Cottage Hill Home Catches Fire — Twice In One Day
January 9, 2009
Fire damaged a Cottage Hill home Friday morning, and firefighters were called back to the home Friday afternoon.
Flames were visible when the first firefighters arrived at the home just before 8:00 Friday morning. The fire caused fire and smoke damage to a front corner of the two story home at 390 Williams Ditch Road, about two tenths of a mile east of Cottage Hill Road.
About 3:00 Friday afternoon, firefighters returned to the home for a reflash; a small attic fire was reported in the home.
Firefighters from across the area responded to the call, including Escambia County Fire Rescue’s Molino, Cantonment, Ensley and Beulah stations.
The American Red Cross was called to provide assistance to the family that lived in the home.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities say it appears to have been smoking related. The fire started on or near a mattress in a downstairs bedroom. The home’s occupants were not at home at the time of the fire.
The fire caused an estimated $35,000 in damage.
It’s Official: No More Alabama Kids Allowed In Florida Schools
January 9, 2009
The days of Alabama students attending school in Escambia County, Florida schools are over, and students from Escambia, Florida, including those from the closing Carver/Century K-8 School, will not be allowed to attend school in Alabama.
Since 1999, a written agreement between the school districts of Escambia County, Alabama, and Escambia County, Florida, has allowed up to 100 students per year from Escambia, Alabama, to attend school in Escambia County, Florida. At a September meeting of the Escambia County (Alabama) School Board, the board voted to rescind that agreement effective with the next school year. The Alabama board said for the agreement to officially end, Escambia County, Florida, must rescind it as well.
But Escambia Florida Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told NorthEscambia.com that he considers the agreement over, without an official vote by his school board.
“It takes two people to have an agreement,” Thomas said,”and one party has already backed out of this agreement. When they rescinded it, we no longer had an agreement.”
Alabama students currently enrolled in Escambia, Florida, schools will be allowed to finish the highest level offered by the school where they are currently enrolled.
An Alabama student in the third grade at Bratt Elementary would be allowed to attend school there through the fifth grade, for example. Once that child finished fifth grade, they would not be allowed to move on to middle school in Florida. A student attending Ernest Ward Middle School under the agreement would be allowed to finish the eighth grade but not be allowed to attend Northview High School.
“We have a policy in effect that parents must now show proof of residency and a Florida drivers license in order to enroll their child,” Thomas said. “If someone goes to the extreme of living in Alabama but somehow getting a proof of residency and a Florida drivers license, we will most likely enroll that student. I don’t have the resources to go out and verify that every student lives at the address we have.”
Your comments on this story are welcome below. However, do not mention any child or their parent/guardian by name.
Pictured above: Of the 100 students from Alabama that were allowed to attend school in Escambia County, Florida, 18 of them attend Ernest Ward Middle School. Those students will now be allowed to continue at Ernest Ward but not move on to Northview High School. NorthEscambia.com photo/graphic.
Carver/Century K-8 School To Close; Students To Bratt, Ernest Ward
January 9, 2009
It appears the end is near for Carver/Century K-8 School; Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas will recommend the closure of the school at the January 20 school board meeting. The closure would be effective at the end of this school year.
NorthEscambia.com sat down with Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas Thursday for a one hour, one-on-one exclusive interview. There were just two people in the room, Thomas and our reporter. He explained his decision to recommend closure of Carver/Century in great detail. It’s a story and exclusive details that you will only see here on NorthEscambia.com.
When Thomas took office in November, the closing on Carver/Century was on the school board’s agenda for later that month, placed there by outgoing Superintendent Jim Paul.
“I pulled it from the agenda. I said that I was going to pause the decision, and look at the car plant. I had not done my homework,” Thomas said, referring to the announcement that Century could become home to an electric vehicle manufacturing facility that might employ up to 1,100 people.
Thomas spent his Christmas vacation “working through a process” that involved a great deal of research and number crunching to reach his decision. Before Thursday morning, only four people, high ranking administrators in the school system, knew that decision.
