State of the District 2012 Part 1

Posted on September 2nd, 2012 by

State of the District 2012 Part 1

Each year the Superintendent and her staff, at the request of the School Board,  present the State of the District reports during workshops.  There is a vast amount of information and data which requires these presentations to take place over two separate workshop meetings.

I encourage you,  if you’re interested, to watch some of the video footage of this meeting and see these details.  Due to the new video service that the board is providing you can watch this meeting by following this link: http://new.livestream.com/citrusschools/events/1135043

During  the presentation we were again informed how Citrus is now ranked 12th out of 68 districts. (67 counties and Florida Virtual School make up the 68 districts.) Of the 12 top districts Citrus has the largest percentage of Title 1  students (a.k.a. Free and Reduced Lunch Students) with the highest  ratio of students, based on student population.  Citrus also  boasts 93% of its school were graded by the state as “A” schools.  Citrus again was award by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) the prestigious designation of an “Academically High Performing District”.  Citrus was one of only five districts that were awarded “High Performing” for 6 years in a row. Achieving this designation this past year was even more rigorous due to Florida DOE’s revision in increased testing standards. Being designated “High Performing” means that Citrus earned the right to waive provisions in Florida  Education Laws.  For example,  Citrus opts out of going back to school later  in the calendar school year so that our students have additional school time before taking high stakes test like the Florida’s Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).  It should also be noted that Citrus’s ranking of 12th in the state is up from 20th in 2006.

Additionally,  in 2012,   Citrus earned much more to brag about.  Citrus graduated the first of International Baccalaureate (IB)  Students. In the program 52% of those graduated earned the highly respected IB Diploma designation.  This percentage of 52% is considered exceptional for a first year as that percentage is what is considered exceptional for a well-established IB program.  Further, Citrus is top ranked with SAT, ACT and AP results.

I want to thank our dedicated staff and amazing and hardworking students for these successes.  I will tell you that being in education these days can be like serving during a terrible military conflict.  Public education in our country and state is under attack everyday and those in education are demonized every day for serving our students and our future and I find that unacceptable.  No matter what is thrown at these educators they put their heart, soul and life, at often great personal sacrifice for the betterment of our students and future.

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Cypress Creek SAEC Meeting

Posted on August 31st, 2012 by

Cypress Creek SAEC Meeting

At the detention facility right now 7 college students!

Thursday I attended one of my newest School Advisory Enhancement Council (SAEC) school assignments which is held at the Cypress Creek Academy. Cypress Creek Academy (CCA) is a maximum-risk, residential male juvenile detention facility in Lecanto. The anticipated length of stay is 18 to 36 months.  Yes, that is correct, we have a SAEC at the “teen jail”.  Not many SAEC meetings begin with entering through a razor wire- topped security fence gate and passing through a metal detector, only to then be escorted in by staff through two more sets of security gates before you reach the chapel where the meetings are held.

Cypress Creek detention facility is managed by G4S Youth Services and is overseen by both the Florida Department of Corrections for the detention and Citrus County School Board for the educational aspects.

During the SAEC meeting some very positive success stories of the students were shared.  Currently the CCA has 7 students that are taking college courses.  This past month 5 out of 8 students that took the General Education Diploma (G.E.D.) passed the test. What is important to understand is that a person who earns his high school diploma or G.E.D. is 70% less likely to re-offend;  of those that do not, 70% will re-enter prison for reoffenses.  All of those serving at CCA are required by law, regardless of their age, to be enrolled in school.  Since the students at CCA have been sentenced to 18 to 36 months, it is conceivable that the majority of students will be at the facility during their entire high school career.  If the students do not work diligently on their schooling they are demonstrating that they are not being successful in their sentence and, if that occurs, the maximum time may be required. This consequence helps to keep students motivated.

One of the programs that was explained during the meeting was CCA’s own “Boys to Men” (later renamed “Team of One”) Peer Mentoring Program. This program selects positive peer leaders from the student body to be trained in peer mentoring to help and support other students at CCA. As the coordinator of the program shared,  if he was to tell the students to, “tuck in your shirt, watch your language, or be respectful”, they would listen but it doesn’t have as strong an effect as it does if one of the other peer- mentoring students tells their peers the same thing. During the first mentor graduation they had 8 students graduate from the training program to become mentors.  Through donations those graduates received a new pair of dress pants, a white collared shirt and neck tie to wear to the graduation, and a dinner from Applebee’s.  For many of these young men this might be the nicest outfit they have ever owned and it represents a new beginning for many of them.

In attendance at the SAEC meeting were three students from the peer mentoring program.  These young men were impressive. Two of the students were inaugural graduates of the “Boys to Men” Mentoring Program and one of the students had just been chosen to begin mentoring training to become a mentor.  If someone introduced you to these three boys outside of this location and asked you which educational program you thought they attended, you would likely think they were from our gifted program or from one of our other high academically- achieving programs. These young men were smart, determined, articulate and well-groomed.  I told these boys before I left that I was most impressed by them and I encouraged them to keep up the positive work they were doing.

The next “Boys to Men” graduation is quickly approaching. They are in need of donations to outfit this next graduating class for their upcoming graduation. If you are interested in donating, please contact the Program Accounting Manager at (352) 527-3091 x104 or by email at Sharon.facto@us.securicor.com

 

 

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ALERT: Judge Tosses FL DOE Rule on Teacher Evaluations

Posted on August 23rd, 2012 by

ALERT: Judge Tosses FL DOE Rule on Teacher Evaluations

The Florida Education Association announced and WCTV in Tallahassee reported this morning that the administrative law judge, Judge John Van Landingham has invalidated, the 2011 Senate Bill 736 also known as the “Student Success Act”, performance evaluation rule that the Florida Department of Education had required Florida school districts to develop and follow. (Click here to read FEA’s full announcement and click here to read WCTV News Report.)

