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Schools

Meeting on school zoning turns tense

Some parents show their disdain for a proposal redrawing attendance zones that would ease crowding at Citrus Springs Middle School.

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published January 21, 2006

LECANTO - Mary Turner has children in different grades and says she has no intention of sending one to Citrus Springs Middle and another to Crystal River Middle School.

The mother of three says she moved to the Citrus Springs area, which she thinks has the best schools in the county, so her children would all attend school there.

"I gave my children what my parents didn't give me, and that's stability," Turner said during a community meeting Thursday night. "I'd like to give that to my youngest child, and I think it's extremely unfair for you to take that away from him."

Turner and some 70 other people attending the meeting at the Citrus County Builders Association urged school administrators to reconsider a plan that would ease crowding at Citrus Springs Middle by changing school attendance zones in the fall.

Citrus Springs Middle has 897 students in a school built for 867. The proposed changes, if approved by the School Board, could reduce the school's enrollment by as much as 187 students.

The recommendations allow this year's sixth- and seventh-graders the option to stay put. Next fall's sixth-graders in the changed zones would have to move, as would the children behind them in grades. Most would go to Crystal River, but some would go to Inverness and Lecanto.

"Citrus Springs Middle School is already overcrowded and in the next five years it will be extremely overcrowded," said Renna Jablonskis, the district's student services director. "We really need to do something about Citrus Springs Middle."

Jablonskis and other school officials emphasized that the changes are necessary to comply with state requirements to reduce class sizes. With the current pace of growth in the Central Ridge area, Jablonskis said, fall enrollment at Citrus Springs Middle could climb to 920 students by August if the zones don't change.

But the reasons seemed lost on some parents, who reacted angrily.

"What I'm about to say is going to sound incredibly selfish, but I don't think anyone here cares about potential growth," said William Doel, a local business owner whose two younger daughters would attend Crystal River Middle. He wants his daughters to follow the same path as their two older siblings, who attended Citrus Springs Middle.

The meeting became especially tense when a father of two screamed that schools in Crystal River are decisively inferior.

The man, who gave his name as John Meyers, told administrators that he would pull his children out of school rather than send them to Crystal River Middle, which received a C grade from the state. The district's three other middle schools received B grades.

"I don't work and you know why? Because my education stunk," the man said, his face turning red. "If you (change the zones), I will homeschool my children, even if I have to go back to school myself."

Mark Klauder, district coordinator of secondary education, asked the man to regain his composure, adding repeatedly, "Our schools are not bad."

But the man stormed out of the room.

When another parent questioned the quality of education at Crystal River Middle, principal Mark McCoy rose to defend the school.

"We're working really hard to boost scores," said McCoy, noting that the school offers the same curriculum that the other schools do. He said any new students from the changed zones would be made to feel welcome.

The committee of principals and district administrators that drafted the proposed changes to school zones will meet again privately to discuss the concerns and suggestions from parents. Among them will be a proposal by some parents who asked the district to allow families in the changed zones to continue to send all their children to the same schools.

The School Board will vote on the proposed changes after a public hearing Feb 14. Parents are invited to the hearing, which starts at 7 p.m. at the District Services Center, 1007 W Main St., Inverness.

Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified January 21, 2006, 01:33:17]