Saturday, November 27, 2010
Palm Harbor University High School Baccalaureate students protest outside of Countryside High School in October. They were protesting a proposal to move the program to Countryside High School.
School superintendent Julie Janssen's multifaceted master plan would expand academic programs. Will it take the school district to the next level? Here is a school-by-school look at her proposal.
COUNTRYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Original proposal: Phase in an IB program while phasing out the one at Palm Harbor University High.
Status: Palm Harbor University High parents oppose phasing out its IB program. School officials now propose creating an integrated technology program at Countryside to be called the Institute of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It would develop cutting-edge technology offerings, including cyber security, video gaming and animation, aerospace and television production.
DIXIE HOLLINS HIGH SCHOOL Proposal: Establish a Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) program.
Status: Board appears to support it.
GULFPORT ELEMENTARY and LAKEVIEW FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTARY
Proposal: Merge the schools into one, bigger fundamental school. Specifically, Lakeview students would be transplanted into Gulfport, which would become a fundamental school at the same time its school-within-a-school Montessori program would be permanently transferred to Lakeview.
Status: Lakeview parents oppose the idea. Some worry about moving students from Lakeview, an A school, to Gulfport, a D school. Two newly elected School Board members are also opposed, with one worried about nearby schools having to absorb struggling students from Gulfport. It's unclear how Gulfport parents feel about the idea. Few of them have spoken up at public meetings.
KINGS HIGHWAY ELEMENTARY
Proposal: Reopen the shuttered school as a fundamental to reduce long waiting lists at Curtis Fundamental Elementary and Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary.
Status: Little discussion so far. At an October workshop, one board member questioned whether reopening a school that was closed for financial reasons was a sound move.
OSCEOLA HIGH SCHOOL
Proposal: Beginning in 2011-12, no busing for incoming ninth-graders at Osceola Fundamental High (and in the school-within-a-school fundamental programs at Boca Ciega and Dunedin), except for students living in a zone yet to be established around the school. Current students at Osceola will continue to receive arterial transportation until they graduate.
Status: Little or no discussion so far.
SANDERLIN ELEMENTARY Proposal: Expand the school's elementary years IB program into a K-8 IB program.
Status: Little or no discussion so far.
TARPON SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL
Proposal: Establish a Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) program, a college preparatory curriculum.
Status: Board appears to support it.