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What's the state of education?
© St. Petersburg Times INVERNESS -- Citrus County's public school students are achieving. The district is attracting the teachers it needs to provide a solid educational foundation for students. And administrators are planning ahead for future needs, both academic and structural. Superintendent David Hickey credits lots of hard work behind the scenes for these accomplishments of the past year. Still, the strides forward in 2002 have been tempered by controversies and challenges. The School Board has grappled with difficult construction decisions, divisive personnel issues and ongoing communications problems with staffers. Schools have had to push themselves to higher achievement on the important Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. And teachers and other staffers faced pay raises lower than they expected. They have not reached new pay raise agreements for 2002-03. This also was an election year, and the seats of three board members came up for grabs. Sandra "Sam" Himmel won another term without facing any opposition, while Pat Deutschman was challenged but won re-election. Carol Snyder chose not to seek another term, opening the field to candidates Don Bates, a retired Christian school administrator, and Lou Miele, who taught exceptional students at Withlacoochee Technical Institute. When Bates learned that details of his previous arrest for lewd behavior were about to be published, he dropped out of the race. Miele automatically won. During 2002 the school system updated its strategic plan, which drives the district's operations, and improved the way it collects and analyzes data to determine which programs work and which don't, Hickey said. Those efforts have led to improved FCAT scores, more schools earning A's because of that improvement, and nearly $1-million in school improvement money tied to those grades. The state money helps schools provide staff bonuses and training dollars; it also finances special student events. "I have to be pleased with that," Hickey said. During 2002, the district continued work to improve reading instruction and adopted a countywide reading book series. Similar efforts to improve math scores are ongoing, as is a push to elevate lower-achieving students. "We have changed our remediation," Hickey said. "We have more remediation before, during and after school than we've ever had before." He said he is proud the district has avoided a teacher shortage. It stepped up recruiting efforts, including more online advertisements. Hickey also is happy the district continues using the stringent new state "best practices" process to identify properties for school growth. Finding school sites and upgrading existing campuses was a major focus in 2002. Crowding in the high schools helped push the board to consider buying 150 acres next to Crystal River High School. But the deal did not go smoothly. Board members learned near the end of the process that the property was part of the old Betz Farm Development of Regional Impact. Rules connected to the DRI complicated the deal. The board hired a planner to work out a way to remove the development concerns from the property. After a deal was struck, the board approved the purchase. Officials immediately began work on a master plan for the site, which includes wetlands. School Board members reviewed the estimated $1.7-million in facilities and improvements in November and approved a scaled-back version this month. It includes a new practice field and a new field house. Also in the works: costly renovations at Crystal River Middle School, where the old 100 Building will be razed and rebuilt; and Homosassa Elementary School, where a new media center and cafeteria are planned. The projects total about $10-million. Across the county, at Citrus High School, a new cafeteria is set to open Jan. 7. But that project was not the major focus of School Board discussion. Himmel floated the idea that the school's former gymnasium, a makeshift classroom for the agriculture program, could become a community gymnasium. Then a wing could be built to better house agriculture and other programs. But the idea hit a snag with the state's school construction rules. The board sought a waiver but was turned down, a decision that stalled the idea and sent school officials back to their original plan: replacing the makeshift classroom space with better classrooms built inside the old gym. The district also devoted a lot of time to finding new school sites and finally settled on a location to build a permanent home for the Renaissance Center. But after spending months negotiating with the site owner, officials encountered protests from neighbors. They voiced concerns about the nearness of the planned school both to the Citrus County jail on one side and the Withlacoochee State Forest, used as a hunting area, on the other. The board delayed a decision on the purchase until early 2003. The hunt for a suitable site for a fourth high school is also ongoing. Several large parcels have been examined by the district's Long Range Planning Committee, and a couple have been rejected, including one in the heart of Beverly Hills. Area residents listened to presentations by school officials about the plan, at Roosevelt and Forest Ridge boulevards, then voiced their worries that a high school wouldn't fit with the site. Sites on U.S. 41 and in Citrus Springs are still under consideration. Officials predict that the new year will set the stage for what might be needed in the future. In November, Florida voters approved constitutional amendments to limit class sizes in the coming years and offer prekindergarten to all children. Details of how those amendments will affect the school district are expected to emerge during the upcoming legislative session. Hickey said he thinks the district will be fine for a while, with about 1,400 more student spaces in existing schools than are being used. Before the general election, some speculated that the passage of the amendments could force the district to build three new schools before the end of the decade. In the short term, Hickey is concerned about finding funding to continue the prekindergarten program in the schools until other state funding starts up in 2005. During the past year, the district had to find the money to fund the program when eligibility rules changed and state dollars for prekindergarten were diverted to private day care centers by the county's School Readiness Coalition. Also in 2002, concerns about coaches' conduct prompted the development of a Code of Conduct for them. And parents concerned that middle school students did not have enough athletic opportunities pushed the district to be sure all schools offered intramural activities. School officials grappled with whether a $500,000 computer program called ABACUS was worth the money. While some educators rave about its ability to allow the creation of FCAT-like tests, only a handful of teachers use it. Some say it is not user friendly and that entering information is time consuming. Parents also had their role to play in setting the agenda for the board. One complained that mold in Inverness Middle School classrooms had sickened her children, but officials defended the safety of the rooms. Another parent voiced concern that her child had his desk taken away and he had to carry his belongings around Lecanto Primary School in a crate. The hands-on LIFE program, which created that system of reward and punishment, was changed after that concern came to light. At Inverness Primary School, principal Teretta Charles ended a real-life program called IPSville when some parents complained that it took away valuable academic time from the children. Ultimately the program was overwhelmingly supported by parents, teachers, staffers and students, but because there was not 80 percent support among the staff, Charles scrapped the program. At the district's only charter school, the Academy of Environmental Science, the board of directors fought to establish greater independence for the school but ultimately approved a new five-year contract that closely tracked the old one. School officials also spent much of the year negotiating with the leaders of Camp E-Nini-Hassee to work out a way the Eckerd Youth Alternatives group could provide programs for troubled girls in the school system. Legal complications have kept the groups from working out some sort of program, but discussions continue. Hickey said the district has its work cut out for it in the new year, coping with issues that arise locally as well as those foisted on the school system from the state. But he said he is pleased with the outcomes of 2002, despite the complications. "Overall the school district is moving forward with their contributions toward improvement," Hickey said. "These people are working to accomplish what they need to, and children are reaping the benefits of our labors." -- Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or 564-3621.
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