Filthy School
I toured Warrington Middle School yesterday with Charter Schools USA Florida superintendent Dr. Eddie Ruiz and Ana Cordal, Charter USA’s vice president of school support and compliance, and found the school to be filthy.
Graffiti covered the bathroom walls – which appeared to have been there for weeks, if not months.
The air condition filters in the rooms were covered with dust.
In April, Algebra teacher Tina D’Aversa commented on this blog: “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!”
Why this matters: I worry that the district administration will try to sabotage the charter school. Obviously, the Custodial Services Department let these students and teachers down.
The cleanest part of the school is the administrative offices.
Dig Deeper: I looked for the many innovations that the school district had heralded implementing at the school over the past decade and found few remnants.
One of former superintendent Malcolm Thomas’s innovative ideas was to create a Flight Academy at Warrington Middle in 2010. Assistant Superintendent Paul Fetsko – the current school board chair – signed off on the recommendation to the board. Read agenda item.
There is no Flight Academy at the school 13 years later. Another example of poor execution. And Malcolm Thomas never gave us any explanation for its demise.
Lost Souls
I also spent part of my day interviewing undocumented workers that live in fear of deportation under the new laws passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
They feel like they’re political pawns caught up in DeSantis’ presidential ambitions.
Wanting A Better Life: I talked to one mother with a special needs son who traveled from Guatemala in a shipping container without water or fresh air to find a better life for her child.
She carried her son in her arms as she was forced to walk 24 hours to the US-Mexico border. One man died of a heart attack during the journey and was left on the trail.
Trafficking: I talked to a Latino advocate who traveled to the border to pick up a young girl who had been raped and nearly starved to death.
She found her dressed in only a t-shirt and underwear and afraid of being deported.
Mass Exodus: The people I met have jobs – in construction, hospitality, transportation and more. Many are leaving and heading to North Carolina where they can have a driver’s license and not live in fear. Over 50 families from this area have left.
Wahoos Win
For the second night in a row, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos overcame a late deficit to beat the Biloxi Shuckers on Thursday. Trailing three different times, the Blue Wahoos scored eight runs in the final four innings on their way to a thrilling 8-6 win.
After tying the game twice on home runs from Dane Myers and Norel González in the sixth and seventh innings, the Blue Wahoos took the lead for good with a three-run eighth. Will Banfield delivered the eventual game-winning hit, a go-ahead two-run single with two outs in the inning.
Why this matters: The Blue Wahoos increased their lead in the South Division to 6.0 games ahead of second-place Biloxi and Montgomery with 21 games to play in the first half.
The Blue Wahoos continue their series against the Shuckers on Friday. First pitch from MGM Park is scheduled for 6:35, with a live broadcast beginning at 6:30 on BlueWahoos.com, the MiLB First Pitch app (radio), Bally Live and MiLB.tv (video).For more information, visit BlueWahoos.com or contact the box office at (850) 934-8444.
It’s not in the least bit shocking to me, as someone who’s met with Dr. Smith multiple times about initiatives, that he would have dropped the ball and lied about working on Warrington too. I’m without faith in that man. He may have had plans, but he never executed them. Warrington’s a failure more under his watch.
“Maybe our local state legislative delegation should jointly ask the Office of the Inspector General in the Florida Department of Education to put the school district under a microscope looking for waste, fraud and financial mismanagement.”
Like I said, CJ, follow the procurement that Tim Smith was in the process of cleaning up. Throw in the facilities management money grabs and that’s probably the better part of it right there.
“Maybe the real solution is for Governor DeSantis to remove all of the school board members and appoint new ones.”
Why, so we can get 5 smarter, stronger, faster Christian nationalists to ban books, wipe out Black history, and torment LBGTQ students, teachers, and staff?
Better to leave Patty Hightower and Bill Slayton in place, remove Fetsko and Adams, and see if David Williams continues to do Malcolm Thomas’s bidding against his own constituency once he isn’t propped up by the Dunder Twin bookends. He most likely won’t make it through the next election, anyway.
Of course, the state isn’t interested in what’s best for our community. They’re gonna do what’s best for DeSantis and their goal of destroying public education in the state of Florida, which they’re chugging along with quite nicely. Whatever decisions they make, we can be sure that better serving underprivileged kids in public schools will be the least of their worries.
Filthy School: What is written above about Warrington Middle School confirms that the “problem” is a whole lot bigger than Superintendent Tim Smith. It sounds like a lot of heads should roll. Up through May 31st, Denny Wilson was the Principal of Warrington Middle School. Why was he promoted? On the school board’s May 16th agenda, item 5.A. is titled Administrative Appointments. Principal Wilson was promoted to be the Assistant Superintendent – Curriculum & Instruction starting on June 1st. In that role, Assistant Superintendent Wilson is a direct report to Deputy Superintendent Shenna Payne who is a direct report to the Superintendent. The routing of the agenda item shows that it originated on May 4th with Mary Tucker, Confidential HR Office Administration Specialist, a direct report to Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Keith Leonard – who in that regular job reports to Payne. Nine minutes later, Leonard approved the appointment of Wilson. Payne appears to not be part of the process which makes sense given that she doesn’t seem to be actively involved in the administrative affairs of the district, which is why the board won’t let her be in charge. Leonard forwarded his recommendation to promote Wilson to Smith who approved it at 7:08 p.m. On May 16th, the school board voted 5-0 to confirm Wilson’s promotion. So, the guy who can’t keep the toilets clean at Warrington Middle School got promoted? How can that happen? Maybe a better action would have been to terminate Wilson. It gets worse. The school district’s Maintenance & Custodial Services Department is run by Gregory Gibbs. Its motto is – “Our Aim: Continual Improvement of Services to Exceed our Customers’ Needs.” That’s pure B.S. Why does Gibbs still have a job? Director Gibbs is a direct report to Assistant Superintendent – Operations Shawn Dennis. Why does he still have a job? A 2014 document titled State Requirements for Education Facilities is posted to the school districts website. It goes into excruciating detail about “everything” to include the daily cleaning of bathrooms. Everyone who has ever used a restroom at a restaurant knows that their confidence sinks if the restroom is filthy because you can only imagine what the kitchen must look like cockroaches and all. How about some real accountability! Maybe our local state legislative delegation should jointly ask the Office of the Inspector General in the Florida Department of Education to put the school district under a microscope looking for waste, fraud and financial mismanagement. Imagine if we find out that the school district has been buying plenty of toilet paper but someone has been diverting it and selling it on the side for a personal profit. Maybe the real solution is for Governor DeSantis to remove all of the school board members and appoint new ones.