He first broke the news of his decision to close the school to the faculty and staff at the school early Thursday morning. Thomas stood before them and broke the news.
“I wanted our employees to hear it from me,” he said. “If you are going to be the leader, you’ve got to be courageous enough to look people in the face when you have a decision like this.”
The actual recommendation that Thomas will make at the January 20 board meeting will to be adopted new school attendance zones, essentially putting all of the Carver/Century students in the Bratt or Ernest Ward zones. The plan was commissioned by the school board in August. The plan would be adopted by the board at the February 17 meeting.
Thomas is optimistic that the board will easily approve his plan, especially after legislative budget cuts of $16 million earlier this year and another $6 million more expected to be cut this legislative session. He is focused on making sure taxpayer money is spent wisely, a proper education for the students and the protection of employees jobs, he said.
“How do I let Carver/Century go another year?” he asked. “The million dollars I am losing here would cost the district 15 to 20 teachers or 30 to 50 support personnel.”
The district’s human resources staff would visit Carver/Century after the closure approval to work with the staff in employment transfers. Thomas said some teachers would move on to Bratt and Ernest Ward. “It would be to the benefit of the students for some of their teachers to go with them.”
He said he could not guarantee everyone’s job, not necessarily because of the closure but because of budget cutbacks across the board in the district. Budget cutbacks, he said, will lead to a series of cutback announcements over the next few weeks, possibly including the closure of another West Pensacola area school to be announced next week. Thomas said those associated with that school really have no idea that they will be targeted for closure. Those cutbacks could also lead to layoffs across the district.
The superintendent’s day in Century continued with a meeting with community leaders and the Century Blue Ribbon Committee that was formed by the town council to save the school. He had asked Mayor Freddie McCall to invite the participants to a meeting, but McCall was not informed of the exact purpose of the meeting. After that meeting, Thomas sat down with NorthEscambia.com for our exclusive interview.
At our meeting, Thomas spelled out his reasoning for closing the school in very complete detail. He provided a packet of information with numbers and facts to back up his decision. .You can read the Thomas documentation on Carver/Century by clicking here and downloading the pdf file (It might be helpful as you read the rest of the article to print the pdf, or open it in a new window.)
The $250,000 gamble
Current expenditures would require Carver/Century to have at least 330 students to bring revenue losses under $250,000.
“If this school had 330, it would still lose a quarter million dollars a year. That was my loss limit. That’s a lot of money, but that’s the number I was willing to spend. I do understand this is a unique situation with the geography, economics and the history of the school.”
Where are the kids?
Of the 473 students in the Carver/Century attendance zone, there were only 210 enrolled at the school on December 18 . That number has since increased to 212. That means that just 44 percent of the students in the Carver/Century zone attend the school; a full 56 percent attend school elsewhere.
At the elementary level, there were 307 children in the Carver/Century zone, but only 126 attended the school. There were 130 enrolled at the charter Byrneville Elementary, and 32 at Bratt Elementary. A handful of others were home schooled or at other schools.
At the middle school level, there were 166 students living in Carver/Century zone. Only 84 were at the school. There were 68 at Ernest Ward Middle School, and the rest were home schooled or at other schools in the county. At the seventh grade level, more students in the Carver/Century district attend Ernest Ward than go to Carver/Century.
“I have no authority to restrict a parent’s choice to send their children elsewhere,” Thomas said. “They are making choices for their children.” Federal law allows students in the Carver/Century district to send their children to other schools due to Carver/Century’s failure to meet “AYP” — adequate yearly progress.
A long ride
A transportation analysis by Thomas shows that the most distant student to Carver/Century travels 11.4 miles one way to school each day. The student most distant to Ernest Ward travels 14.9 miles one way to school each day.
With the school closure and consolidation, the average ride for a Carver/Century student to Bratt Elementary will be 10.9 miles. The average current Carver/Century student transferred to Ernest Ward would travel 15.5 miles per day.
Those are numbers currently exceeded by other schools in the district. There are students that travel 15.3 miles one way to attend Escambia High School.
