Alabama’s grade on both the federal and state report card reached the highest level ever, improving by two points over last year, State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey announced during Thursday’s State Board of Education (SBOE) work session. The 87 grade reflects an increase in the number of A-B schools and a decrease in D-F schools, based on preliminary data. Several indicators are incorporated into this overall score, including academic achievement, academic growth, progress in English Language Learner (ELL) proficiency, chronic absenteeism, graduation rates and college and career readiness. Each measure except academic growth improved over last year. 

Until 2019, Alabama had a unified report card for both federal and state accountability. In 2022, the report card was split into two separate report cards. The state report card assigns a letter grade of A-F for schools, systems and the state, while the federal report card assigns a numerical score. The state report card excludes ELL students’ test results from counting toward the academic achievement indicator until they’ve been enrolled for six years and excludes non-public school students who transfer into public school from this indicator until they’ve been enrolled for four years. The federal report card also identifies schools receiving additional supports.

View the state, school system and school-level report card data for 2024-2025. 

Federal Report Card Preliminary 

 State Report Card Preliminary 

School Safety Act of 2024

The SBOE also received an update on the School Security Act of 2024. The law requires all public K-12 school facilities undergo a safety inspection at least once every five years, based on school security inspection criteria established by the board, and for the local board of education to receive a copy of their schools’ security ratings and recommendations for improvement. The law also created a School Security and Fire Safety Fund to provide grants to assist school boards in complying with the criteria.

The law requires the board, in consultation with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) and the state fire marshal, to establish the inspection criteria which includes a rubric, and to adopt rules about the selection of school security inspectors. Inspections are already underway using a rubric developed by the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) Office of School Facilities and Safety. Assistant State Superintendent of Education Autumm Jeter said schools receive a copy of the rubric in advance of an inspection. View the rubric.

Schools receive color-coded ratings (green, yellow, or red) based on compliance with security criteria, with green indicating the highest level of compliance and red indicating serious needs. Inspections are conducted on the five-year compliance monitoring schedule. Thus far this year, of the 235 public K-12 schools on the compliance monitoring schedule, 59 schools (25%) have already completed inspections. Please check with your superintendent to ensure your board has received a copy of the inspection rating and recommendations, if your schools have been inspected, and be aware of upcoming inspections for schools on the schedule.

The Legislature appropriated $15 million in one-time funding from the FY25 Education Trust Fund (ETF) supplemental for school safety, specifically to provide additional training, services, supplies and materials to support school safety initiatives and contracts pursuant to the School Security Act.  ALEA received $3 million of this funding for school mapping with local law enforcement. Mackey told the board the remaining $12 million was distributed to school systems based on enrollment figures, adding that some of this funding was used to address high-priority needs identified on the security inspections. 

Editor’s Note: AASB worked closely with lawmakers on the School Security Act of 2024 to ensure a framework with financial resources was created to enhance school safety and security in all public K-12 schools. AASB encourages all school boards to familiarize themselves with the inspection rubric and work collaboratively with your local law enforcement and district safety coordinators to ensure full compliance and implementation.

Digital Literacy & Computer Science Course of Study

As presented during the board's work session, the new Digital Literacy and Computer Science State Course of Study is designed to ensure all public K-12 students have access to meaningful digital learning, preparing them to communicate, collaborate and create in a rapidly changing technological world. Alabama students will already be required to complete a computer science course beginning with the graduating class of 2032. Mackey noted Alabama ranks in the top five in the nation for computer science and was one of the first states to require computer science for high school graduation. 

President Pro Tem Marie Manning (District 6) and Tracie West (District 2) emphasized the need for student safety online and the importance of information literacy standards to help students accurately evaluate misinformation and disinformation. The board will vote to adopt the new course of study at its December meeting.

Board Meeting Action

• Child Nutrition Program: The Board adopted an amendment to Alabama Administrative Code Rule 290-080-030-.05, relating to School-Based Child Nutrition Program (CNP) personnel, to make the process of becoming a CNP Director more accessible, especially in smaller and rural systems. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently provided additional hiring flexibility in the requirements for CNP Director, and so this aligns Alabama's program with the federal changes.
• The A+ College Ready 2025 Schools of Excellence, Schools of Distinction, and Mary D. Boehm Schools of Achievement were recognized for increasing scores on the 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) exams and meeting goals on the PSAT exam. View the list of honored schools here.

Next SBOE Meeting and Work Session

The board’s next regular meeting will take place Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, at 10 a.m. in Montgomery with a work session immediately following:

• Gordon Persons Building Auditorium
• Livestream viewing: https://www.youtube.com/user/aldeptofed/live 
• Archived meeting and work session recordings: https://www.alabamaachieves.org/state-board-of-education/meeting-videos/ 

Ada Katherine van Wyhe, MPA
Director of Governmental Relations