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Superintendent Hopeful Thomas Speaks Out On Carver, Ernest Ward
August 8, 2008
Malcolm Thomas, candidate for Escambia School superintendent, brought his campaign message to Walnut Hill Thursday night, saying that Escambia County deserves better in its school system.
“I am running to make this school system better,” Thomas told the Walnut Hill Ruritan Club. He is a former Escambia County teacher of the year and a finalist for Florida teacher of the year; he now serves the district as director of evaluation services.
Thomas said he never set out to enter the education field. But in school he was the poor kid “without the designer alligators” on his shirt. A teacher took interest in him, he said, and became his encourager.
“I could never forget what that teacher did for me,” he said. “I became a teacher of learning disabled students because I wanted to make a difference.”
“At Bratt Elementary, they are getting it done,” he said, referring to Bratt’s school grade from the Florida Department of Education being the top score of any school in the county.
When asked about the expected recommendation by current Superintendent Jim Paul to close Carver/Century K-8 School, Thomas said “My biggest concern with Carver/Century is the fact that is has a little over 30 students in sixth through eighth grade.”
“You can’t build a program with so few students,” he said, pointing out that over the 400 elementary and middle school age students in the Carver/Century district, over half choose to attend schools like Bratt Elementary, Byrneville Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School.
“If the people in their own community won’t attend their own school, how can we as a district support it?” he asked.
On rumors that Ernest Ward Middle School might be slated for closure in the future, Thomas said he sees a different need at Ernest Ward.
“I think we’ve got some facility problems there,” he said. “It’s getting older, and it is about full. I think we are looking at some type of construction project there in the future.”
Thomas said the district needs a long range plan that addresses which schools might be closed or consolidated and which schools might need construction and expansion.
Thomas is the only Republican candidate remaining the race for Escambia’s superintendent; the other Republicans have dropped out of the race. In November, he will face the winner of a three way race between Claudia Brown-Curry, Myra Simmons and Cary Stidham for the Democratic nomination.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Comments
3 Responses to “Superintendent Hopeful Thomas Speaks Out On Carver, Ernest Ward”
I am the mother of a child that attended Ernest Ward in 2004. And I can tell you first hand that Ernest Ward should have been closed years ago. Ernest Ward had not been maintained and had ignored several hazards; including condemned bleachers(2-3 yrs) and old rusted fences. I, like most parents believed that my son was safe going to a public school, I believed that public schools had certain standards that were met annually in order to serve the public. Boy was I wrong!!
My child was in his very first year of middle school when in attendence to P.E., following the instructions of the teacher was struck in the back of the head from a sagging, rusted old steel iron fence post; weighing around 20 lbs-because some other kids were climbing on a fence that had no business on a school facility. My son had to be rushed to the ER, had stitches, CT’s, MRI”s developed EPILEPSY from this injury,had short term memory loss and will be on medication for the rest of his life!
After my sons injury I walked Ernest Wards school grounds and was apalled-I asked if the bleachers were condemned as I had been told? The answer shocked me-”YES, but we have caution tape to keep the children off of them”" And I asked where is the caution tape?? Evidentally a child pulled it off! I was told that the schools budget could not afford to remove these hazards.
After my visit, I contacted Jim Paul and notified his office of my son’s injury on the fence and the fact that this school had condemned bleacher for 2yrs. Well, surprise, surprise- the bleachers and the fence were bulldozed!
The principal retired “early”, the PE teacher transferred, the nurse moved, and several of the maintenece employee’s are no longer employed.
My point-don’t assume that your child will be safe at school-if you have doubts, concerns or questions-go see for yourself. Walk the halls, the school yard, check out the bathrooms. What angers me the most is that if Ernest Ward was a private school-it would not pass the inspection. Escambia county schools have gotten away for years failing facility inspections for over 7yrs in a row! They are not fined-just mentioned in an audit. Our children deserve better than what escambia county has been giving them.
All I can say is when the school offers accidental insurance-get it. I thought that my own health insurance would’ve been enough, It wasn’t. Escambia county’s low standards are a joke. I assumed that a public school would be required to carry liability insurance (private schools do) Fl Dept of Ed. said it is up to the county whether or not to carry liability insurance. Public schools are protected by soveriegn immunity-in other words – you can not sue a public entity. So why should Escambia county have higher standards? There are no reprocusions-they won’t be shut down-just mentioned in an annual audit.
I think its been long enough and its time for a complete consolidation of the schools on the north end of the county. Ernest Ward, Bratt, Bryneville, and Carver are all older schools. I wouldn’t want for a K-12 school but i would prefer to keep the different age groups on a different campus than the other. Why not give the next generation a quality updated building to learn in and a great combination of teachers from the different areas.
My concern is that I have asked for the STANDARDS or criteria that are used to determine if a school should be closed or consolidated, and I get no response. Are our schools political poker chips? Or do they have kids, families, communities, and futures attached to them.
I am sure that there is a reason that there are so few kids in Century-Carver Schoolin the sixth-through-eighth grade – and I don’t think it is because the parents want their kids bused all the way to Bratt, or because they are selfish or bad parents. Why wouldn’t they want a good school closer to home?
Jack Moran
Bratt/Byrneville