In May 2009, Navy Point Elementary led the district in gains for fourth-grade writing and third-grade math and reading. It was an ‘A’ school.
Superintendent Malcolm Thomas told the daily newspaper, “They are hitting it on all grade levels. They’re exactly where they need to be. I guarantee you they are not an F school.”
Nine years later, Navy Point is a ‘D’ school and listed among the 300 Lowest Performing Elementary Schools in Florida.
Thomas, who had taken over the school district in November 2008, was confident grades would improve. He said, “We want to show steady, sustainable gains. We don’t want to be a flash in the pan.”
Steady, sustainable gains have not happened.
Nine elementary schools that earned ‘A’s in 2009 now are either ‘D’ or ‘C’ schools. Warrington and Brentwood also made the 300 Lowest Performing list.
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
NAVY POINT | A | C | B | C | D | F | C | C | D | D |
WARRINGTON | A | C | C | D | D | F | C | F | F | D |
BRENTWOOD | A | B | B | B | C | D | C | C | C | D |
BELLVIEW | A | C | A | B | C | B | C | C | C | C |
BEULAH | A | B | A | B | C | C | A | C | C | C |
BYRNEVILLE | A | C | A | A | B | A | B | C | B | C |
PLEASANT GROVE | A | A | C | C | A | B | C | C | C | C |
Three elementary schools have dropped from ‘B’s to ‘D’s. Sherwood is on the 300 Lowest Performing list.
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
SHERWOOD | B | C | B | C | C | D | D | D | C | D |
L. D. MCARTHUR | B | C | A | B | C | B | C | C | C | C |
FERRY PASS | B | C | C | C | B | C | B | C | C | C |
Five elementary schools have dropped from ‘C’s to ‘D’s. West Pensacola, Holm, Longleaf and Ensley are on the 300 Lowest Performing list.
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
WEST PENSACOLA | C | D | C | D | F | F | C | C | C | D |
REINHARDT HOLM | C | C | C | D | C | D | D | D | D | D |
LONGLEAF | C | C | B | C | A | B | C | D | C | D |
ENSLEY | C | C | B | C | C | D | D | D | D | D |
BELLVIEW | C | C | C | D | F | C | D | D | C | D |
Thomas will blame everyone and everything else but his failure of leadership. These schools performed better under Superintendent Jim Paul. Yes, the grading system changed in 2015, but Thomas had sufficient time to make adjustments in his schools and classrooms. He doesn’t have the skill set or the leadership team in place that can deal successfully with the challenges of Escambia County.
When he campaigned in 2008, Thomas said he was running to straighten out a struggling school district with a shrinking budget and failing schools. Student Achievement was one of his top priorities. He would not only cater to the 60 percent of students who will attend college after graduation, but also the 40 percent who won’t.
He was the Escambia County School District director of evaluation services. He supervised school accountability and state/district assessments for Jim Paul. He understood the school grading system better than anyone in the district.
On the campaign trail, Thomas criticized the district administration for trying to turn performance around by putting pressure on the teachers first. He said,  “Let’s put the pressure at the top.”
It’s time we do what Thomas preached a decade ago. Let’s put the pressure at the top.
Achieve Escambia, are you listening?
It’s a job search thing, just like almost any company has to hire CEO’s or other high level managers. The position is advertised, and the person who’s credentials, etc. are deemed best is offered the job. For a system our size, we’d probably hire former assistant superintendents of similar sized or large systems. If they don’t do the job, they can be easily fired, instead of having to wait until the next election cycle for that office.
Serious question – If the superintendent is to be appointed, rather than elected, what criteria will determine the selection of that individual?
Perdidochas, your right on the money. Our systems are terribly broken. Not sure if appointments are the answer either. It depends on who is doing the appointing. Maybe let the teachers take a vote. But something needs to be done because our schools are failing. The buck stops with Malcolm. He may have poured his heart and soul into our schools and we have terrible teachers or we just have a majority of terrible students and parents in this area. Who knows. And I have a huge problem with these elected officials “asking” their staff, workers, admin, deputies, to support their campaigns. It should be illegal.
Rick,
Unfortunately, the electorate keeps reelecting Thomas and his performance and no one ever has an honest discussion about the disparity of resources at these “underperforming” schools