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Strategy, sacrifice often part of education planBy KATHY SAUNDERS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- At one point, Danette Whalen had five children in parochial school. "I loved the school," she said. But two of her children needed something different. Her fifth-grade daughter had a learning disability and needed some special education. Her first-grade son was reading at the age of 4. "He needed a smaller classroom, and he needed the gifted program and advanced classes," his mother said. Whalen submitted applications for all three fundamental schools in south Pinellas County: Pasadena, Lakeview and Bay Vista. Her son got accepted at Bay Vista. But her daughter, Ashton, didn't. Instead, her daughter got into Pasadena. If she didn't send Ashton to Pasadena, Whalen knew she would have a slim chance at getting the student into a fundamental middle school next year. The students from the fundamental elementary feeder schools are accepted automatically when they apply to the fundamental middle schools. Whalen dreaded the daily drive from her Snell Isle home to both schools but knew it would be a worthwhile sacrifice. "It was a hard decision, and I've been criticized for it, but it will be well worth the nine months that I will be doing this," Whalen said. Ashton leaves her classroom two hours each day for special education. "I just couldn't receive that at parochial school," Whalen said. Her son, Michael Joseph, is thriving at Bay Vista. "We are super happy with both schools," she said. The key, said Whalen and other parents, is meeting the needs of each child. Whalen still has one child in middle school at St. Raphael's. And she has a preschooler at the First United Methodist Church downtown. When you have children with different needs, "You change the tires on your car a lot," said School Board member Nancy Bostock, who has three children in different schools. Her oldest, Sarah, is a first-grader at Bay Vista Fundamental. "She is going to do well wherever she goes," Bostock said. But her newly adopted son, Marquish, a product of longtime foster care, has special needs. Bostock already is searching for his future kindergarten. She could send him to Bay Vista or to her zoned school, Rio Vista, or she could find a special-education program. "You need to be thinking about these things right now," she said, already considering schools for her 3-year-old, Rachel, now attending First United Methodist. "I fully expect to send her to Bay Vista, but I would definitely consider another school if another school would be better for her," she said. Pinellas parents basically have five choices about schools. They can send their children to the assigned school, apply for a specialized program like the fundamental or magnet schools, apply for a special attendance permit, send them to a private school or teach them at home. Bostock said, "The decisions you make, to some degree, lock you in or lock you out." As a child gets older, fewer spaces are available in the fundamental programs. Parents can reapply each year, but some never get accepted through the lottery system. "The good news is that oftentimes the zoned school is not a bad alternative," said ChristineLowry, supervisor of magnet and fundamental school programs for Pinellas County schools. As long as parents are involved in the placement and performance of their children, any school can succeed. "Being an involved parent makes all the difference," said Kim Thomson, Ashton Whalen's fifth-grade teacher. "Parents need to know the teachers, talk to the teachers and know what their children are learning. They need to check their backpacks and look at their work."
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