By Tom St. Myer
The fate of Warrington Middle School will soon be determined. Escambia School Board Chairman Paul Fetsko said Friday, April 28, is the deadline for the school district to finalize a contract with Charter Schools USA. The self-imposed deadline is to ensure they present a signed contract to the Department of Education by May 1.
Fetsko and Superintendent Tim Smith traveled to Tallahassee and spoke at the State Board of Education Meeting on April 19. The Department of Education requested their presence to update the state on contract negotiations with Charter USA. Fetsko and Smith detailed how Charter USA changed its proposed plan and the school district wanted to renegotiate the terms before agreeing to a contract.
The education management company now proposes students in grades 6-8 who live in the Warrington school zone attend the charter school its first year. Charter USA then proposes adding K-5 the next year as a choice option, followed by choice options for ninth graders in Year 3 and 10th graders in Year 4. Ultimately, Warrington will be the only K-12 school in the county and the fourth magnet school. The proposal states Charter USA will no longer be mandated to accept zoned middle school students after the third year.
School board members insist that zoned middle students be allowed to attend Warrington throughout the partnership. Other areas of contention in the Charter USA proposal include paying the school district a mere $1 a year for the length of a 15-year contract and for the education management company to lease the facility for 30 years. The two sides originally agreed on a 7-year contract.
At the meeting Wednesday, state officials sided with Charter Schools USA and criticized the school district for failing the Warrington students. Florida Board of Education Vice Chair Ryan Petty cited a visit he made to Warrington. Petty said he sat in an eighth-grade math classroom with algebra books sitting on a shelf while the teacher taught students basic arithmetic.
“We have been failing these students for more than a decade,” Petty said. “What I don’t hear from either of you is a sense of urgency. These kids deserve better. This school needs to be fixed. This board is out of patience with the Escambia County School District.”
The Florida State Board of Education ordered that Warrington either close or transition to a charter school by the 2023-24 school year. The order came after Warrington earned yet another D this past school for its ninth consecutive grade of a D or F. Warrington last earned a C in the 2010-11 school year.
Fetsko took exception to the two governing bodies placing all the blame on the school district.
“For the last eight years, the State Board of Education and the Department of Education have had the authority, power and control,” he said. “And they still refuse to take responsibility for their initiatives, their requirements and their directives not working.”
State officials said they will take action May 2 if the school district and Charter USA fail to agree to terms. What action is unclear, but Fetsko logically concluded the governing bodies would either take over the school or order its closure.
Fetkso said of negotiations with Charter USA, “the ball is in their court, but the officials are on their side.”
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Warrington Middle School
I’m a current Algebra teacher at Warrington ES.
The quotes in this article are false and miss leading. Vice Chair Petty never entered an Algebra classroom this year with me present and saw low rigor. There are only two 8th grade Algebra teachers. We are both outstanding teachers. Last year there were 3 outstanding math teachers. The students in Algebra have among the highest test scores in the district. Mr. Petty may be referencing experiences from years ago but not the last two years.
Society and ECPS and the Florida Dept of Ed have failed these students. The boards have helped in no way. I’ve been here two years and I volunteered to be here to help children learn math.
My classrooms haven’t been cleaned in weeks. We have no toilet paper and I’m still teaching and my very blessed Algebra Students are learning Algebra at a high level of rigor. Attendance is not consistent but teaching is!
I’m very sad for my students but the failure is not theirs. Several students raised their scores to level 5 and this is rare. Not the outcome of a failing school. We have dedicated admins and some brilliant teachers at WMS.
I invite you to see first hand and not believe those who aren’t here with us.
https://www.facebook.com/WarringtonMSRockets?mibextid=LQQJ4d
https://www.facebook.com/GovRonDeSantis?mibextid=LQQJ4d
#GovRonDeSantis
#warringtonmsrockets
I invited Gov Desantis to the school but he hasn’t come. This is about education and Florida has not served Escambia County well. We’ve been observed all year and the observers can see a high rigor and high test scores and solid teaching with committed teachers. Come on in! All are welcome to observe! The only failure is the state and board of educations not supporting our students.
The school board representative has never been in my classroom and yet I teach future leaders of the community we want to help.
Where is everyone? Come on in and observe our students. I am sure most of the students in ECPS cannot work at the level of many of my students.
Tina D’Aversa
Dedicated math teacher
This is a direct quote made by State Board of Education Member Ryan Petty, “Last August members of this board, including myself, toured Warrington Elementary School (he said elementary but meant middle). I walked the hallways. I looked into the eyes of those kids. I sat in an 8th grade math classroom where the Algebra books that should have been a part of teaching and learning that day were sitting on a shelf. I pointed them out to the Commissioner, while I sat and watched a teacher teach 8th graders basic arithmetic.”
I walk the halls of Warrington Middle School every day. I look into the eyes of our students every day. I also observe teachers teaching almost every single day. I observed the exact same lesson at the same time Mr. Petty did on August 17, 2022. This teacher was well planned and was providing the content and instruction these students required.
Mr. Petty walked into an 8th grade math classroom, sat down, and observed. Mr. Petty did not review the teacher’s lesson plans. Of course, he did not participate in planning with the teacher and District Mathematics Specialist. The teacher and students that were observed were in a Pre-Algebra class and not an Algebra class. 8 of the 10 students in the class came in with an achievement level 1 in math from the previous year.
On February 12, 2020, Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T) Standards for Mathematics were adopted by the State Board of Education. During the 2021-2022 school year the Warrington Middle School students were taught based on the Math Florida Standards (MAFS) because the 2022 Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) assessed the Math Florida Standards and not the B.E.S.T. Standards. Beginning this school year, Warrington Middle School has shifted to the B.E.S.T. Standards for Mathematics.
Why is this information regarding the change in the standards important? The instruction that Mr. Petty observed and seemed to perceive as poor or lacking was exactly what should have been covered that day. The 8th grade Pre-Algebra students observed were missing 7th grade B.E.S.T. Mathematics benchmarks because these benchmarks were not taught in 7th grade in the previous Math Florida Standards. The District Mathematics Specialist developed an instructional guide for teachers to follow to address identified gaps caused by the transition to new standards. The teacher observed was following this instructional guide. The students were not working in books at the time of Mr. Petty’s visit because with the shift of the benchmark being taught not being in the 8th grade B.E.S.T. aligned book, but still needed to be taught to fill the gap and build the foundation for their success. There were Algebra books on the bookshelf because the teacher does in fact teach a section of Algebra but that is a different period of the day so, rightfully they should have been on the shelves.
So, this teacher who teaches her 8th grade students “basic arithmetic” was actively recruited to Warrington Middle School because of her effective VAM rating. The state paid her an additional $7,500 per year to serve at Warrington Middle School the last 2 years. Of all the teachers teaching 8th grade Pre-Algebra, the teacher observed by Mr. Petty was the 2nd highest for the entire district for the percentage of students scoring proficient in 8th grade Pre-Algebra. This would not have happened by teaching “basic arithmetic” to our students. It amazes me how a person can make such disrespectful remarks about a uniquely gifted and respected educator based on an observation that was less than 10 minutes. Judgement was made with no understanding of what was actually being observed. This teacher who exemplifies our motto, Every Student…Every Day…Whatever It Takes, was called out in a public meeting by someone who knows nothing about the teacher or the students in the class. I just can’t figure out why we have such a teacher shortage.