Has Malcolm Thomas been caught in a lie?

In February, when the controversy over the possible closure of the PATS Center heated up, School Board member Jeff Bergosh, in a board workshop, asked Superintendent Malcolm Thomas why the board had not been kept informed of possible changes in the program for gifted students.

Thomas said, “This is the first opportunity I’ve had Mr. Bergosh. Christmas was a month ago.”

When pressed further by Bergosh, the superintendent said, “Most of the real specific conversations have occurred in the last four to five weeks. We’ve known what’s been happening with the population, but in the last four to five weeks, we’ve gotten very serious about, ‘What are we going to do to enhance what we do on the campuses, what’s that look like? How do we manage that?’”

Pensacola Today requested the emails between Superintendent Malcolm Thomas, district staff, and the School Board referencing PATS and gifted services, as well as emails between the director of Exceptional Student Education, Teri Szafran, and Program Specialist for Gifted, Pam Cebula from July 2014 through February 2015. Those nearly 270 pages tell a different story.

According to the emails, administrators have been discussing the changes for months and began implementing them throughout the district last fall.

Read Emails reveal changes in PATS, gifted services planned for months by Mollye Barrows.

Mollye Barrows will be on Pensacola Speaks this afternoon to give more details of her investigation.

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