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Schools retain policy on grads
By KENT FISCHER, Times Staff Writer The Pasco County School Board has decided not to change a district policy that restricts commencement ceremonies to only those students who have met all of the state's graduation requirements. Instead, the district will redouble its efforts to make sure seniors are well prepared to pass the state's graduation exam. The efforts will include new, intensive remedial classes and training high school teachers how to better teach basic reading skills. The district also will create a new "learning specialist" position at each of its nine high schools. That person would be in charge of coordinating remedial programs, working with parents and students as well as tutoring low achievers. The new services will come in addition to those already in place at high schools such as after-school tutoring, computer tutorials and test-prep programs. The district hopes to tap a $2.4-million federal grant to pay for the changes. About 650 of last year's juniors would need the extra help, district officials said. Figures for other grades weren't available. "The help has to be a lot more targeted and focused than it has been," Assistant Superintendent Sandy Ramos said. The new plan comes as the School Board last month considered backing off its graduation policy. The school district used to allow all seniors to march across the graduation stage regardless of whether they had earned a diploma. The board changed that policy in 1998. Now, only true graduates can join in commencement ceremonies. The rest get their own ceremony in August, provided they finish their studies over the summer. Even with the new efforts, board members said they expect to get an earful from parents next summer when they discover their children won't be graduating on schedule. "Even with all of this, we're still going to have kids who don't pass," said board member Marge Whaley. ". . . We can't fix everybody." New crisis teamSchool officials on Tuesday announced the creation of a new district crisis response team. The crisis team would not be a "first response" team but would instead arrive on the scene shortly after the emergency to help schools with security, media calls, to help coordinate district efforts with local emergency agencies as well as help communicate with parents. Current employees would serve on the team.
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
