School Officials Scrutinize New Report Card Category

September 25, 2025 by Staff Report

A new college, career, workforce and military readiness category shook up the 2025 state report cards, with only one school in Geauga County scoring a five out of five stars on that component.

Every year, the Ohio Department of Education publishes report cards providing information about district and school performance. The cards score schools on a scale of one to five in six categories, as well as provide an overall average score for each district.

West Geauga Schools once again scored an average five out of five, significantly exceeding state standards, while Chardon and Kenston school districts scored a four and a half, and Berkshire Schools scored a four — all exceeding state standards.

Cardinal Schools, with its overall score of 3.5, met state standards.

Auburn Career Center, which serves Geauga students, scored an overall five, as did Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools.

Future Readiness

Of Geauga County’s districts, only Berkshire scored a five in the new future readiness category, which is described on the cards as “…a measure of how prepared Ohio’s students are for future opportunities, whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college.”

Cardinal scored the lowest of the group with a two, while Chagrin scored a four and Kenston, Chardon and West Geauga all scored threes in that category.

“This is the first year for college career, workforce and military readiness and it is an area that we are understudy with three stars, but we’re in very familiar territory with a number of districts in three- and four-star ratings in that component, as we continue to unpack that and understand how we can better align, but I’m very confident we will be able to do that,” Chardon Superintendent Mike Hanlon said.

Chardon Assistant Superintendent Ed Klein provided a deeper dive into the new future readiness component, which he said has been reported for the past two years, but was scored for the first time this year.

Chardon has had a modest increase in that index, going from 64% to nearly 68%, he said.

“Schools that scored in our performance index or higher, for the most part, also scored a three-star in this area,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be looking here. There are districts … who scored five stars who had outscored us on a performance index. What’s the similarities there, what are they doing that we’re not doing?”

There are multiple factors that make up the score, Klein said.

Schools receive points or a percentage of points for student scores on the SAT or ACT, as well for students scoring a three or higher on AP exams, dual enrollment, military enlistment, honors diplomas and industry recognized credentials — which includes items like earning a driver’s license, first aid or Google certification in making Google Ads — among other items.

“We don’t know, and this is what we need to dig into more here, why aren’t we getting more students that way?” Klein said. “But also, why aren’t the other high-performing districts, why aren’t they, for the most part, also getting five stars on this as well?”

He added 10% of districts statewide scored a five in the new category.

Hanlon also pointed out the data is collected post graduation, which can cause limitations if a district is unable to chase down students and get responses.

Berkshire’s five-star future readiness component aided in their overall average increasing from three and a half stars last year to four this year, with 88.6% of students ready for life after high school, said Berkshire Superintendent John Stoddard.

“We’re very proud of that. (Career readiness) has been an intent focus of ours,” Stoddard said. “We have built a comprehensive workforce development program over the past five years and that is the major contributing factor to the success in that area of the report card.”

He credited partnerships with Preston Auto Group, Great Lakes Cheese, Kent State University – Geauga, University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and Ohmann Family Living, as well as the Badger Lab Vocational Program (with over 30 job sites).

Berkshire also offers students the internship for learning courses, an agribusiness pathway, a diesel program, military recruiter partnerships and the various pre-apprenticeships and internships with those programs, Stoddard said.

West Geauga Schools expects to fulfill the requirements on the future readiness category next year due to a pre-apprenticeship program in the junior and senior English programming, said West Geauga Superintendent Nancy Benincasa, noting that category is “one year in arrears” and measures a year behind the other categories.

“We are committed to providing a high-quality experience for our students both inside and outside of the classroom through rigorous programming and extra curricular opportunities,” she said.

For Kenston Schools, the future readiness index was the lowest of the district’s scores.

“A three-star rating indicates the district met the state standard,” said Kenston Superintendent Bruce Willingham. “While Kenston is not satisfied with simply meeting expectations, it is actively working to enhance readiness opportunities. The district’s focus remains on meaningful experiences and offerings for students rather than ratings alone.”

Chagrin Falls Exempted Village fared similarly. While the district’s score may have been the lowest on its roster, CFEV Superintendent Jennifer Penczarski was pleased at its progress in the area.

