Huntsville City Schools has earned an A on the Alabama State Report Card for the first time in district history, a milestone officials and board members are tying to years of steady academic gains. The news lands the same week some South Huntsville parents are raising alarms over a separate proposal that could shutter two of their neighborhood schools.
District Three board member Payten Redfearn framed the grade as the product of nearly a decade of incremental progress rather than a single breakthrough year. “Huntsville City Schools had a state report card average in the 70s. And to see us be in the 90s now, again, really shows the growth that we’ve had,” Redfearn said, according to WAFF. She said the district has improved every year since 2017.
The report card measures several indicators beyond a single test score, according to Huntsville City Schools, including academic growth, college and career readiness, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, and progress in English language proficiency. The district's own account of its multi-year progress shows its overall state score climbing from an 85 in the 2022-2023 school year to an 86 the following year, part of what the district describes as continued upward movement.
The Numbers Behind the A
Exactly how far the district's score has climbed this year depends on which account you read. WAFF reports the score rose from an 83 in 2022 to a 90 in 2026, a seven-point jump over four years that pushed the district from a B to an A. Alabama Daily News, however, reports the district received an 82 in 2022, putting this year's eight-point rise in a slightly different light; both outlets agree on the current 90.
Beyond the headline number, the district's academic-achievement score rose nearly 10 points and its graduation rate increased by more than seven points, per the same WAFF report. Chronic absenteeism, meanwhile, fell from nearly 19% in 2022 to just under 7% this year — a steep drop that officials have highlighted as one of the clearest signs of classroom-level change.
Huntsville's gains mirror broader momentum across Alabama's public schools this year. The state's overall report-card score climbed from 86.67 to 88.27 out of 100, still a B, according to Alabama Daily News. The outlet also reported that the statewide academic-achievement indicator rose from 67 last year to 69.2, continuing a climb from 60.1 in 2022, while chronic absenteeism declined from about 12% last year to 10.54%.
Statewide, 23 school systems moved up at least one letter grade this year while five moved down, Alabama Daily News reported. Alabama's graduation rate also rose, from 91.56% in 2024-25 to 92.77% in 2025-26, and its college and career readiness score increased from 87.88 to 90.70 over the same period, according to the Alabama Reflector. Huntsville was not alone in reaching a new high-water mark: thirteen Alabama districts earned an A for the first time since the state began issuing letter grades, all of them moving up from a B the previous year, Alabama Daily News reported. Leeds City Schools and Baldwin County Schools both landed their first A's this cycle as well, according to AL.com, with Leeds posting 100% academic growth and a 96.9% graduation rate and Baldwin County scoring a 92.
Parents Welcome the Grade, but Not Every Family Is Celebrating
For parent Caroline Kennedy, the A tracks with what she's already seen inside the district's classrooms. She said the grade aligns with her family's experience of excellent teachers, strong leadership and community, per WAFF's report.
That optimism isn't universal, though. Huntsville City Schools has floated a 10-year capital plan that could close Mountain Gap Elementary and Mountain Gap Middle Schools and consolidate students at the Challenger campus, according to WHNT. Under the proposal, students currently attending Mountain Gap Elementary would be zoned for Weatherly and Challenger Elementary in 2032, while Mountain Gap Middle School students would move to the new Challenger Middle School once it opens in 2031, the station reported.
South Huntsville parents are concerned about the plan, and Jordan Gibbs, president of the Mountain Gap PTA, has argued that neighborhood schools should remain part of the conversation as the district weighs its long-term facilities strategy. The capital plan remains a proposal, and whether it will ultimately be adopted has not been established in reporting so far.