But what about the car plant jobs?
Up to 1,100 jobs might be possible in Century with an electric car plant that is considering locating in the town. For this portion of his decision, Thomas made a lot of assumptions, all of which were heavily weighted in favor of Century. He determined that if the car plant employed 550 people, that would likely mean about 118 new students for Carver/Century.
“I gave Carver the benefit of the doubt on all these numbers, and assumed that every single employee of the car plant would live in the Carver/Century zone,” he said. “But at 118, you are still not going to get me to my loss limit of 330 students.”
The age of buildings
Thomas also outlined the age of the building on each campus.
Three buildings at Carver/Century were built in 1958, and three were constructed in 2003. The school received roofing and windows valued at $455,000 in 2004, and $3,081,614 in renovations in 2002.
Buildings at Bratt were constructed in 1980, 1988, 2000, 2001 and a $2 million media center in 2007. There were $632,255 in hurricane repairs in 2005, and $974,188 in hurricane repairs in 2006. There is a $1.2 million renovation project planned for Bratt’s main building to be complete this summer.
Buildings at Ernest Ward were constructed in 1945, 1963, 1955, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1992.
Dollars and cents
The financial losses at Carver/Century have been large for several years. Over the last seven years, almost $5 million more has been spent on education at Carver/Century than has been received in funding.
“Show me another business in Century that can lose $1 million a year and continue to operate,” Thomas said. “This is where I start thinking about the taxpayers. When I overspend here at Carver, I am hurting the other schools in the county and hurting the other students.”
Pictured above: Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite (L) and Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas in the lobby of the school Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Junior Miss Ernest Ward Middle School Pageant Tonight
January 9, 2009
The annual Junior Miss Ernest Ward Middle School pageant will be held tonight in the school’s gym at 7:00. Girls competing for the crown include: (front row, L-R) Ariel Kaye Holland, Clarissa Paige Ross, Ashley Renea’ Cunningham, Rachel Ann Presley (middle row) Cheyenne Godwin, Karmen LeeAnna Watson, Kendal Brooke Cobb, Savannah Paige Vanderpol, Ashlynn Nannette Webster, (back row) Sabrina Cheyenne Cox, Hope Marie Coggins, Elizebeth Leann Fillingim, and Kachanne Thomas. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Will Carver/Century Students Blend In At Ernest Ward?
January 9, 2009
Under-performing students from Carver/Century K-8 will benefit from being at Ernest Ward Middle School and Bratt Elementary School once, according to Superintendent Malcolm Thomas and the principal of EWMS.
NorthEscambia.com sat down with Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas Thursday for a one hour, one-on-one exclusive interview prior to his public announcement that he intended to recommend the closure of Carver/Century. There were just two people in the room, Thomas and our reporter. He explained his decision to recommend closure of Carver/Century in great detail. It’s a story and exclusive details that you will only see here on NorthEscambia.com.
“I am going to send them to the number one school in the entire county,” Thomas said of the students moving from Carver/Century to Bratt. Bratt was ranked this past school year as Escambia County’s best overall school.
“My expectation is that they will be received with open arms at both schools,” he said. “We will do training at Bratt with the staff on how to work with students from the extreme poverty that some of these students will be coming from.”
Additional, he said the transfer of some Carver/Century teachers to Bratt and Ernest Ward will provide a certain level of comfort and a “familiar face” for Blackcat students at their new schools.
With the Carver/Century students at the school, Bratt will become eligible for Title I funds to provide more services and opportunities at the school. Title I funded technology like computers and other items at Carver/Century will be moved to Bratt.
“Students from Carver/Century will blend in well at Bratt and Ernest Ward,” Thomas said. “The data says that 56 percent of the students already have.” Statistics show that 56 percent of the students in the Carver/Century district do not attend the school.
“There will be a period of public outcry,” he said. “But then were are going to have to pull together. We are going to have to act like grownups.”
The superintendent said that students at Carver/Century “stay isolated” at the school, but the move to Bratt at Ernest Ward will open many possibilities for them. He admits that former Carver/Century students that have moved on to Northview High School sometimes have difficulty fitting in at Northview.
