Nearly a year after Superintendent Malcolm Thomas broke off negotiations with Friendship Missionary Baptist Church for the dilapidated Brownsville Middle School that has been closed since 2007, the Escambia County School Board…
Category: Education
Student loan defaults
The Orlando Sentinel has an article on the student loan defaults. The Sun Sentinel has a database on percentage of borrowers whose loans became due between Oct. 1, 2007 and Sept. 30,…
Adequate Yearly Progress letters
We have received copies of the letters the elementary school principals sent home regarding the adequate yearly progress. There is definitely a formula the principals were given to use, but some principals…
School District Releases Statement On Amendment 8
Press Release: At the September 21, 2010, regular meeting of the School Board of Escambia County, Florida, a position statement on proposed Amendment 8 was adopted and is reflected below. “The School…
Escambia School District seeks out-of-town attorneys
It has long been the position of the IN that our local governments should hire local professionals and consultants first – engineers, architects, attorneys, etc. Local dollars should stay local. The Escambia…
“You, me, be drug free!â€
It may be grammatically incorrect, but the Superintendent Malcolm Thomas’ administration has the slogan for its new drug awareness campaign: “You, me, be drug free!†Hopefully the sentence won’t be on the…
Leonard Skinner dies
The namesake of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, Leonard Skinner, died Monday in his sleep at the St. Catherine Laboure Manor in Jacksonville. The basketball coach and gym teacher at Robert E….
Miss. letter doesn’t single out race, poor or disabled
Here is the letter used in 2009 by Woolfolk Middle School in Yazoo City, Miss. It appears Superintendent Thomas might have misinterpreted the federal law concerning No Child Left Behind, but we…
N.B. Cook has problem with black and disabled students
The sentence from Principal Patti Thomas: “At our school two subgroups, Black students and students with Disabilities did not make the AYP target.” Read N.B.Cook Letter. Here is the sample letter used…
No Child Left Behind letters in Missouri don’t mention racial groups
The Missouri Department of Education has sample letters for No Child Left Behind and notifying parents about Adequate Yearly Progress. Districts are clearly instructed that: “It is not advisable to list specific…
Thomas Says Letters Part Of Law
Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas tells the IN the A.K. Suter Elementary and Cordova Park Elementary parent letters that pinpointed inadequate test scoring for African American students, are a requirement by law….
Letter singles out African-American and Poor students
Below is a scan of the letter sent home with students that attend A.K. Suter Elementary. The letter is to explain the school’s FCAT grade. Principal Russell Queen writes how the school…