The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Math. The lowest is 32% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Blackburn Elementary School
Blackburn Elementary sits on 17th Street East in Palmetto, a small waterfront city on the north bank of the Manatee River just above Bradenton. The school serves prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public elementary within the Manatee County school district. Its enrollment puts it in a mid-range size for a PK-5 school in Florida.
The student body is majority Hispanic, with White and Black students each representing roughly a quarter of enrollment, and smaller shares of Asian and multiracial students. A very large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic profile of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on English learner and special education rates were not available in the data provided.
State assessment results on the Florida FAST and the Florida Statewide Science Assessment tell a consistent story: proficiency rates across grades three through five in both math and ELA are below the midpoint, in some grades substantially so. Fifth-grade math rates sit lower than third-grade math rates, and fourth-grade ELA proficiency is notably low. Fifth-grade science proficiency mirrors the ELA and math picture. There is a single sixth-grade math result in the data, which appears to reflect a small group of students taking an accelerated course, and that figure stands apart from the rest; a parent should ask the school directly what accounts for it. Trend data across years was not available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving, holding, or declining. Parents who want to understand trajectory should ask the school and district what interventions are in place and what progress looks like over time.
The comparison framework used here covers districts in Manatee County, and the county contains only one district, so a direct peer comparison on proficiency was not applicable. Graduation rate data does not apply to Blackburn because it serves only elementary grades.
On the district side, there are changes relevant to any family choosing where to live in relation to this school. Manatee County recently redrew elementary and middle school attendance zones in response to rapid enrollment growth, which means a family's assigned school depends on their specific address and could shift. Voters also renewed a one-mill property tax referendum in late 2024 that funds teacher salary supplements, extended instructional time, STEM and career-technical programs, early literacy, athletics, and school safety. That referendum affects both what programs are available to students and what property owners pay. A new eighth high school is under construction in Lakewood Ranch to the east, set to open in 2027, which will accompany new high school zone maps; that is less immediately relevant to an elementary family but will matter as students move up.
The Palmetto housing market near Blackburn shows home values modestly below the Florida state average and trending downward year-over-year, as is typical rental pricing in the area. Renting is close to buying in monthly cost at current mortgage rates, and the rent-to-income ratio suggests housing costs are a meaningful share of household budgets for many families here. The city itself is in visible transition: commercially active corridors run along U.S. 41, a quieter historic downtown sits near the Manatee River waterfront, and a master-planned waterfront community is under active construction. Publicly reported sources describe Palmetto as a city navigating growth while trying to hold onto what longtime residents call an "Old Florida" character. Major employers include SeaPort Manatee, whose port operations generate a substantial regional economic footprint, the wellness company It Works!, food distribution through Sysco, and a planned expansion of the Florida International Tradeport. Day-to-day, the city is car-dependent, though the downtown has a walkable historic core with shops and dining, a county library branch with a makerspace and seed library, and a free electric on-demand ride service operating within the city's redevelopment area.
For a family weighing Blackburn specifically: the academic proficiency picture is a soft spot worth discussing directly with the school, particularly around what reading and math support looks like grade by grade, and whether specific interventions are in place for students who are behind. The school serves a high-need population, and understanding what the school does with that reality, not just the test snapshot, is the most useful question a parent can bring to an enrollment conversation.
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