Segregation, discipline, and gifted services on tap for Escambia School Board
- March 16, 2015
- / Mollye Barrows
- / education
The Escambia School Board members discussed several hot topics during their workshop meeting Monday, including student discipline, school segregation, and recent changes to the delivery of gifted services.
Board member Patty Hightower brought up the gifted services issue, explaining she wanted clarification after Superintendent Malcolm Thomas made changes to the nearly 50-year-old Program for Academically Talented Students.
She wanted to know what the School Board’s role is when it comes to making changes to district programs.
[caption id="attachment_17916" align="alignright" width="300"]
Escambia School Board member Patty Hightower[/caption]
“I told Mr. Thomas I’m not going to get into an argument about it,” Hightower said. “I just wanted to hear what others felt and see as our role and then maybe we can come to an agreement about what we need to do.”
Traditionally students are bused to the PATS Center, located on the Brown Barge Middle School campus, one day a week. There specially trained teachers offer a unique curriculum tailored for gifted learners, but Thomas said attendance has been dropping at the center since the district now offers more gifted services for students at their home schools.
Thomas said it’s an expansion of PATS services, but some parents believe the district is discouraging students from attending the center and plan to close it. Thomas said the center is not closing, but parents and some board members expressed concern they were not aware of the changes until Pensacola Today reported on them in January.
“The law doesn’t define exactly what a ‘program’ is,” said Escambia School Board General Counsel Donna Waters. “It’s not clear. I could argue a case for it either way.”
[caption id="attachment_20036" align="alignright" width="129"]
Escambia School Board member Gerald Boone[/caption]
State law requires the school board to weigh in on changes to a district “program,” but Thomas describes PATS as a delivery model, and as such board input isn’t required.
“I just need my board members to weigh in, ‘Do you see PATS as a program or a delivery model?’" Hightower asked.
Although “program” is in the PATS name, most board members saw it primarily as a delivery method for gifted services.
“We need to make sure we are offering choices,” said board member Gerald Boone, “but as to where it needs to be, if we can do it in-house that’s great, but if parents want to take them to the PATS Center, that’s fine, too.”
Board member Jeff Bergosh believes PATS is a program and the board needs to weigh in on any changes, but ultimately he says parents need to have the final say.
[caption id="attachment_20034" align="alignright" width="129"]
Escambia School Board member Jeff Bergosh[/caption]
“I do believe it’s something that if it’s going to be closed, we should vote on it,” said Bergosh. “I also believe it’s something that shouldn’t be starved. If a parent at Bailey Middle School wants to send their student to PATS, that principal should not be telling those parents they can’t, otherwise we’re starving that program of students.”
Wendy Underhill, parent of several PATS students and an advocate of the program, has been outspoken on the issue. She spoke to the board about her concerns over the newly formed Gifted Advisory Council, created by the district after Underhill and other parents spoke about the need for better communication.
“The majority of the people appointed to it rely on Mr. Thomas for their paychecks and several have donated to his campaign,” said Underhill, who also questioned if it could legally be called a ‘council.’
“Whatever they call it, it’s not unbiased,” Underhill says.
Thomas is now calling it a gifted advisory “working group.”
Ultimately the board decided they are willing to let the administration make adjustments to PATS, but intend to monitor the delivery method to ensure parents are given clear choices and that gifted services are provided adequately in schools.
School Choice leading to segregation
During the workshop, board member Linda Moultrie also brought up her concerns that Escambia is experiencing, “segregated schools again,” based on the fact that the lower performing schools in the district have predominantly poor and minority student populations.
[caption id="attachment_20035" align="alignright" width="130"]
Escambia School Board member Linda Moultrie[/caption]
“What happens is that middle class minority families move on,” Moultrie says, “and the ones who can’t improve or do better, they’re left behind. Then it’s a struggle because they don’t have the support or resources.”
Waters agreed that is an issue that needs to be watched, because there’s “no intent to segregate, but it’s happening.”
School choice is one reason that some schools have a higher population of minority students than others, but Moultrie says that “choice” simply doesn’t exist for some parents in her district.
“Do people really have a choice when a parent doesn’t have transportation to take their child across town to another school?” Moultrie asked. “That’s not a choice. You talk about services, but some of our schools, like Warrington Middle, don’t get services, like enough musical instruments for band.”
Part of the problem is money. When a school is struggling academically, the district is often limited as to how it spends resources on that school, but Moultrie says the result is that lower-income children don’t get the same opportunities.
“As long as our intentions are pure and we are trying to do the right thing for all students, then I think we have a much better case,” Waters said.
Board members and the superintendent agree it’s an issue that started with school choice and needs to be addressed through community outreach and hiring more minority teachers.
“I don’t think we can step backward on our choice initiative,” Thomas said. “We have to develop a diverse structure, but I don’t have the answer for schools that look more racially identifiable.”
Disciplining students
[sidebar]
Want to go?
Escambia School Board meeting.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: at the J.E. Hall Center on Texar Drive in Pensacola.
DETAILS: The agenda is online. Click here for details.
[/sidebar]
Student discipline was another topic the board discussed. Bergosh is looking at ways to address it because “some schools have a challenge with discipline.”
Thomas says it’s an issue the district has been working on since 2008. In the works now is a comprehensive plan that will take a look a discipline and identify gaps in the system.
“This has to be a student-centered approach to solving our discipline problems,” said Thomas. “This has to be about getting the student back on track, so that they can recover not only for this classroom, but for the rest of their life.”
Thomas says they’re considering a pilot program that may include removing students temporarily who are having behavior problems, teaching them a better way, then re-integrating them into the classroom.
