Northview NJROTC Holds Military Ball
January 22, 2009
The Northview High School NJROTC held their annual Military Ball recently at the National Museum of Naval Aviation about NAS Pensacola.
It was a joint event with the Washington High School NJROTC unit and the first time any NJROTC unit had held their ball at this unique location. Over 110 cadets and their dates attended the evening. Kings and queens, princes and princesses were selected by their peers.
The King and Queen were Dalton Cummings and Kayla Brewer (pictured top). The Junior/Sophomore Prince and Princess were Elliott Ross and Tyler Hunter (pictured below). The Freshman Prince and Princess were Cardean Smith and Kayla Miles (pictured bottom).
Click here for more photos from the Military Ball.
Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com.
Escambia School Board Moves Forward On Closing Carver/Century K-8 School
January 21, 2009
The Escambia County School Board voted to move forward with a plan that will close Carver/Century K-8 School at the end of this school year at a Tuesday night meeting where a small number of Century residents quietly protested and spoke out of favor of the school.
“Have you done everything that you could have done to keep the school open?” Century Council member Henry Hawkins asked the board. “The answer is no, you have not…If you close the school, you kill a community.”
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas called for the closure due to declining enrollment and to save funds; the district has been loosing up to $1 million a year to keep the school open, Thomas said.
The board’s actual vote was to redistrict the students from Carver/Century to attend Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School. That redistricting must be advertised for 28 days; the board will have their final vote on the new districts on March 17.
The vote was 3-2 to move forward with advertising the redistricting plan. Board members Bill Slayton, who represents District 5 where Carver/Century is located, and Linda Moultrie voted against the proposal. Jeff Bergosh, Gerald Boone and Patty Hightower voted for the superintendent’s plan.
Century Mayor Freddie McCall pleaded with the district to keep the school open for at least three more years so that community leaders could work to improve the school without the “cloud of closure hanging over our heads”.
“I just want to plead with you to look at our situation,” McCall told the board. “We are unique.” The mayor said his town’s geographic distance from Bratt and Ernest Ward, coupled with the lack of adequate transportation of many Century residents, will present a problem for the district.
“Most of our parents don’t have a car at home,” McCall said. “If their child is sick, how are they going to come to school to get them?”
Century resident Annie Savage (pictured left) told the board that she was upset when she read on NorthEscambia.com that without the benefit of state averaging rule for small schools, Carver/Century’s school grade would have been a “D”, not a “B”.
“What side of your mouth are you going to talk out of?” Savage asked Thomas. “It is discrimination. They are taking from our community and giving to the other community. It is time for us to take action.”
The school board discussed the proposed redistricting for about 20 minutes Tuesday night, with each board member and the superintendent explaining their viewpoint.
“I am not going to speak about the impact on Century,” Slayton said, “I am very concerned about the students and what this will do to them educationally.”
Slayton said that the school’s letter grade was not important to him, rather he was impressed by the school showing great gains.
As for the students attending Bratt Elementary, Slayton said they would be “lost in the shuffle” when moved to a larger school. He said that while Ernest Ward Middle would offer a long list of electives and activities for the incoming Carver/Century students. “But will they have the transportation to be part of these vast opportunities?” he asked, echoing McCall’s comments about many Century parents who not have adequate transportation to get to Bratt or Walnut Hill.
“There are a lot of questions we have not been able to answer,” Slayton said. “I put the students first.”
“I have to know that we have given it our all and all,” said Moultrie. She said if Carver/Century closes “the community loses its life”.
“Nobody gets pleasure out of closing a school,” Thomas told his board. “We are all going to have to make some hard choices, not just in Century.” The district is facing mounting budget cuts, with the state legislature having just cut another $5.4 million in funding.
“The money that we are going to spend to keep it open will choke us on other facilities,” he said. “I am not going to be excited when we have to lay employees off. Unless a miracle occurs, this district is going to get a good dose of financial reality.”
Bergosh, the first board member to call for the closure of Carver/Century early last year, said that the board should be able to close the school easily based upon the excellent data provided by Thomas.
“This school is the most inefficient school in the district,” he said. “This is one we can’t afford not to do.”
Board member Hightower said that reaching the decision to support the closure had not been an easy one for her, but ultimately the closing would best serve the district.
