Superintendent: I'm Not Ashamed We Lost 'Distinction' Tag

Despite losing the tag of "Distinction," Twinsburg school officials are still happy about the district's performance on the state report cards.

"We were disappointed about losing that tag, but we have to celebrate the fact that our students have done extremely well," Superintendent Kathryn Powers said at Wednesday's school board meeting.

Preliminary data was released Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Education ranking each school district in the state. 

Twinsburg was rated "Excellent," for the 2012-13 school year, ending its streak of four-straight years of "Excellent With Distinction."

"I’m shocked and amazed that we can perform to the high level that we are and yet because of how it’s calculated, we lose our tag of 'distinction,'" Powers said.

Twinsburg met all 26 performance indicators and scored a 106.2 on the state's performance index, one of the best scores in the state.

However, because the district only met the yearly growth rate and did not go above in the category, it can only be rated "Excellent," Powers said.

Board member David Andrews said the scale is tougher for high-performing districts because the better they do each year, the harder it is to improve even more the next.

"If you look at the data and not the titles, you can tell that we are a high-performing school district," Steve Shebeck, a fellow board member, said.

“I’m not ashamed of the fact that we lost the tag," Powers said. "I’m proud of all of our students and staff.”

Read more:

• ODE Ranks Twinsburg as "Excellent"
• How Do Twinsburg Schools Rate?
• Some State Report Card Data Released