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NAACP leaders question Pinellas school turnaround plan

 
Maria L. Scruggs, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, listens to parents during a forum on Pinellas County turnaround schools March 19, 2016. On Tuesday, she called on the Pinellas school district and community members to address problem schools with more urgency. [EVE EDELHEIT   |   Times]
Maria L. Scruggs, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP, listens to parents during a forum on Pinellas County turnaround schools March 19, 2016. On Tuesday, she called on the Pinellas school district and community members to address problem schools with more urgency. [EVE EDELHEIT | Times]
Published April 13, 2016

LARGO — Some leaders in St. Petersburg's black community pressed Pinellas County School Board members Tuesday to publicly acknowledge their failure to keep promises made in a 50-year-old federal desegregation case and called for superintendent Mike Grego to step down if five failing schools don't make dramatic improvements.

In a report released Tuesday, leaders of the NAACP's St. Petersburg branch said that the county's black students haven't received an equal education, and that school leaders failed to ensure that students were learning at Campbell Park, Fairmount Park, Lakewood, Maximo and Melrose elementary schools.

They also said that parents felt "rebuffed" by school leaders.

"The board has to recognize that we can't afford to go through years of hoping that we'll make some success," said Maria Scruggs, president of the St. Petersburg branch.

Scruggs said that Grego, who was hired in 2012, must be held responsible if the schools don't improve after the 2016-17 school year. She said it would be reasonable for him to step down if the latest proposals failed. Those include paying teachers up to $25,000 more in the failing schools, extending the school day and hiring a minority achievement officer for the district.

FAILURE FACTORIES: How five once-average schools were turned into the worst in Florida

"I think the responsible thing to do as the leader is to say, 'I'm not the one to make this happen,'" she said.

Grego said Tuesday that he hadn't reviewed the NAACP report yet, but he plans to meet with Scruggs to discuss the group's concerns. School Board attorney David Koperski instructed board members not to comment.

The NAACP started an inquiry in September after the Tampa Bay Times started publishing its five-part investigation, "Failure Factories," which traced the rapid decline of the five elementary schools after the School Board abandoned integration in 2007, then failed to deliver promised money and resources.

The series also found that black students in Pinellas are suspended out of school at four times the rate of other children — one of the largest disparities in Florida — and that black students are largely shut out of the district's best public schools.

In the wake of the series, plaintiffs in separate lawsuits, one in federal court and one in state court, have sought to renew court action against the district for shortchanging black students. The state Department of Education has taken the lead on a review of how the school district spent federal money for impoverished students. And last week, the U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into whether the district systematically discriminates against black children.

At Tuesday's board meeting, some community members said that they were frustrated by what seems to be a lack of urgency about the problems. Ashley Green, who grew up in Pinellas and is a member of the Miami-based Dream Defenders, said that there "doesn't seem to be enough fire" on the School Board about a crisis in the community.

"All we want is to actually feel like you care about what we have to say," she said.

Jayson James, another member of the group, said students shouldn't be blamed for the system's failure.

But Antonio Burt, the district's new transformation leader, urged people on Tuesday to trust the process that's started in the school district. He said the true measure will be after the 2016-17 school year when the latest proposals are implemented.

"Change is on the way," he said.

Three of the five elementary schools already have been through three years of a state-prescribed turnaround process without making enough progress to escape further state intervention, deputy superintendent Bill Corbett told board members at a work session after the meeting.

If nothing changes at Fairmount Park, Maximo and Melrose, district officials could be forced to take more drastic action, such as closing the schools or converting them to charters. Azalea Middle also could face additional state sanctions.

Corbett said district officials first will try to convince the state Department of Education to let the district continue their reform efforts for another year.

"We have to go up and make the argument that those are absolutely covered," he said of the schools.

District officials also are looking at changes to the schools' leadership. Corbett said evaluation of principals won't start until after this year's standardized tests have concluded and it's not certain that any change will be made.

Board members didn't object to any of the recommendations Tuesday. Terry Krassner, a former principal, asked how administrators planned to build trust in the schools in the midst of rapid change. Rene Flowers said that she would like to see better training for teachers when they're still in college to prepare them for the rigors of urban education.

"I think that's why we lose teachers," she said.

Linda Lerner asked about whether the number of classroom aides would be reduced in the five schools. Burt said the number will stay the same, but principals now will have the flexibility to decide if they're needed in every classroom.

The teachers union signed off on the new teacher pay proposal Monday. Mike Gandolfo, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said that teachers will be paid their hourly rates for an extended work day and an extra week of training. They will also have priority to work overtime on Saturdays and have priority to teach in the district's summer school program, Summer Bridge.

Gandolfo also said that he will hold monthly meetings in the five schools to check in with teachers.

Grego said that the latest proposals aren't a "knee-jerk reaction" and follow a pattern during his tenure of continuously improving district processes. He said he believes the latest actions are "aggressive" and part of an effort to build "top-notch" schools districtwide.

Scruggs said she hopes the School Board takes the NAACP report as another call to action. She said both the district and the community must accept blame for not moving faster when the schools and students were struggling.

"There just wasn't a sense of urgency. There wasn't a sense of urgency in the community too. We failed," she said

Staff Writer Colleen Wright contributed to this report. Contact Cara Fitzpatrick at cfitzpatrick@tampabay.com. Follow @Fitz_ly

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