Will State DOE rescue Warrington Middle

Three years into his proclaimed turnaround of Warrington Middle School, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas and his school board must admit that the millions that they have spent on the school have failed to make any improvement.  The middle school has slipped further behind  this past year, scoring significantly below all the other middle schools in the district when you look at the schools’ rare scores without any acceleration points.

What has kept Warrington Middle from being given a “F” is the state’s decision to not let any school drop more than one letter grade regardless of its score.

In 2009, Thomas fired the faculty took a successful principal out of her elementary school (Montclair) and hired for Warrington what Thomas called the “Dream Team.” District pumped millions into the campus, building a new flight academy tied to the naval museum. He personally tutored students.  It not only hasn’t made a difference, but now Montclair is struggling.

Warrington Middle is in crisis mode and Thomas’ turnaround efforts aren’t working. It may be time for the Florida Department of Education to take over the school.