“It is about what we can do for all the students of Escambia County,” Hightower said. “In order to keep our people employed, we are all going to have to make some tough decisions.”
Boone agreed that the closure was a tough decision, but one that would ultimately benefit the entire district.
Pictured above: Century Councilman Henry Hawkins addresses the Escambia County School Board Tuesday night in support of keeping Carver/Century K-8 open. Pictured bottom: Century resident Leola Robinson speaks in support of keeping Carver/Century open while Gerald Boone (left) and Malcolm Thomas (right) look on. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Mayor: ‘Nail In Our Coffin’ As School Board Moves To Close School
January 21, 2009
“They put the nail in our coffin tonight.”
That’s how Century Mayor Freddie McCall reacted to the Escambia County School Board voting Tuesday night to redistrict, and effectively close, Carver/Century K-8 School.
“We all knew it was going to happen,” Brenda Spencer, a member of the town’s Blue Ribbon Committee to save the school, said. “At least Bill Slayton did what he said he was going to do.” District 5 board member Bill Slayton was one of the two votes against Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ proposal.
Redrawing Carver/Century’s attendance zone to send the students to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School must, according to law, be advertised 28 days in advance. The school board extended that time to their March 17 meeting.
“I remain open to possibilities between now and then,” Thomas said. He has previously said that he would accept a guaranteed $400,000 a year funding source to keep the school open.
While not required, Thomas said the board would consider holding a public hearing in Century to allow area citizens the chance to offer their input on the attendance zones.
“We would explain the data and what it says, and I’m sure we would listen to the emotional arguments,” he said. “But make no mistake, voting for this idea is putting students first. It’s not about a brick and mortar building; it is about the students.”
“I hope their next step will be to come to Century and all sit down in a city meeting,” McCall said.
“I hope we can convince them to rezone more students to go to Carver/Century,” the mayor said. He hopes that the district will consider redrawing district lines to send some number of current Bratt and Ernest Ward students to Century.
“They are not wanting to do that,” McCall said of the school board. “They are wanting to shut us down.”
Pictured top: Century Mayor Freddie McCall addresses the Escambia County School Board Tuesday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Reading First Program, Two North Escambia Schools Honored
January 21, 2009
The Reading First program in Escambia County has been recognized as being in the top 25% in the state of Florida. The Reading First program in North Escambia includes students at Bratt Elementary and Carver/Century K-8 School.
The schools and the 14 Reading First coaches in the district were honored Tuesday night by the Escambia County School Board.
Reading First grants assist schools to implement proven methods of reading instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms.
The reading coach at Carver/Century K-8 is Lee Cassady, and the reading coach at Bratt Elementary is Tammy Calloway. Molino Park and Byrneville elementary schools are not part of the Reading First program.
Pictured top: Lee Cassady (left), Reading First coach at Carver/Century K-8 and Tammy Calloway (right), Reading First Coach at Bratt Elementary, hard at work in their offices. Pictured above left: Bratt Principal Sheryl Pomeroy accepts the Reading First award on behalf of Bratt. Pictured below: Lee Cassady (white sweater) is congratulated by District 5 School Board member Bill Slayton Tuesday night. Submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Where Are The Kids? A Look At The Numbers
January 19, 2009
Most students that live in the Carver/Century K-8 School district do not attend the school, and that’s one reason it is now slated for closure. Instead, they take advantage of the fact that the school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to attend a neighboring school or they attend the Byrneville Charter School.
The Escambia County School Board will consider moving toward the final step in closing Carver/Century at their meeting Tuesday night. One of the reasons cited by Superintendent Malcolm Thomas for closing the school is the declining enrollment.
There are 473 students zoned to attend Carver/Century. Just 210 — 44 percent –attend the school. (See the complete breakdown at the bottom of this article.)
Of elementary age children, there are 307 zoned to attend Carver/Century, but only 41 percent — 126 children — are at the Century school. More Carver/Century zoned students actually attend the Byrneville Elementary charter school, with 130 enrolled from the geographic district. Another 32 attend Bratt Elementary and six are at Molino Park. Three attend Jim Allen Elementary, and one each attend Cook Elementary, Holm Elementary and Longleaf Elementary. Another six are homeschooled.
