Few surprises on FCAT school reports
Still, three Title I schools face federal sanctions for not making "adequate yearly progress" for three years.
By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published June 9, 2005
BROOKSVILLE - Two high schools received grades other than C's for the first time, but the county's schools overall didn't show much change from last year when the state released its annual school report cards Wednesday.
Springstead High School improved to a B, while Hernando High fell to a D.
Despite spending the year in some confusion after the suspension of principal Michael Ransaw, Powell Middle School improved from a C to a B this year. Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology, a middle school and the district's only charter school, shot up from a C to an A.
The district's elementary schools posted mixed results. While Chocachatti and Pine Grove remained A schools, other schools varied in their grades, which state officials use to judge school performance. J.D. Floyd Elementary fell from an A to a C.
This year also led to a crucial judgment under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, particularly for district schools classified as Title I because they receive federal money for having large numbers of low-income students. Three Title I schools in Hernando have now failed to make "adequate yearly progress" as defined by federal law for three years in a row.
Those schools - Eastside Elementary, Spring Hill Elementary and West Hernando Middle - now face federal sanctions that will allow students to transfer and receive tutoring from private organizations. If those schools still do not make adequate yearly progress next year, staffers could lose their jobs.
The three schools all received B grades from state officials. But they did not meet all of the criteria required by federal officials to be classified as making adequate yearly progress.
The state classified the schools as making "provisional adequate yearly progress" since they received A's or B's. But that designation does not yet exempt the schools from federal requirements.
Diane Dannemiller, the district's supervisor of federal programs, said the county would have to set aside 20 percent of its Title I allocation for 2005-06, about $810,000, to pay for choice programs such as transporting students to different schools and paying private tutors.
Superintendent Wendy Tellone said she was pleased with the district's overall scores and glad to see more district schools closing achievement gaps between different populations of students. But she also said she was concerned with the big drops at some schools, and was planning to send senior district officials to work with staffers at both Hernando High and J.D. Floyd Elementary.
"We're definitely disappointed," said Hernando High principal Betty Harper.
She said the school would need to improve the scores of its lowest-performing students next year and hailed new programs to improve reading and other skills that already have been instituted at the school.
Springstead principal Susan Duval did not respond to a request for comment.
Other principals also had news to celebrate. Earl Deen, who was just promoted from acting principal to principal of Powell this week, said he was proud of the way staffers and students had ignored the turmoil surrounding Ransaw.
"We are ecstatic," Deen said. "We stayed focused and concentrated on our jobs. ... Our goal is to get to an A and maintain it."
But the school grades also highlighted the different standards schools face under state and federal systems. Despite scoring better than any district-run middle school on the state's grading scale, West Hernando didn't make adequate yearly progress.
The school received a high B, and had the best performance of any of the county's middle schools in many areas. But the school still needs to improve the performance of students with disabilities and improve math scores of its poor and Hispanic students.
Principal Joe Clifford said he was pleased with the school's improvement from a C to a B and vowed to meet the federal requirements next year.
"We have a dedicated staff," Clifford said. "We'll address the issues and we'll be fine."
--Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.