“But that problem will be solved,” he said, “when students work their way up through the system before they get to Northview. A student that has spent three years at Ernest Ward will have no problems at Northview. That problem will be solved over time.”
“We will welcome them with open arms, ” Perry, EWMS principal, said of the incoming Carver/Century students. “We are excited to to welcome them and their parents. We feel like this is a good thing.”
Perry said she considers herself “momma” to her 464 students, taking great pride in making sure her diverse students body gets a proper education. “I love them every one,” she said. “That comes from my heart.”
“All kids have the ability to succeed,” she said. “We will work to make sure that happens.”
The middle school students moved to Ernest Ward, Thomas said, will enjoy a long list of electives at EWMS that were not offered at Carver/Century. Electives like technology, teen challenges, career orientation, technology, agriculture, keyboarding, computer applications, band, chorus, research and more are offered at EWMS but not Carver/Century.
The list extracurricular activities offered at EWMS but not Carver/Century is even longer…football, volleyball, swimming, drama club, chorus, band, FFA, Fellowship of Christian Students, newspaper, yearbook, SGA, Reading Club, National Junior Honor Society and more.
“I run this school like a mini high school,” Perry said about the school’s offerings of electives and extracurricular activities.
Overcrowding at Ernest Ward will not be an issue, Thomas said. Once the board approves the Carver/Century closure, modular classrooms will be ordered for Ernest Ward and Bratt.
“We will then have to work on some master plan over time,” he said, adding that the plan could eventually include permanent construction at Ernest Ward.
We attempted to contact Bratt Elementary Principal Sheryl Pomeroy Thursday afternoon for comment on this story, but she was out of her office.
Carver/Century Closing: Reaction From Principal, Mayor
January 9, 2009
Thursday was a sad day in Century, according to those close to the announced closure of Carver/Century K-8 School.
“It’s a sad, sad day in Century,” Mayor Freddie McCall said. “I don’t know what we can do but pray, and hope the school board turns it down and keeps our school open.”
The tears flowed early Thursday morning at Carver/Century, according to Principal Jeff Garthwaite, when Superintendent Malcolm Thomas announced the closure to the school’s staff and faculty.
“The teachers here have a passion for the students,” Garthwaite said. “They cried out of a serous concern for our kids.”
“We begged him to give us three years without the cloud of closure over heads,” McCall said. “We could turn this thing around.”
McCall said Thomas told him that the school could stay open if the town could come up with $400,000 in funding for each of the three years.
“Lord knows, I’ve got no idea where that kind of money could come from,” McCall said. “We can’t sell hotdogs or wash cars for that kind of money.”
“I don’t know where we are at,” the mayor said. “I still hope that the board members will still give us some kind of relief or grace period until we improve.”
Even though they were unhappy with the decisions made by Thomas, both Garthwaite and McCall acknowledged that Thomas had “done his homework” in McCall’s words.
Garthwaite said his teacher and staff were very appreciate that Thomas visited with them face to face to make his announcement.
“I respect him for all he has done,” McCall said. ” I just wish he would understand that we are in a unique situation and give us a chance. I don’t know the answer to this, but I am not going to give up.”
State Representative Blasts Pensacola News Journal Editorial About Century, All For One
January 9, 2009
State Representative Greg Evers is blasting an editorial in the Pensacola News Journal that said the Century Town Council and Mayor Freddie McCall are “too stuck in the past even to try to find a way out”.
The PNJ published the editorial Thursday morning. The editorial refers to Century rescinding a vote to support a county government consolidation study and the group Escambia All For One. The council voted to rescind the resolution at their last meeting.
Town council members voted to rescind their support based upon individual conversations with Evers, and admittedly did not contact members of Escambia All For One with concerns they had after talking to the Baker Republican. Read that story here.
You can read the entire PNJ editorial here.
