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Schools
Board cuts back privately run school
The public school, which was established to educate disruptive students, will have 432 students instead of 648, saving $1.7-million.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published July 12, 2006
LARGO - The Pinellas County School Board voted Tuesday to amend its contract with a private company it hired in 2004 to educate disruptive children. The district will save $1.7-million by capping at 432 the number of middle and high school students at Oak Park School in Pinellas Park. The board originally authorized Community Education Partners, a Tennessee-based firm known as CEP, to work with 648 students. Oak Park principal Tim Haley said the reduction is preferable to the alternative: canceling the five-year contract altogether. Board members considered that option in February when they began looking for ways to cut $16-million from the 2006-07 budget. "I'm just glad it's over with," Haley said. "Now we have a direction to go in." About 300 middle school students began attending Oak Park in January 2005. Close to 50 high school students joined them this past January when construction was completed on a brand-new $12-million school at 8580 66th St. N. But just as the alternative program was getting off the ground, the district considered doing away with it, Haley said. Officials put a hold on incoming students, which meant it couldn't grow, he said. Low enrollment at Oak Park prompted the district to consider amending its contract with CEP, said Steve Swartzel, the district's director of government relations. The district also asked the company to pay for security and custodial work at the school, lowering the original $3.6-million annual fee to just under $2-million. Like its counterparts in other cities including Atlanta, Philadelphia, Orlando and Panama City, Oak Park offers courses in core subjects as well as instruction in time management, goal setting and manners. Students stay for two semesters before returning to their regular schools. During Tuesday's discussion, board member Janet Clark asked how the district is tracking student progress. Swartzel said it is too soon to know whether CEP is delivering on its promise to improve performance. "From CEP's standpoint, they're anxious to get started," Swartzel said. "They have 432 kids. They want to prove what they can do." In other business Tuesday, the board: * Accepted the recommendations of an oversight committee that developed a plan to spend $7.3-million on art, music, reading and technology programs. The money was raised in a November 2004 tax referendum.* Approved an additional $7.7-million for new construction at Boca Ciega High School, bringing the total cost for the project to $81-million.
[Last modified July 12, 2006, 06:50:46]
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