BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard Public Schools dropped a letter grade in the new report card issued by the Florida Department of Education.

For the first time in nearly three years, the district didn’t receive an “A” grade.

Katie Delaney, a parent of three children who are not enrolled in Brevard schools, said when her family moved in 2015 after her military husband was transferred, she didn’t want them attending public school in the area.

Even back then, she was worried about the direction of education in the school system.

Delaney says she is disappointed that the district received a “B” grade for 2022 from the Florida Department of Education, after three consecutive years of receiving an “A” grade.

“It doesn’t surprise me. I’m honestly surprised it’s not lower,” Delaney said. “And that is due to the wonderful teachers we do have in this county. That are trying their best to teach our kids.”

The Florida school district scores haven’t been released for nearly three years because of a lack of assessments for the 2019-20 school year.

The state Department of Education said Florida school scores overall were higher than anticipated, despite learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Brevard, three schools improved their grade by one letter, but 25 schools dropped by at least one letter grade.

“Coming out of COVID, there are a lot of anomalies we can’t control,” said Brevard District 4 board member Matt Susin, adding that there is cause for concern with the “B” grade.

“We’ve lost almost two years of education due to COVID because you not only had the kids working remotely, but then coming back and transitioning in,” Susin said. “A lot of the discipline issues were based on the fact they were gone for so long. There are just a lot of factors that many people don’t see inside of our schools.”

Delaney said she believes getting back to the basics like reading, writing and math will return Brevard schools to an “A” performance.

She said that she has a decision to make next year about her oldest child who will be going into high school: Will she send her to public school, or homeschool?

“At this point, unless there’s a major change, I cannot see myself putting her in a Brevard public school,” Delaney said.

The district said in a statement that this school year, its grade did improve from a low to high “B”.

Grades for five schools are incomplete and are expected to be finalized in the next couple of months.