As I understand it at this time this basically means that the performance measure for educators known as the “Value Added Model” (VAM) which represents 50% of the educators evaluation will need to be redeveloped.  Based on SB-736 the additional 50% of a teacher evaluation is based on student’s scores and as I understand it has not changed as it was not part of this lawsuit.

I am pleased with the court’s decision and hopefully this decision will result in more local control and flexibility in developing the teacher evaluation system.

I am not a supporter of “teacher’s merit pay” where teachers evaluations and pay raises are directly tied to student scores and performance.  Therefore it may seem strange that I am somewhat thankful for the teacher’s merit pay section involving  the VAM in SB-736 that was just invalidated by the court.  The reason is that in the initial architecture of the Bill was to have 100% of a teachers evaluation based on students’ scores .  If the VAM was not part of the Bill then we might never have this opportunity to impact locally deciding on 50% performance measure section.  As a result the FEA was able to suit based on the VAM being part of the Bill.

I am encourage that while we will have to begin developing a new evaluation system that in the end this will be positive. I still have concerns but it is a new place to start.

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EdCamp Citrus 2012

Posted on August 21st, 2012 by

EdCamp Citrus 2012

“The of the best learning events for Educators in all of Florida!”

Only two months away until EdCamp Citrus 2012.  ECC will take place this year on October 20, 2012 at Citrus High School in Inverness.  This will be ECC’s third annual event and is one fo the largest in the country.

EdCamp again will offer teachers an outstanding opportunity to learn how to incorporate some of the best teaching strategies in their classrooms.  While the use of technology to deliver curriculum is a big part of EdCamp it is not exclusively a  technology conference.

What is EdCamp?

EdCamp Citrus 2012 is an unconference, inspired by similar events being organized around the country. The goal of edcamp Citrus is to bring educators together to discuss technology that works. It’s a conference for educators, by educators, and the presenters are the people that show up to the event. If you want to present, you just write your name on the board and you present for an hour. If people get something out of it, that’s great. If not, participants are encouraged to vote with their feet. So the event is as good as the people that show up to participate.

While there will be organizers for this event, we only provide the basic framework. Teachers and educators like you show up and decide what is going to be discussed. No longer are you stuck with sessions that have been determined months ahead of time in which you have no input. If you do not see something that is helpful, create your own session and share what you know best.

Please contact the organizers of EdCamp Citrus at any time with questions or ideas:
Email: edcampcitrus@gmail.com
Twitter: @edcampCitrus

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FREE FOR EDCAMP 2012

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Four Citrus Schools Get Free Solar Power Generating Systems

Posted on August 21st, 2012 by

Four Citrus Schools Get Free Solar Power Generating Systems

Some Bay area schools that also serve as emergency shelters are getting free solar installations and battery backup systems.

The new systems are from a $200,000 grant from Progress Energy Florida (PEF) and is part of a program called SunSense® that has a goal of increasing renewable energy education. The SunSense® schools program helps schools in the PEF service territory to manage energy costs while promoting energy education. The program provides new solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to schools designated as Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA) shelters, at no cost to our schools.  The program supports renewable energy education, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship by providing teachers and students with interactive learning experiences and training materials.

Our schools were chosen based on their commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energy education, number of students, the shelter’s capacity and the school’s location.

Citrus High and Inverness Primary School are two of the four schools that will receive the new solar technology.

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Fire Academy Earns Accreditation

Posted on August 19th, 2012 by

FROM LEFT: On location in Lecanto, are Curt Clendenney, Citrus Sheriff Fire Rescue’s training coordinator; Denise Willis, the Withlacoochee Technical Institute’s director; and Capt. Phil Royal, director of the Citrus County Public Safety Training Center proudly display the certificate of accreditation awarded by the Council on Occupational Education to the Fire Academy and Citrus County Fire Training Center.

Fire Academy Earns Accreditation

The Citrus County Public Safety Training Center announced that the Fire Training Center and Fire Academy in Lecanto is now accredited by the Council on Occupational Education.  The accreditation was made possible through our ongoing partnership with Withlacoochee Technical Institute and the Citrus County School Board.

The Citrus County Public Safety Training Center’s Fire Academy and Fire Training Center joines the Inverness-based Withlacoochee Technical Institute (WTI), plus the Criminal Justice and Corrections academies, as accredited teaching facilities.

In keeping with the longstanding partnership between the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and School District, WTI director Denise Willis worked closely with the public safety training center’s director, Capt. Phil Royal, and Citrus Sheriff Fire Rescue’s training coordinator Curt Clendenney to provide applicable lesson plans, policies and procedures for review by the visiting assessment team.

“Accreditation clearly demonstrates that the Sheriff’s Office and Citrus County School District are aiming for the highest standards in our policies and operating procedures,” said Capt. Royal. “It makes us accountable to an accrediting authority and should increase the public’s confidence in the way we do business,” he added.

Recognized since 1995 as a national institutional accrediting agency, COE had its start in 1971 as the Commission on Occupational Education Institutions of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Back then, it was a regional accrediting association that provided accreditation services to postsecondary occupational education institutions in an 11-state region.

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