Just a fraction over half the middle school children in the geographic Carver/Century district attend the school. Of the 166 middle school children in the zone, 84 attend Carver/Century. Another 68 are at Ernest Ward, three are at Ransom and two are at Clubbs. There is one middle school child from the district at each: Workman, Brown Barge and Oasis. One child is hospital/homebound, one is under a McKay Scholarship that allows a student with disabilities to attend a private school and four are homeschooled.
“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 like Bratt and Ernest Ward due to Carver/Century’s failure to meet “AYP” — adequate yearly progress. As a charter school, Byrneville Elementary has an open enrollment policy that allows almost any child to attend.
If the school board approves Thomas’ plan to redistrict Carver/Century, the school will close and the students will be in the Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School districts.
Every Child A Reader In Escambia Receives 700 Books
January 17, 2009
Every Child a Reader in Escambia recieved over 700 books donated by Barnes and Noble customers.
The presentation was made Friday to ECARE’s new program “Illiteracy is an Injustice”. ECARE’s new mascot, the wacky, fun-loving, reading dolphin Readmore Books was on hand to help celebrate this wonderful donation.
“Illiteracy is an Injustice” is the brainchild of local attorney Margaret Stopp, who is also an active member of ECARE. Stopp and local legal community participants all sport beautiful new backpacks with the program name embroidered in brightly colored child-like letters. Attorneys, courthouse personnel and others may be seen sporting the backpacks, which contain a variety of new hardback books geared toward children between the ages of zero and five.
“As members of the legal profession who frequent court proceedings where we see children five and under accompanying their parents or guardians, we have a unique opportunity to offer these children’s books,” explained Stopp. “As we all can agree, readiness for kindergarten is fostered by exposure to books and all they have to offer.”
Stopp stated that by providing these books, legal professionals are addressing, in one small way, the issue of illiteracy in the community. Although not all of the children who are brought to court are from functionally illiterate families, many are. It is the program’s goal that each child receiving a book from will benefit. It will also be a positive experience for the child who visits the courthouse.
Participants are asked to wear the backpack as often as possible at the courthouse because it is a manifestation of the legal community’s commitment to supporting efforts to impact the county’s literacy problem.
Escambia Music Students Honored
January 15, 2009
Several music students throughout the district were honored last week at the at the 65th Annual Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) In-Service Clinic and Conference in Tampa. Selected students accompanied FMEA members and participated in rehearsals and culminating performances throughout the January 7-10 event.
Among Escambia students earning all-state honors:
● Alli Bell, NB Cook Elementary; Elementary Chorus
● Kylei Branch, NB Cook Elementary, Elementary Chorus
● Katelyn Godwin, Ransom Middle; 7th/8th Grade Treble Chorus
● Anna Del Gallo, Ransom Middle; 7th/8th Grade Treble Chorus
● Jacob Dearrington, Tate High; 9th/10th Grade Concert Band
● Ben Carmichael, Tate High; 11th/12th Grade Symphony Orchestra
● Leslie Ann Godwin, Tate High; 11th/12th Grade Symphonic Band
● Rachael Cotton, Tate High; 11th/12th Grade Symphonic Band
● Samantha Bruce, Tate High; 11th/12th Grade Symphonic Band
Judge’s Order: No Prayer During School Events, No Religion In Schools
January 13, 2009
In connection with a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, a federal judge has issued preliminary injunction against any policy or practice that promotes prayer or religion in the Santa Rosa County School District. The ACLU has also requested documents concerning prayer from Escambia County Schools.
In August, the ACLU filed the lawsuit in federal court against the school district. The suit alleged that Santa Rosa County Schools “persistently and persuasively promote their personal religious beliefs in the public schools and at school events”. Events specifically mentioned in the lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of two students at Pace High, included baccalaureate services, prayers at graduations and other school events. The suit specifically sought an end to baccalaureate services.
“The School District ultimately did the right thing in admitting and accepting responsibility for its violations of students’ constitutional rights,” said Benjamin James Stevenson, principal litigator and staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida’s Northwest Regional office. “We are pleased with Friday’s decision, and we look forward to working with the defendants and the court to permanently bring the school district in line with the First Amendment.”
