Summary
Kingswood Elementary School in Brandon, FL, is a public school serving 437 students in grades PK-5 within the Hillsborough County School District, where 73% of students come from low-income families. The school faces significant challenges, most notably an extremely high chronic absenteeism rate of 42.4% in the 2023-2024 school year, which is dramatically higher than the district average of 31.3% and far exceeds nearby schools like Alafia Elementary (17.8%) and Winthrop Charter School (18.9%). This absenteeism crisis has directly contributed to a prolonged academic decline, with the school's state ranking dropping from the 36th percentile in 2019 to the 10th percentile in 2026, earning it a 1-star rating.
Academically, Kingswood consistently underperforms compared to both district and state averages across nearly all subjects and grade levels. For example, in 3rd grade ELA, only 35% of Kingswood students were proficient, compared to 69% at Alafia Elementary and 72% at Winthrop Charter. In 5th grade science, Kingswood's 34% proficiency rate is the lowest among its peers, with Brooker Elementary at 61% and Winthrop at 68%. However, there is a glimmer of hope in 4th grade math, where 51% of students were proficient, which is competitive with nearby Mintz Elementary (50%) and suggests that effective instructional strategies exist within the school that could be replicated.
Despite serving a high-poverty population, Kingswood's per-student spending of $12,323 is in the middle of the pack compared to neighbors, indicating that funding is not the primary issue. The school spends more than high-performing Winthrop Charter ($8,245) but less than Riverview Elementary ($16,385). The stark contrast between Kingswood and nearby schools like Winthrop Charter, located just 1.48 miles away, highlights that the challenges are tied to specific school-level factors and family engagement. To turn around, Kingswood must prioritize aggressive, community-based interventions to improve attendance while scaling its pockets of success, like 4th grade math, to build momentum.
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