“This is still a new measure for Ohio and we see our progress as a positive sign that the work we are doing is moving in the right direction,” she said. “As with all areas of the report card, we will continue to reflect on this new measure and explore ways to further support our students’ growth.”

With Cardinal Schools being a district with smaller enrollment numbers than surrounding districts, that may have factored into it only scoring two stars in the college, career, workforce and military readiness component, said Cardinal Superintendent Jack Cunningham.

“We don’t have a lot of advanced placement classes,” Cunningham said, adding there aren’t enough students to fill an AP class.

Students are encouraged to take part in College Credit Plus, he noted.

Nevertheless, the superintendent said he was shocked at the career preparation score and he anticipates taking a deeper dive into finding out why that score and the progress score were only two stars, adding it may be a case of incorrect reporting by the district.

Other factors in the lower scoring may be a reconfiguration of the district’s grades, Cunningham said.

Classes at the elementary school building were eliminated last year due to low enrollment. Grades eight through 12 attend the junior-senior high school and the lower grades are at the former middle school, now the elementary school.

Overall Ratings/Improvements

West Geauga was one of only 10 schools in Ohio to receive an overall five-star rating — maintaining its score from last year — and rank 11th in Ohio, Benincasa said.

“This level of excellence can be attributed to the collective efforts of students, families and staff as well as the time and attention spent on individualizing instruction, student supports and opportunities for enrichment and acceleration,” she said. “We are particularly proud of this designation as it represents progress across many different categories which enhance the student experience.

Chardon ranked 57th in the state, making the top 10% of Ohio schools, Klein said.

The district has also improved in the card’s progress component, which measures student growth based on past performance. It scored a three last year and four this year.

Chardon saw a modest increase in its graduation rate, going from a 95% and 94% in the percentage of students who graduated after four and five years to 98% in both areas, Klein said.

Berkshire’s graduation rate also went from four to five stars, graduating 97.1% of students in four years and 98.2% of students in five years, Stoddard noted.

The district’s target this year is in early literacy, where they earned only two stars, he said.

The component measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade. Third-grade reading proficiency was 60.6%, with 100% of third-graders promoted to fourth grade.

“I’m aware of a dip. We were implementing new materials and it took a little bit to get used to them,” Stoddard said. “It’s really hard to intently focus on all things. Last year, we focused on workforce and graduation. Now, we have to maintain those and focus on early literacy.”

Despite some of its lower scores, Cardinal Schools’ overall score improved from three to three and a half.

“Graduation went up three or four percent to 94%,” Cunningham said, adding two years ago, the graduation score was 87%.

“We spent time on that – really focused on it,” Cunningham said. “We’re a small district. One or two kids can make a huge difference.”

The district did well in the card’s gap closing and graduation components, earning four stars in both, as well as three in achievement and early literacy.

Willingham expressed pride for the district’s overall results, especially in the achievement and graduation components, where it scored five stars.

The results in those areas are due to the combined efforts of students, staff, administrators, parents and the community, he said.

“On behalf of the board of education, the administrative team and our dedicated teachers and staff, I am incredibly proud of our students and their accomplishments,” he said. “We are about students and their experiences. When we do this work correctly, the test scores take care of themselves. The state report card is just one measure of success. Our quality profile provides a more complete picture of what Kenston offers and how our students perform across academics, the arts, athletics and service.”

CFEV saw fives in every area of the card except the new section.

“This year’s rating reflects the impact of the work outlined in our strategic plan,” Penczarski said.  “Our focus on continuous growth and collective accountability is helping us strengthen learning, foster student and staff well-being, and align our resources to meet student needs.”

The school’s score is a clear reflection of the work and support by students, teachers, parents and staff, she said.

“Just as importantly, the results show balance across every category, from strong early literacy to outstanding graduation rates, which demonstrates that our students are thriving in a well-rounded educational experience,” she added.

Auburn Career Center’s overall score of five is its third in a row, ACC Superintendent Joe Glavan said.

“We are incredibly proud to see our efforts recognized at the state level and we remain committed to delivering high-quality education and skills that prepare students for real-world success,” he said.

While the school received five stars across multiple areas, Glavan specifically highlighted the graduation rate, with 98% graduating in four years and 97% in five years.

He added 98% of Auburn students are also employed, enrolled in post-secondary education or enlisted in the military within six months of graduation.