Enrollment conundrum solved, still not good

Thanks to public records supplied by the Escambia County School District, Inweekly has found that district’s enrollment is down 977 students in its traditional schools.

The district didn’t have available the enrollment of the district’s alternative and charter schools– 2,107 students last year–which explains why earlier numbers showed a steeper decrease.

The 977-student drop for the traditional schools is the largest single year decline in enrollment over the past 15 years, maybe in the history of Escambia County public schools.

Superintendent Malcolm Thomas blamed the drop on school vouchers when he was interviewed by the News Journal. If true, the steep decline is a strong indicator of the lack of confidence parents have in the quality of Escambia County’s public schools.

The biggest loss is in elementary schools — down 1,149 students. Only four elementary schools have more students than last year: Blue Angel up 37, Pine Meadow up 48, Scenic Heights up 1 and Kingsfield up 132.

If Thomas’ voucher explanation is valid, the big loss in elementary schools, but in middle and high schools, may be because the county has several parochial and private school options for those ages, and fewer for upper grades.

Competition not working inside the district

When he spoke to the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club last month, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said that the state’s grading system creates accountability and competition.

“And when we measured, guess what you find out in two seconds? Every single parent cares about the outcome and the education that they’re taught,” said Corcoran. “As soon as they had some awareness, some transparency, some knowledge and they could move with their feet, they did, and education started changing.”

Escambia parents aren’t moving their children to higher performing public elementary schools in the school district. The eight A elementary schools are down a combined 294 students, only Blue Angel had an increase.

Escambia parents aren’t moving their children to high-performing public schools in the school district. Why?

Jim Allen Elementary, a B school, lost 100 students. The district’s four lowest performing schools each lost fewer pupils: Bellview (-38), Warrington (-82), Holm (-30) and Global Learning Academy (-70).

The top middle school, Brown Barge, is down 42 students, losing only eight less pupils than the ninth lowest performing middle school in the state, Workman Middle (-50).

The second worst middle school in the district, Warrington, is up 14 students, while two higher performing middle schools are down — Ferry Pass (-80) and Jim Bailey (-85).

The highest performing high school, West Florida Tech, is down 53 students, while the lowest performer, Pine Forest, is up 97 students.


Do parents know their school’s grades? Do they know about school choice? Is the district explaining to parents in the lowest performing schools that they can move their children to better schools?

Is the problem lack of mobility in poorer families? Should the district provide transportation to those students?

Using Commissioner Corcoran’s reasoning, students should be flocking to the higher performing schools. Why aren’t they?


SchoolGrade2018-192019-20 +/-
HELLEN CARO ELEMENTARY A806737 (69)
BRATT ELEMENTARY A513463 (50)
N. B. COOK ELEMENTARY A578563 (15)
CORDOVA PARK ELEMENTARYA628593 (35)
A. K. SUTER ELEMENTARY A568564 (4)
R. C. LIPSCOMB ELEMENTARYA838796 (42)
BLUE ANGELS ELEMENTARY A813850 37
MOLINO PARK ELEMENTARYA495453 (42)
JIM ALLEN ELEMENTARY B670570 (100)
MONTCLAIR B398375 (23)
PINE MEADOW B620668 48
PLEASANT GROVEB599537 (62)
SCENIC HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY B825826 1
BEULAH ELEMENTARY B914911 (3)
KINGSFIELD ELEMENTARY B617749 132
BELLVIEW ELEMENTARY C631593 (38)
BRENTWOOD ELEMENTARY C473407 (66)
ENSLEY ELEMENTARY C409389 (20)
FERRY PASS ELEMENTARY C616591 (25)
MYRTLE GROVE ELEMENTARY C571549 (22)
NAVY POINT ELEMENTARY C537441 (96)
OAKCREST ELEMENTARY C533474 (59)
O. J. SEMMES ELEMENTARY C445402 (43)
SHERWOOD ELEMENTARY C540480 (60)
C. A. WEIS ELEMENTARY C546478 (68)
WEST PENS. ELEMENTARY C562498 (64)
LINCOLN PARK ELEMENTARYC316244 (72)
LONGLEAF ELEMENTARY C566549 (17)
L. D. MCARTHUR ELEMENTARY C713623 (90)
GLOBAL LEARNING ACADEMYC602532 (70)
WARRINGTON ELEMENTARY D358276 (82)
HOLM ELEMENTARYD440410 (30)
Total Elementary 18,74017,591-1,149
     
BROWN BARGE MIDDLE A563521 (42)
RANSOM MIDDLE B1,274 1,310 36
ERNEST WARD MIDDLE B489483 (6)
BELLVIEW MIDDLE C9921,008 16
FERRY PASS MIDDLE C1,203 1,123 (80)
JIM C. BAILEY MIDDLE C1,3891,304 (85)
BEULAH MIDDLE C830 1,049 219
WARRINGTON MIDDLE D819833 14
J. H. WORKMAN MIDDLE D978928 (50)
Total Middle 8,537 8,560 22
     
WEST FLORIDA HIGH /TECHA1,338 1,285 (53)
J. M. TATE SENIOR HIGH B2,1752,188 13
ESCAMBIA HIGH C1,7461,825 79
PENSACOLA HIGHC1,4241,366 (58)
PINE FOREST HIGHC1,630 1,727 97
WASHINGTON SENIOR HIGH C1,7781,836 58
NORTHVIEW HIGH C499 513 14
Total High 10,59010,740150
     
Total Traditional 37,86736,891-977
     
Non-Traditional    
CAMELOT ACADEMY  192                   –                            –  
TAP PK BABIES 18                   –                            –  
MCMILLIAN LEARNING CENTER 121                   –                            –  
JUDY ANDREWS CENTER 141                   –                            –  
ESC. JUVENILE DETENTION 56                   –                            –  
ESCAMBIA WESTGATE CENTER 197                   –                            –  
LAKEVIEW SPECIAL EDUCATION 40                   –                            –  
HOSPITAL & HOMEBOUND 31                   –                            –  
ESCAMBIA BOYS’ BASE 23                   –                            –  
COUNTY ADMINISTRATIVE ANNEX 92                   –                            –  
PACE PROGRAM 58                   –                            –  
LAKEVIEW DROPOUT PREVENTION **                   –                            –  
ESCAMBIA SCH. DIST. JAIL PROG. 16                   –                            –  
BEULAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCEC288                   –                            –  
JACKIE HARRIS PREPARATORY ACAD 232                   –                            –  
BYRNEVILLE ELEMENTARY B195                   –                            –  
PENSACOLA BEACH ELEMENTARY A147                   –                            –  
CAPSTONE ACADEMY 32                   –                            –  
ESCAMBIA VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION  80                   –                            –  
ESCAMBIA VIRTUAL ACADEMY FRANCHISEA148                   –                            –  
Total Non-Traditional 2,107

Source: The 2018-19 enrollment figures are from the Florida Department of Education. The 2019-20 figures are the eight-day count supplied by the Escambia County School District.

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