Franklin and Lawrence County School Districts did better this year than last year in the Mississippi Public School Accountability rankings released Friday by the Mississippi Department of Education, while Copiah County dropped a letter grade.

The Franklin County School District pulled up 2012’s C (Successful) to a B (High Performing) grade this year, and Lawrence County pulled its grade from a D (Academic Watch) to a C (Successful). Copiah County’s letter grade fell from a C in 2012 to a D for 2013.

The accountability system ranks schools on an A, B, C, D, F system, which replaced MDE’s previous “Star,” “High Performing,” “Successful,” “Academic Watch” and “Low Performing” rankings, respectively.

According to the MDE, the ranking system is designed to improve student performance and give schools transparency – a way for parents and the community to see how well their schools are preparing kids for college, technical training or the workforce.

According to a news release from the MDE, there are fewer low performing schools and more high performing school districts in the state this year. Franklin County brought up grades everywhere except at Franklin County Upper Elementary, which made a D for the second year in a row. Franklin County High School brought up its C grade in 2012 to a B in 2013. Franklin County Middle School brought up the D it received in 2012 to a C this year.

In Lawrence County, only Topeka Tilton lost ground with a B in 2012 and a C in 2013. Lawrence County High School earned a B this year, up from a C in 2012. Monticello Elementary remained at the D level this year and New Hebron continued with a C. Rod Paige Middle school pulled up last year’s D to a C this year.

Copiah County’s district grade fell from a C to a D this year. Crystal Springs High School made a D again in 2013, and though Crystal Springs Middle School did not meet growth requirements, they did pull their F grade from 2012 up to a D this year.

Schools that make an F for two years in a row are in line to be taken over by the MDE.

Wesson Attendance Center was High Performing again this year with a B and did meet its growth expectations.

The MDE announced that districts statewide “showed a four-year graduation rate of 75.5 percent, the highest rate since re-calculations were done in 2007, and a four-year dropout rate of 13.9 percent, a nearly 3 percent drop from 2012.”

Graduation rates in the Copiah District fluctuated. Wesson’s graduation rate fell from 84.8 percent in 2012 to 74.8 percent this year, and Crystal Springs High School’s graduation rate rose from 78.9 percent in 2012 to 81.8 percent.

Franklin County High School made significant gains in its graduation rate from a 59.5 percent in 2012 to 81 percent in 2013, as did Lawrence County High School with an increase from 63 percent in 2012 to 77.6 percent in 2013.