The following is Ever’s response to that editorial:
I write in response to your Editorial of January 8, 2009, Century Votes for the Past. Your editorial inaccurately portrays my position on the issue of a consolidation study commission and the nature and contents of my conversations with City of Century and Escambia County officials.
In fact, I wholeheartedly support a meaningful, collaborative study of consolidation of governments and government services. I also support, however, the Constitution of Florida and the right of local governments and citizens to be fully-informed of the nature and impact of the public policy we make.
The legislative proposal that was submitted by All for One was unconstitutional and flawed. House local government staff advise me that the Legislature cannot constitutionally delegate unfettered authority to an unelected committee to formulate a consolidation policy proposal and then submit that policy proposal to the citizens for vote without the approval of final product by the Legislature. This is, contrary to what may have been represented to your editorial board, precisely the substance and effect of the original All for One proposal submitted to the Escambia County legislative delegation.
This lack of adequate oversight and approval by those who answer to the voters, instead of each other, was also the source of my own substantive concern with the original proposal. It was also the source I believe of the objections of Century city officials.
Since the second week of December I have met individually with every member of the Century City Commission and every member of the Escambia County Commission. As soon as I return to my district after the special session, I will be meeting with the newly-constituted membership of the Pensacola City Commission. I have also met several times and communicated extensively with the leadership of All for One, my fellow legislative delegation members and legislative staff. I have done all this not to “lobby” my own personal position but to determine the positions of the interested parties and, most importantly, my constituents. If the people I represent in Escambia County are considered a “special interest” by the Pensacola News Journal or All for One, then each is 100% correct that I am looking out for that special interest. And I will not apologize for it.
I will commit to keep working for a resolution that will allow meaningful, thorough study on consolidation to move forward where the recommendations of such study come back before the delegation, the interested local governing bodies and ultimately to the voters. This is what I understand was originally proposed by All for One to the City of Century and to our legislative delegation. But the written product before us does not currently match-up. When the legislation matches that proposal, I am confident that we will have a product we can ALL take pride in sending to the voters.
State Representative Greg Evers
District 1
Accident Injures Three Northview Students; One Transported By LifeFlight
January 8, 2009
Three Northview High School students were injured in a single vehicle accident about 9:00 Wednesday night, with one being transported from the scene by LifeFlight.
Troopers say Victoria Chavers, 16, was eastbound on the dirt portion of Greenland Road when she missed a 90 degree curve, struck a ditch and power pole, and overturned her Volkswagon Beetle. The vehicle came to rest upside down.
Authorities say Victoria and her younger sister Tiffany Chavers were able to crawl out of the vehicle. Blaze Green, the backseat passenger was trapped in the vehicle until extricated by firefighters. Ages of Tiffany Chavers and Green were not immediately available from troopers.
Green was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola by LifeFlight. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Victoria and Tiffany Chavers were transported by Atmore Ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital with minor injuries.
Friends and family members tell NorthEscambia.com than Victoria, who is known by the nickname Tori, had received the car as a Christmas present.
The accident left homes in the area in the dark for over two hours while crews from Escambia River Electric Cooperative worked to replace a broken power pole.
The accident was about 1.7 miles east of Highway 97 near Davisville, about a half mile south of the Alabama state line. There were no obvious signs on the county dirt road warning of the approaching curve, nor were there any warning signs in the curve. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and the Atmore Fire Department also responded to the crash.
For a complete photo gallery from the scene, click here.
Pictured above: Firefighters work to free Northview student Blaze Green from this overturned vehicle Wednesday night. Pictured below: Three Northview students were injured in this single vehicle accident on Greenland Road near Davisville. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Town Of Century Spends $478 On Lawyer To Decide If They Could Collect Woman’s $629 Sewer Bill
January 8, 2009
The Town of Century spent $478.50 on legal services to determine if they should collect a $629 sewer bill from a woman that at one time vowed to go to jail or hell before she paid up.
When Leola Robinson (pictured left) placed a mobile home on property she owns in 1999, she did not connect the trailer to the town’s sewer system. The town billed her each month for the minimum sewage usage charge, and that bill reach about $3,000 by the time the issue came before the town council in May.
