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Pinellas planning alternative school

The fundamental high school, focusing on the basics, could open next year. But questions abound.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published July 12, 2005

The Pinellas School District has begun sketching out plans to open a fundamental high school a year from now.

The school would follow the model of the district's two middle school fundamentals, which stress discipline and parental involvement. No frills. Back to basics.

Although details are sketchy - officials haven't even settled on a location - it is clear the program would start small, perhaps enrolling only a ninth-grade class its first year.

A response to parents who are concerned about a lack of educational options for their children, it would be the first such high school in the Tampa Bay area.

"We had a great number of people who wanted an option for their kids after middle school," school superintendent Clayton Wilcox said. "I really believe we should provide that option for these parents and their children."

Wilcox has directed Catherine Fleeger, associate superintendent for secondary education, to investigate a scaled-down version of a fundamental high school for the 2006-07 school year.

A possible location is Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg, which has space. The school most likely would be open to incoming freshmen from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs, although the possibility of two separate schools, one in north county and one in south county, has not been ruled out.

The decision comes as Hillsborough County is converting three of its elementary schools to fundamental schools for the coming school year. The goal in that district is to upgrade attractor programs to entice a racially diverse student body.

In Pinellas, a group of elementary and middle school fundamental parents are leading the charge. The parents presented their case to the School Board at its April 26 meeting.

Brent Craven, who has three fundamental elementary school children and serves as chairman for the group, said it only makes sense to try to duplicate the success of the existing fundamentals at the high school level.

"You can look at the proven results from elementary school all the way up through eighth grade," Craven said. "They are producing students who are more prepared for the next step of their educational careers and hopefully for their college careers."

He and other fundamental parents worry about what will happen to children who, brought up in the fundamental arena, face the prospect of attending a traditional public high school.

"To a certain extent, it's almost like having them in a private school," he said. "You're nurturing them up to eighth grade, then throwing them into a completely different environment."

The fact that the district had discussed - and decided against - the creation of a fundamental high school did not discourage the parents.

"I know this has been attempted many times before, but it was not organized," Craven said. "We took the time and effort, and we shelled the money out of our own pockets to get organized."

District officials should have plenty of time to settle details of the new program before next spring when children would need to apply, said Fleeger, the high school superintendent. Among things to be decided are whether the school will open on an existing campus, and if so, whether it will be located at a middle school or a high school. Also to be decided will be course offerings and extracurricular activities.

"Obviously, if you're having only 150 ninth-graders, you could not offer all the electives that might be available to students at other schools," Fleeger said. "It's going to have to be a more limited curriculum."

Also at issue is whether the high school students would have to follow a dress code as strict as the one at the other fundamentals, where children may not wear shorts and are required to wear socks, tights or stockings.

Yet another question is whether children at the district's two middle school fundamentals will gain automatic entrance to the fundamental high school.

"I would assume that if we want to assure there are enough students, it would make sense to permit grandfathering," Fleeger said. "However, I don't believe we have grandfathering into high school for any of the other middle school programs."

A grandfathering privilege is one thing the parent committee approved unanimously, Craven said.

"Although we have no intention of stepping in and trying to tell the educators, "You need to do this,' we certainly would like to be involved in certain aspects," he said. "We're very, very motivated."

Fundamental schools are back-to-basics public schools with strict guidelines for parents and students. In Pinellas, parents are expected to:

Sign a parent commitment letter

Attend eight mandatory parent meetings and at least one parent-teacher conference per grading period

Review and sign all homework assignments and support the student dress code

Be responsible for their child's transportation to and from school

CHILDREN MUST:

Adhere to a discipline policy that includes written warnings, detentions and possible expulsion

Follow a dress code that outlaws even shorts

Children who do not follow the guidelines can be asked to leave the school. And they can be asked to leave if their parents do not follow the rules.

[Last modified July 12, 2005, 11:45:08]