

Martin said BBH Elementary earned an overall rating of five stars for the 2023-2024 school year, however, it received an overall rating of 4.5 stars this past school year. While it received five stars in the categories of achievement, gap closing and early literacy, it received just three stars in the progress component.

As for the BBH Middle School, its overall rating is five stars this year, as the school scored 5 stars in all components, except for progress, in which it received four stars.

BBH High School received five stars in all components for the third consecutive year for an overall rating of five stars.

Martin said in all three buildings math scores on state tests remain high, while the district “has work to do” when it comes to English Language Arts.

“We have got to stay laser-focused on ELA, not at the expense of math or science or social studies, but we have got to stay focused on ELA [and early literacy] and we will,” he said. “We need to make sure we have a viable and guaranteed ELA curriculum for grades K-12 that is consistent, coherent, builds knowledge and vocabulary over time with the students. … We also have to dial in on the subgroups and figure out which groups are not making progress and why.”

Board Member Tish Kwiatkowski congratulated the students, staff and administrators for the district.

“We remain a fantastic district,” she said. “I will remain an ambassador to the very end. I credit the entire team, I know how hard everyone is working. I think a lot of districts struggle with ELA, so this district has nothing to be ashamed of.”

Martin agreed. “The bottom line is we continue to be a very high achieving district and that’s a testament to our staff and our parents and our families,” he said.

Driveway project

In other news, Harrison announced there has been a slight delay in the driveway project on the site of the former Hilton Elementary campus, which is considered phase two of the seven-phase campus master plan. 

“We were ready to go to bid last month, but a few adjustments were needed to make the plan to stay within the budget,” Harrison said. “We are trying to be good stewards of the tax dollars and trying to balance driveway project with the potential for future projects. There are things you can do early on in the process that will pay dividends later on in the process.”

Harrison said the administration will seek final board approval in November for approval to go out to bid. Construction is planned for the spring and is set to be completed by the end of July.

“The delays we’ve experienced this year are not going to hurt us for the construction season after the first of the year,” Harrison said. “January is the ideal time to go out for bid as the construction companies are filling their schedules for spring and summer. That’s why it’s best to go in early rather than late [like we originally planned.]”

Tennis courts

Harrison said the district is also planning work to take place on its three newly resurfaced tennis courts next year.

“They don’t look like three-year-old tennis courts, have premature cracking across more than two of the courts,” he said, noting that the courts began to crack less than 18 months after they had been resurfaced to the tune of $660,000.

The district was advised to take core samples to determine if the contractor was consistent in the materials used for the project, especially since the other portion of the tennis courts didn’t demonstrate any cracking.

“We believe through all the tests that we’ve conducted that we’ve got a few areas where that could be the case,” Harrison said. “We need to work with the local company who installed the courts to seek remedy for this.”

Harrison said the district is seeking to have all three tennis courts replaced.

“We are in conversation with the local company with plans to make the repairs in summer 2026,” he said, noting the district is trying its best not to interrupt the high school boys’ or girls’ tennis seasons.“At this point, [the courts] are still playable, but they are getting to the point where the cracks can easily become a trip hazard, especially if the asphalt starts falling apart.”