The town lowered that bill to $624 in early June due to a four year statute of limitations. With a late charge, the bill grew to $629. Robinson made her vow not to pay the bill at the council’s November 3 meeting, where she and council member Henry Hawkins questioned if the bill was due at all. Robinson has a tenant in the mobile home, and she contended that she did not owe the bill. At the request of Council President Ann Brooks, the matter was tabled until the November 17 meeting of the council.
On November 4, Mayor Freddie McCall called Matt Dannheisser, the town’s attorney, to discuss the $629 bill. According to Dannheiser’s bill obtained by NorthEscambia.com, Brooks also called him to discuss the same matter. He drafted a letter to the mayor and town council. He billed the town for 1.10 hours at $165 an hour for a total of $181.50.
Later that day, Dannheisser received a fax from Brooks that included various documentation, and he held a telephone conference with Brooks as to whether the tenant or Robinson was responsible for the bill. He billed the town for 1.20 hours at $165 an hour for a total of $198.00.
After a story about Robinson ran on NorthEscambia.com, WKRG reporter Debbie Williams visited Century to do a story for the television station. She called Dannheisser, who conferenced in Mayor Freddie McCall, according to the lawyer’s bill. He billed 0.30 hours at $165 for a total of $49.50 for WKRG’s request. In WKRG’s report, Williams stated that McCall refused to comment and the town attorney also refused comment.
McCall made one additional call to Dannheisser over Robinson’s bill on November 11. It was billed at 0.30 hours for a total of another $49.50.
That grand total, according to Dannheisser’s bill to the town, was 2.90 hours for $478.50.
At the November 17 council meeting, Brooks produced documents that showed the town had actually denied requests by Robinson and her tenant to hook into the Century sewer system. Based upon those documents, the town voted to forgive the $629 bill by a 5-0 vote.
Read the November 4 story “Woman Says She’ll Go To Jail Or Go To Hell Before She Pays Sewer Bill” here.
Read the November 18 story “Town Forgives Sewer Bill For Woman That Vowed Not To Pay” here.
High School Juniors Could Win Youth Tour Trip To Washington From EREC
January 8, 2009
High school juniors in our area have the opportunity to win an all-expense paid trip to Tallahassee in February and Washington, D.C. in June as part of the 2009 Rural Electric Youth Tour.
This spring an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D. C. will be awarded to two young people from this area by Escambia River Electric Cooperative. As participants in the Youth Tour, local contest winners will travel by plane to Washington to spend one week seeing historic sites and visiting members of Congress.
The Rural Electric Youth Tour is an annual, week-long event in June during which high school juniors from all over the country convene in Washington to learn more about government, cooperatives and rural electrification.
The tour is coordinated by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), the Washington-based national service organization of the nation’s rural electric systems. The tour is sponsored by NRECA, local cooperatives and statewide organizations.
During the Rural Electric Youth Tour, students will follow state-planned itineraries, which include a day on Capitol Hill observing the House and Senate in session and visits to members of Congress. Delegates also participate in educational seminars and other fun events, such as a dinner dance on Youth Day.
Many applicants to the program will also be invited to attend the Youth Tour in Tallahassee in April. Attendees will learn about their state’s government as they visit the state capital, Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and other places of interest. During the overnight trip, they will have an opportunity to meet with representatives and senators of their state legislature.
All high school juniors in EREC’s service area are eligible to enter the contest, including students at Northview and Jay high schools. Contest entrants need to fill out an application form, which will be used to select the finalists. The finalists will be interviewed by a panel of judges who will then select the winners.
This is the 23rd year EREC has sponsored a Youth Tour contest. More than 1,200 Youth Tour participants from across rural America will meet in the nation’s capital for the 46th National Rural Electric Youth Tour.
To enter the contest, high school juniors should contact Marketing and Communications at EREC, (850) 675-4521 or (800) 235-3848, for an application. EREC will also visit high schools in its service area to present youth tour information and distribute applications. Deadline to return applications to EREC is January 29th.