The ACLU says that for 90 days, the temporary injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Casey Rodgers prevents the school district from promoting or sponsoring prayers during school-sponsored events, including graduation; planning or financing religious baccalaureate services; holding school-sponsored events at religious venues when alternative locations are reasonably available; and prohibits school officials from promoting their personal religious beliefs in class or during school-sponsored events and activities. The order is effective January 19.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Pensacola, names specific events at several Santa Rosa schools, including Jay. The suit states that Jay High School held an invocation and benediction prayer each year from 2004-2008 led by students from groups such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The ACLU also complains in the suit that Jay High School has held baccalaureate services that were religious in nature.
The ACLU has also requested documents from the Escambia County School District that might relate to religion or prayer. Specifically, the ACLA requested records from Escambia Schools about graduations and baccalaureate services. The ACLU public records requests also asked for the notes of all speakers at the event as well as any audio or video recordings of the events. The ACLU request extends to all schools in Escambia County, including Northview High School.
“The ACLU may be successful at ending the freedom students currently possess to lead Christian prayers at school-sponsored events. The truth is that no man nor power, on the earth, under the earth or above the earth can stop true Christian parents and their children from praying and worshiping Jesus Christ in their homes,” Pastor Gary Wieborg of the First Baptist Church of Bratt told NorthEscambia.com after the lawsuit was filed. Wieborg was the speaker for Northview’s baccalaureate service last May.
Click here to read the ACLU’s lawsuit against Santa Rosa County (pdf).
Click here to read the ACLU’s public records request in Escambia County (pdf).
Pictured top: The Class of 2008 Baccalaureate Service at Northview High School. Pictured middle: A sign outside of the New Hope Assembly of God church on Chumuckla Highway just south of Jay. NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Carver/Century’s ‘B’ Grade Really A ‘D’ Without The Benefit Of State Rule
January 12, 2009
Carver/Century K-8 School’s grade improved only due to the use of district averages rather than the school’s actual FCAT scores.
NorthEscambia.com has learned that while the Florida Department of Education awarded the school “B” status last school year, that grade would have actually been a “D” if it were not for a little known rule that allows a district average to be used at a school where less than 30 students are tested.
“In writing and science, Carver received the district average because there were less than 20 students tested,” Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas (pictured left) said.
Carver/Century’s weighted district average score in writing was 82 percent, when only 25 percent of the students actually passed the writing FCAT given to fourth and eighth graders. Only five of 20 students that took the writing FCAT at the Century school met state standards.
On the science FCAT given to students in fifth and eighth grades, Carver/Century received a 42 percentile score, the district average. In reality, the school’s actual score would have been a 24 if it were not for the 30 student rule. Of the 25 students taking the science FCAT at Carver/Century, only six passed.
“Without the group size restrictions, Carver’s school grade would have been a ‘D’,” Thomas said. Carver/Century scored a “D” in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and an “F” in 2007 before receiving the weighted “B” score in 2008.
Thomas has cited the poor school grades as just one reason why he will recommend to the Escambia County School Board that Carver/Century K-8 School be closed at the end of this school year. Students will redistricted to Bratt Elementary and Ernest Ward Middle School. Both schools have been “A” rated schools for the past several years.
Bratt Elementary has been ranked as an “A” school each year from 2004 to 2008. Ernest Ward was a “C” school in 2004 and a “B” school in 2005. From 2006 to 2008, Ernest Ward has been ranked as an “A” school by the Florida Department of Education.
“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.
Carver/Century School Honors Susan Jones As Teacher Of The Year
January 6, 2009
As they returned to school for the New Year, the staff and faculty at Carver/Century K-8 School took the time to honor one of their own Monday.
Third grade teacher Susan Jones was honored as Carver/Century’s Teach of the Year by her peers.
“She is an excellent, excellent teacher,” Principal Jeff Garthwaite said. “She was one of the teachers directly responsible for our gains last year on the FCAT in the third grade.”
This will be the last year in the classroom for Jones; she is planning on retirement after 35 years as a teacher.
The teachers and staff celebrated with a lunch, including a bit of “bubbly”(sparkling grape juice). The lunch, sponsored by the Carver/Century School Advisory Council, included items donated by Subway of Flomaton, Tri-Cities Florist in Flomaton, Piggly Wiggly and Southern Panhandle Restaurant.
Pictured above: Carver/Century Principal Jeff Garthwaite pours a glass of sparkling grape juice for Teacher of the Year Susan Jones at a staff lunch Monday at the school. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.