Note: School Superintendent Tim Smith will be my guest on WCOA’s “Real News with Rick Outzen” at 7:35 a.m. tomorrow.
By Tom St. Myer
Fearful of a threat by the Department of Education to pull discretionary funding, the Escambia County School Board narrowly passed an amended performance-based charter agreement for Charter Schools USA to take over operations of Warrington Middle School.
The board approved the agreement 3-2, with Chair Paul Fetsko and David Williams voting against the measure Monday afternoon during an emergency meeting. The board then approved a lease agreement with Charter Schools USA for the Warrington Middle School facility.
Superintendent Tim Smith said the approved agreements will be sent to DOE and Charter USA on Monday. Whether Charter USA accepts those terms remains to be seen, but by passing the agreement, the school board made an effort to meet the May 1 deadline for submitting a contract as directed by the DOE.
“When you get into that level of pulling funding, that’s a serious statement,” Smith said. “Another piece in there is they would have viewed us as not following the law because, in essence, the government told us to do something, and they would view it as we’re not doing it.”
Fetsko referred to the threats by the DOE as “draconian-type measures.” Yet, he still voted down the agreement that the Escambia County Public Schools staff spent countless hours pressed against a deadline to complete.
“I have to look in the mirror every morning,” Fetsko said. “I can’t tell you the number of teachers, administrators, people in the school who have begged me. I have had a larger number than I ever expected, and every one of them said, ‘no vote, no vote, no vote.’”
Board members acknowledge the possibility that Charter USA will decline the amended agreement. Blindsided in mid-April by proposals never previously mentioned by Charter USA, Escambia County Public Schools refused to buckle on a few of the demands.
Charter USA requested to operate without paying any fees to facilitate Warrington Middle. The school district responded with a request that Charter USA pay 2% the first two years, 3% in its third year, and 4% the fourth year and beyond. School officials pointed out that the magnet school Beulah Academy of Science pays 4%.
“I think Charter Schools USA will not likely agree to these things,” school district general counsel Ellen Odom warned the board. “They are looking for resources to get the school up and running.”
Another sticking point is the future zoning of students. Charter USA proposed to only accept zoned middle school students through its first three years and expand to a K-12 magnet school. The school district countered Monday with an agreement that states 200 seats per grade level will be promised to middle school students who live in the attendance zone. The agreement further states, “Beyond that number, historically zoned students will have priority to enroll consistent with the school’s enrollment requirements.”
School board members referenced a Plan B throughout the emergency meeting. That plan entails DOE shutting down Warrington Middle for a year and the school district then taking control back and opening a K-8 or 6-8 magnet school. The school district already put measures in place in case of closure. Those measures include determining where to rezone the current Warrington Middle School students and planning bus routes from Warrington to Bailey and Workman middle schools.
Any future decisions of that magnitude fall on the shoulders of the DOE, not the school district. The agreement states DOE will remain involved with Warrington through its first seven years as a charter.
“Our job was to get an agreement,” Smith said. “Now, if Charter Schools USA doesn’t agree, that’s going to be for the DOE to wrestle with on that. They may come back to us and say this is the point where the two of you get on the phone and work it out.”
The Florida State Board of Education and DOE ordered that Warrington either close or transition to a charter school by the 2023-24 school year. The order came after Warrington earned yet another D this past school. The middle school last earned a C in the 2010-11 school year.
The length of the contract between the school district and Charter USA is for seven years. If Warrington earns a C in its first four years, the contract automatically renews for 15 years. DOE informed the school district that Charter USA would be removed from power if Warrington failed to raise its grade to a C by the end of the third year, so the fourth year is inconsequential.
Fetsko said the state board and DOE should look in the mirror when pointing fingers to blame for issues at Warrington. He pointed out that the agencies repeatedly made sweeping changes to administration and teachers that prevented any stability for the students at the school.
“People don’t understand we haven’t had control of that building and those students and what’s going on in there for 10 years,” Fetsko said. “I think we could do a better job than what’s been done. I use the analogy that I have a car, DOE told me to get in the backseat, and we’re going to drive you. They hit a tree, and it’s my fault. How does that happen?”