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With Citrus' three high schools at or above capacity, students hoping to attend one of the specialized programs might not be able to transfer.
By BARBARA BEHRENDT
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 17, 2001
INVERNESS -- The swelling population in the county's three high schools is threatening the district's efforts to create unique programs open to all of the county's high school students.
Each of the county's high schools offers a different academy, a series of courses focusing on fields such as health, business and art. Students who wish to attend an academy but who don't attend that particular high school in the past have been granted permission by the district to transfer to that high school.
But that is at odds with a district rule that prohibits out-of-zone transfers to overcrowded schools.
That means that if a student lives in Inverness and is interested in a career in health care or if a Lecanto student wants to become a teacher, they can't attend the academy that will suit their needs.
School Board member Pat Deutschman said last week the situation needs to be fixed.
"It's not fair to tell a student you can't go there because you're out of zone," she said.
Other board members agree. Drawing students into a program that taps into their interests and moves them toward their career goals was the whole point of establishing the academies in the first place, they say.
"If a student is interested in any of our academies, then they should be allowed to go and I don't care where they live," said board member Ginger Bryant. "You know that you do good at what you're interested in and, if you can find your niche, then God bless you."
Bryant added that since all the high schools are handling more students than they should anyway, shifting a few students from one overcrowded school to another won't make much difference.
All three high schools are at or above their recommended capacity and that is expected to worsen in the next few years as a large number of high school aged students moves through. State education officials estimate that the enrollments will ease somewhat after that.
Deutschman and Bryant agreed the district should get a list of students interested in attending an academy and what school they would be assigned to attend. "It might be that we have the same number of students wanting to go out as wanting to go in" to a particular school, Bryant said.
Crystal River High School offers a health academy, while Citrus High offers a business academy and plans to start a teachers academy in 2002. At Lecanto High there is an art academy and plans for some pre-engineering classes and possibly a computer academy.
The district should also examine its recruiting practices, Deutschman said. She said academy representatives should visit with all the middle schools, not just those from their feeder school, so that the educational options are available for all the students to see.
The district might also want to create pre-academy-type programs at the middle schools that feed into the high school academies, she said.
Deutschman has asked the board to schedule a workshop to find ways to accommodate students who are interested in attending an academy at an out-of-zone school. No date has been set, but it is likely to be a part of a bigger debate on construction priorities and related topics.
The board has hired a consultant to examine the need for another high school. This is happening at the same time that the district's planning committee is completing a project priority list for long-term school renovation and construction needs.
If another high school is needed, Deutschman said, the district might be able to consider something different for that facility. "Maybe we want to house all of the academies there or maybe create an academy of a different nature," she said.
Board member Sandra "Sam" Himmel said the district may consider housing some students at the Withlacoochee Technical Institute by putting an academy there.
Board member Carol Snyder said the discussion also should include the district's alternative education program. Snyder favors a new kind of alternative program that would serve not just disruptive and uninterested middle and high school students like those who attend the Renaissance Center, but also younger students. She also seeks a program for students who receive out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.
"I think if we had a program like that, even though it probably would not do a lot to reduce overcrowding, I think it would reduce the amount of disruption" in the other schools, Snyder said. "That way, while you may have larger classes, teachers would still have an easier time handling it."
The board will discuss the alternative programs, discipline in general and the future of the Renaissance Center at a workshop slated for April 24.