LARGO — Florida's system for testing students, grading schools and evaluating teachers is broken and state officials need to fix it, the Pinellas School Board says in a resolution approved Tuesday.
The action, approved unanimously, made Pinellas the third local district and one of many across Florida to formally call on lawmakers and education officials in Tallahassee to overhaul the system, even as the state prepares to roll out new tests this spring.
The document calls for at least a two-year delay on any consequences resulting from the new tests, including preventing students from graduating, moving to fourth grade, lowering a teacher's evaluation score or changing school grades. It contends the new tests have not been properly vetted and were not designed to allow comparisons to school systems in other states.
The resolution also calls on the federal government to take action by reducing testing mandates.
Superintendent Mike Grego said he planned to personally deliver the document to Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday in Tallahassee. He said he and a handful of other superintendents are meeting with the governor for about 90 minutes to have "a down-to-earth conversation about everything that is in this resolution."
The outcry against over-testing began late in the summer and continued through the end of the year in Florida. Some legislative leaders have said they are open to making changes. But with committee hearings just under way in preparation for the legislative session, the solutions are unclear.
In other action Tuesday, the School Board approved:
• Spending $1 million in grant money for a program to better prepare elementary school teachers graduating from St. Petersburg College.
• The expansion of a program to improve training for teachers and administrators at five low-performing schools in St. Petersburg.
• Spending nearly $7.5 million to build the new East Lake Middle School Academy of Engineering.
• An additional $6.2 million for renovations and a new classroom building at Palm Harbor University High, bringing the cost of that project to $13 million.