LEXINGTON — Superintendent Kevin Young said Lexington Local Schools’ recent Ohio School Report Card proves the hard work of students and staff is paying off.
“Overall, we are very pleased with our results,” Young said. “There are certainly areas where we need to improve, but the report card reflects a lot of positive work taking place throughout our district.”
Every year, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce releases its school report cards, which rate public schools and districts on a one-to-five star scale.
Three stars means a district has met expectations. Five stars means a district has significantly exceeded expectations.
Lexington Local Schools maintained its overall four-star rating, though its early literacy metric dropped by one star. The rest of the grade care components remained the same as the previous year:
- Achievement: 4 stars
- Progress: 2 stars
- Gap Closing: 5 stars
- Graduation: 5 stars
- Early Literacy: 4 stars
- College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness: 3 stars
On the school building level, Lexington Junior High earned a score of 3 stars; Lexington High School earned 4.5 stars. The district’s three elementary schools each earned a 5-star rating.
“One thing I am especially proud of is the outstanding performance of our three elementary schools,” Young said.
“Their results reflect the tremendous work of our teachers and staff and the strong foundation they are building for our students. When students get that kind of start academically, it benefits them throughout their time at Lexington.”
Young said he’d like to see the district increase its progress score, which assesses whether students made a year’s worth of growth — regardless of their level of academic achievement.
“While student achievement is extremely high, our Progress Component indicates growth rates were slightly lower than projected,” Young said.
He said district administrators will look closely at what the report card data says about student growth across grade levels and subjects.
“Our administrative and instructional teams will use that information to identify areas of need, strengthen instruction and tiered interventions, and make sure we are challenging and supporting students at every achievement level,” he said. “This will be an important area of focus for us moving forward.”
Young encouraged community members to examine Lexington’s school report card on their own.
“It gives us an opportunity to celebrate areas of success while also identifying where we can continue to improve,” he said.
What do school report card components mean?
Achievement is a measure of how well students in grades 3 through 12 performed on state tests.
Progress measures how much growth students are making, based on state test results from prior years. For the 2025-2026 report cards, ratings are based on three consecutive years of data.
Gap Closing measures how well schools close achievement gaps for students of different races, students with disabilities and students from economically disadvantaged families. The gap closing metric is also impacted by chronic absenteeism rates and how well the district serves gifted students.
Graduation is determined by a high school’s four-year graduation rate (60 percent of the score) and its five-year graduation rate (40 percent of the score).
Early Literacy is a measure of reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.
College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness is a measure of how prepared Ohio’s students are for future opportunities, including entering the workforce, enlisting in the military or pursuing additional education. Districts get points for students who do things like pass the ACT or SAT, earn an honors diploma, complete college courses or earn industry recognized credentials.
“I also think it is important to recognize that schools throughout Richland County performed well. There are a lot of dedicated educators across our county doing great things for students, and that is something our entire area can be proud of,” he added.
“For Lexington, we will celebrate our successes, learn from the data, and continue working together to provide the best opportunities possible for every student.”
What are Ohio school report cards?
Report cards measure six major components: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, early literacy and postsecondary readiness.
Achievement and progress each make up one-fourth of a district’s overall score, while the other components each make up 12.5 percent.
School report cards also offer information on school district enrollment, teacher salaries and experience and even school finance.
Lexington’s enrollment was 2,146 last school year, according to the report card. The district had a four-year graduation rate of 98.9 percent.
Lexington teachers had an average 16 years of experience and earn an average salary of $64,529.
The district had a chronic absenteeism rate of 12 percent, which is lower than the state target of 14.5 percent.
