Escambia County’s Student Attendance Zone Committee (SAZAC) has been moved to Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the Superintendent’s Conference Room at the Vernon McDaniel Vernon Building, 75 North Pace Boulevard. The agenda includes Project Worksheet Orientation and Lincoln Park Elementary Closure Attendance Zone 1st Iteration Review. See agenda.
The Draft Minutes from the Oct. 6 SAZAC meeting are available.
Minutes
The meeting opened its work Oct. 6 with a reminder that it does not decide which Escambia County schools close. The committee’s task is to draw new attendance zones after the School Board’s decision to close two elementary schools, including Lincoln Park and Warrington Elementary.
Mr. Shawn Dennis, the assistant superintendent who led the process review, said the committee’s work product is a set of recommendations to the superintendent. He said the process is expected to take about two months because only two schools are involved and a previous SAZAC already did much of the work on one of them. He added that the committee can run past December if needed.
County Commissioner Lumon May asked the committee to send the Lincoln Park closure back to the superintendent, saying the county has done all it could to support the school. Dennis told May to take that request to the decision makers. Member Rob Doss noted that SAZAC was never charged with closing schools and that the board has discussed the closures since July. Resident Mr. Bennett asked why Lincoln Park was chosen and where its students will go, worrying that children could be bused across the county.
Members received a 12-point assessment worksheet covering core capacity, racial makeup, growth and decline, and long-range building costs. Dennis asked whether it was realistic to support a 112-year-old building. Districtwide figures presented included 8,020 students on Family Empowerment Scholarships, 2,395 in home education and 11,508 exercising school choice within public schools. The district plans around 95 percent capacity to give schools flexibility.
Member Ms. Dunagan asked whether anything restricts moving students from a higher-graded school to a lower-graded one, citing Lincoln Park students possibly moving to C-rated schools. Dennis said it has never happened before but must be examined now. Staff also plan to build predictive academic indexes to gauge the effects of the moves, which Dennis said has never been done.
Read SAZAC Meeting Minutes October 6.
Inweekly: Lincoln Park & Warrington Elementary on the Chopping Block
I covered the Oct. 6 meeting in Inweekly’s Oct. 15 issue.
Why it’s happening: Enrollment losses under the state’s voucher system are driving the closures. The district has lost more than 7,000 students over several years, including 799 this year, which at roughly $9,000 per student means more than $7 million in lost revenue. About 8,000 county students use state scholarships, and 3,000 are homeschooled with vouchers. Another 3,000 attend district schools outside their zones.
History: SAZAC dates to 2006, and this is its sixth committee. It recommends zone changes but does not decide closures, and its recommendations have a mixed record of being adopted. The 2010 Lincoln Park zone proposal is the starting point for this year’s work.
Commissioner May’s objection: Commissioner Lumon May, who is not a committee member, was allowed to speak. He urged the committee to ask the superintendent and School Board to reconsider closing Lincoln Park, saying “you can’t close your way out” of school choice and that closing it would “kill that neighborhood.” He noted the school has risen from an F to a B.
Where students would go: Lincoln Park ranked #17 of 34 elementary schools and showed strong learning gains, but has only 202 students. Four nearby schools could take them: Ensley (C), Brentwood (C), Longleaf (B) and Pine Meadow (A). Ensley ranks last among the 34. Member Ann Dungan asked whether any rule bars moving students to a lower-rated school. Dennis said receiving-school performance has not been a factor in past moves. District data scientist Jim Bobbitt will try to predict the academic effects, though the data is dated.
Union view: Carol Cleaver, SAZAC secretary and president of the Escambia Education Association, said closures “feel inevitable” given district finances, though she doesn’t believe they’re final. She blames state policy and the legislature for undermining neighborhood schools. Union contract rules give affected teachers first pick of open positions.
Read more.