“We have a lot of students who come to school today and they don’t really know what is the right thing to do,” Thomas said. “They’ve not had social skills training in their upbringing. So as we look at this middle school pilot, that is one of the things we want to blend in, this character piece.”
Thomas said he plans to give a detailed presentation about the district’s disciplinary plan in the next couple of months.
Escambia School Board member Patty Hightower[/caption]
“I told Mr. Thomas I’m not going to get into an argument about it,” Hightower said. “I just wanted to hear what others felt and see as our role and then maybe we can come to an agreement about what we need to do.”
Traditionally students are bused to the PATS Center, located on the Brown Barge Middle School campus, one day a week. There specially trained teachers offer a unique curriculum tailored for gifted learners, but Thomas said attendance has been dropping at the center since the district now offers more gifted services for students at their home schools.
Thomas said it’s an expansion of PATS services, but some parents believe the district is discouraging students from attending the center and plan to close it. Thomas said the center is not closing, but parents and some board members expressed concern they were not aware of the changes until Pensacola Today reported on them in January.
“The law doesn’t define exactly what a ‘program’ is,” said Escambia School Board General Counsel Donna Waters. “It’s not clear. I could argue a case for it either way.”
[caption id="attachment_20036" align="alignright" width="129"] Escambia School Board member Gerald Boone[/caption]
State law requires the school board to weigh in on changes to a district “program,” but Thomas describes PATS as a delivery model, and as such board input isn’t required.
“I just need my board members to weigh in, ‘Do you see PATS as a program or a delivery model?’" Hightower asked.
Although “program” is in the PATS name, most board members saw it primarily as a delivery method for gifted services.
“We need to make sure we are offering choices,” said board member Gerald Boone, “but as to where it needs to be, if we can do it in-house that’s great, but if parents want to take them to the PATS Center, that’s fine, too.”
Board member Jeff Bergosh believes PATS is a program and the board needs to weigh in on any changes, but ultimately he says parents need to have the final say.
[caption id="attachment_20034" align="alignright" width="129"] Escambia School Board member Jeff Bergosh[/caption]
“I do believe it’s something that if it’s going to be closed, we should vote on it,” said Bergosh. “I also believe it’s something that shouldn’t be starved. If a parent at Bailey Middle School wants to send their student to PATS, that principal should not be telling those parents they can’t, otherwise we’re starving that program of students.”
Wendy Underhill, parent of several PATS students and an advocate of the program, has been outspoken on the issue. She spoke to the board about her concerns over the newly formed Gifted Advisory Council, created by the district after Underhill and other parents spoke about the need for better communication.
“The majority of the people appointed to it rely on Mr. Thomas for their paychecks and several have donated to his campaign,” said Underhill, who also questioned if it could legally be called a ‘council.’
“Whatever they call it, it’s not unbiased,” Underhill says.
Thomas is now calling it a gifted advisory “working group.”
Ultimately the board decided they are willing to let the administration make adjustments to PATS, but intend to monitor the delivery method to ensure parents are given clear choices and that gifted services are provided adequately in schools.
School Choice leading to segregation
During the workshop, board member Linda Moultrie also brought up her concerns that Escambia is experiencing, “segregated schools again,” based on the fact that the lower performing schools in the district have predominantly poor and minority student populations.
[caption id="attachment_20035" align="alignright" width="130"] Escambia School Board member Linda Moultrie[/caption]
“What happens is that middle class minority families move on,” Moultrie says, “and the ones who can’t improve or do better, they’re left behind. Then it’s a struggle because they don’t have the support or resources.”
Waters agreed that is an issue that needs to be watched, because there’s “no intent to segregate, but it’s happening.”
School choice is one reason that some schools have a higher population of minority students than others, but Moultrie says that “choice” simply doesn’t exist for some parents in her district.
“Do people really have a choice when a parent doesn’t have transportation to take their child across town to another school?” Moultrie asked. “That’s not a choice. You talk about services, but some of our schools, like Warrington Middle, don’t get services, like enough musical instruments for band.”
Part of the problem is money. When a school is struggling academically, the district is often limited as to how it spends resources on that school, but Moultrie says the result is that lower-income children don’t get the same opportunities.
“As long as our intentions are pure and we are trying to do the right thing for all students, then I think we have a much better case,” Waters said.
Board members and the superintendent agree it’s an issue that started with school choice and needs to be addressed through community outreach and hiring more minority teachers.
“I don’t think we can step backward on our choice initiative,” Thomas said. “We have to develop a diverse structure, but I don’t have the answer for schools that look more racially identifiable.”
Disciplining students
[sidebar]
Want to go?
Escambia School Board meeting.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: at the J.E. Hall Center on Texar Drive in Pensacola.
DETAILS: The agenda is online. Click here for details.
[/sidebar]
Student discipline was another topic the board discussed. Bergosh is looking at ways to address it because “some schools have a challenge with discipline.”
Thomas says it’s an issue the district has been working on since 2008. In the works now is a comprehensive plan that will take a look a discipline and identify gaps in the system.
“This has to be a student-centered approach to solving our discipline problems,” said Thomas. “This has to be about getting the student back on track, so that they can recover not only for this classroom, but for the rest of their life.”
Thomas says they’re considering a pilot program that may include removing students temporarily who are having behavior problems, teaching them a better way, then re-integrating them into the classroom.
“We have a lot of students who come to school today and they don’t really know what is the right thing to do,” Thomas said. “They’ve not had social skills training in their upbringing. So as we look at this middle school pilot, that is one of the things we want to blend in, this character piece.”
Thomas said he plans to give a detailed presentation about the district’s disciplinary plan in the next couple of months.
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