80 A's, 3 F's for schools
A new report says that Hillsborough has new F-rated schools but others managed to make progress.
By MELANIE AVE
Published June 9, 2005
TAMPA - Sighs of relief echoed Wednesday in many Hillsborough County schools after the state's highly anticipated annual release of school grades, a mixed bag for the state's third-largest district.
The worst news of the day? Three new F-rated elementary schools, which ended the district's three-year streak with no regular schools graded F.
The best news? A turnaround for many of the district's high schools, three of which earned A's.
"There was some good news and some news that's not so good," said retiring superintendent Earl Lennard, who steps down at the end of the month. "We will continue to concentrate our resources at the most challenging schools."
More than half of the county's 201 schools kept the same grades as the year before. About one in four saw their grades drop and one in eight showed improvements, including one F charter school that leapfrogged to a B.
Across the county, about 40 percent of campuses earned A's, 24 percent B's, 25 percent C's, 9 percent D's and 1.5 percent F's. The district's distribution of top grades trailed that of the state overall as well as other Tampa Bay area districts, including Pinellas, Hernando and Citrus. It fared better than Pasco, which had only 60 percent of its schools earn A's or B's.
Hillsborough saw its number of A schools dip slightly, from 91 last year to 80. Its number of D schools tripled, which educators said could be a result of tougher writing standards this year and the inclusion of special education students into the scoring.
Hillsborough's director of assessment John Hilderbrand said he was encouraged by the high schools' performances. He had predicted about half of them would score D's. Only three actually did: Armwood, Hillsborough and Middleton.
He said each was penalized for not doing enough to help its most struggling students.
"Virtually all of our high schools showed good growth," Hilderbrand said.
Three high schools scored A's. They were Sickles, Plant and Newsome. Last year the county only had one A-rated high school, Newsome. At the other end of the grading spectrum were three F schools, all of which have high numbers of poor children. They included two new elementary schools that opened as a result of the choice assignment plan that began last fall to replace busing for integration: Potter Elementary in Tampa Heights and Just Elementary in Old West Tampa.
Many of the children at the two schools had been bused out of their neighborhoods but were allowed to attend a local campus for the first time in three decades.
The other F school was Edison Elementary in east Tampa, which Lennard said missed a D grade by one point and whose poor grade surprised administrators.
"It's hurtful," said Chappella Hill, who until Tuesday was principal of Just Elementary. About 95 percent of the students at Just, located on Spruce Street, qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. About 99 percent of the children are minorities. And most, Hill said, entered the school scoring at the lowest possible level on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the exam on which school grades are determined.
The school had less than four months to get its children ready for the achievement test.
"The potential of the school is there," said Hill, now Hillsborough's supervisor of innovative programs. "There are just so many factors working against it."
Even though Hillsborough now must keep tabs on six new or former F schools in the next year, the county had fewer F-rated schools than any of the other of Florida's five largest districts, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange and Palm Beach. Children in schools that earn F's two years in a row qualify for vouchers to private schools.
Hillsborough has escaped the designation so far.
News of school grades was set against the backdrop of the district's dismal performance on federal standards in the No Child Left Behind law.
The Hillsborough school system again did not make adequate yearly progress as a district, primarily because its black students, and those with limited English or special education needs, did poorly.
Three schools, Shaw, Robles and Oak Park, face corrective action for failing to measure up to federal standards. They have not met those standards for the past three years. One more year of failing to make progress would put them in line for massive restructuring.
Hillsborough's director of federal programs, Walt Bartlett, said he was more concerned about a larger group of schools that are facing sanctions because they haven't met standards the previous two years. He estimated the district will spend about $8-million next year on tutoring and transportation for transfers in efforts to meet No Child Left Behind standards.
The sanctions only apply to schools that receive federal Title I funds, which are high poverty schools. More than 130 children countywide have requested a transfer from their assigned schools to other campuses this fall because of their school's failure to progress.
Despite the conflicting message between the state and federal report cards for many schools, which earned high grades yet failed to make progress under the federal measures, many principals embraced Wednesday's news with jubilation. Schools that earn A's or improve their grades receive $100 per student.
The school with perhaps the biggest jump in Hillsborough was Mount Pleasant Charter School on N Rome Avenue, whose 65 students boosted the school's F to a B. A second F this year would have meant the school could have been closed.
"I've been getting congratulatory calls all day," said principal Pocahontas Davis. "There were so many people that assisted us. That was the key."
Another impressive improvement was at Heritage Elementary School in New Tampa, which opened two years ago and jumped from a C to an A this year.
It was an expected jump for principal Cora-Lynne Wimberly.
"My kids and my teachers worked hard," said Wimberly, who said the school stuck to the motto: "Good better best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best."
- Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com