Summary:
The five public schools in Holiday, Florida, part of the Pasco County district, serve approximately 3,418 students from elementary through high school, and are characterized by high levels of economic disadvantage, with free or reduced lunch rates ranging from 53% to 76%.
The standout story is Gulfside Elementary School, which made a dramatic turnaround from a 0-star school in the 7th percentile to a 2-star school in the 41st percentile in a single year, with 4th-grade math proficiency jumping from 28% to 70%. In contrast, Anclote High School excels in graduation rates at 97.8%—higher than both the district and state—despite having the highest chronic absenteeism rate (50.5%) and proficiency scores 10-20 points below state averages in core subjects like Algebra 1 (22%) and 10th-grade ELA (41%). Paul R. Smith Middle School shows a strength in advanced math, with Algebra 1 EOC proficiency (82%) far exceeding district and state averages, even as its standard math scores lag significantly.
Chronic absenteeism is the city's biggest systemic challenge, with every school exceeding the state average of 31.4%, from Gulf Trace Elementary (38.5%) to Sunray Elementary (37.8%). Spending per student is highest at schools with the greatest poverty, such as Gulfside ($13,414) and Sunray ($12,735), but this does not automatically translate to higher test scores, as Gulfside's recent success shows that how money is spent matters most. Overall, while academic proficiency in most schools trails district and state averages, the data reveals pockets of success and a community grappling with the deep impact of economic hardship on attendance and learning.
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