The Laker/Lutz News

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Kevin Shibley

State testing should not be punitive, board members say

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Florida education officials have given school districts additional time to administer the Florida Standards Assessments, known as FSA for short.

But, the Pasco County School Board wants to avoid penalizing its teachers, students or schools based on results from the assessments.

Board member Alison Crumbley raised the issue during the board’s meeting on Feb. 16.

“In my opinion, the FSA testing is possibly going to be more valuable than ever this year because we need to find out our strengths and our weaknesses, and everything during the COVID year, and find where we need extra work or what have you.

“But, for school grade assessment and high stakes assessment, personally, I think they should be put on hold,” Crumbley said.

“Teachers I don’t feel should be held responsible when their MSOL (MySchool Online) students aren’t participating well, and they’re struggling, for example, and our school grades, I don’t see how they can be considered accurate, during these COVID-related times,” Crumbley said.

She asked the board to put those requests in the district’s legislative platform, and for the board to pass a resolution on the issue.

Other board members agreed.

School board member Megan Harding said, “I just know from hearing from our teachers. Mrs. Crumbley, especially the MySchool Online teachers, they still have kiddos that are not showing up. And they’re being tested and that’s part of their evaluation.”

Crumbley responded: “It’s really not fair to them, in my opinion.”

School board member Colleen Beaudoin concurred: “I agree with you, too. I support us trying to do something.”

School board member Cynthia Armstrong told her colleagues: “Just so you know, that is on the FSBA (Florida School Boards Association) platform — that although testing is important, that we really curb the punitive damages that the test results could have on students, and on teachers and school grades and so on.”

She agreed with her peers that they could add the issue to the Pasco School Board’s legislative platform.

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said the Florida Association of District School Superintendents is finalizing its platform. “I believe there is something about removing the impacts of testing for this year.”

Pasco School Board members are expected to vote on a resolution on this issue during the March 2 morning meeting. Following that meeting, the board plans to hold a workshop on its legislative platform.

On another issue, board member Beaudoin raised the issue of seeking out revenue sources to find a way to improve salaries at all levels in the district.

“Our students deserve to have the best teachers and administrators. It’s becoming more difficult for us to compete with our neighboring districts.

“And, I’m committed to finding a way to increase pay for teachers and administrators.

“I think we have to explore other revenue sources to be competitive with our salaries at all levels. So, I hope my colleagues and staff will be open to having that discussion,” Beaudoin said.

Kevin Shibley, the district’s executive director for administration, informed board members about rising costs relating to COVID-19-related health care claims.

“We’ve been asking Blue Cross Blue Shield to track claims being run through our health plan that are specifically related to COVID.

“They started with five-figure numbers, in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. For the month of December, alone, we had over $1.2 million of COVID-related claims, among our employee population.

“So, we’re going to continue to monitor that, but that could mean that we are going to be in for a rough renewal for health care this coming year,” Shibley said.

Betsy Kuhn, the district’s assistant superintendent for support services, shared a couple of pieces of good news with the board.

She told them about $43,000 had been raised through a cooperative effort, with public and private entities, to help feed the hungry.

That money has been used to purchase $40 Publix gift cards that will be given to families that have been identified by district social workers as needing help.

The cards will be distributed before spring break, Kuhn said.

On another matter, Kuhn thanked Idlewild Baptist Church for donating $17,000 to pay off meal debt for Pasco students.

“This donation will eliminate meal debt for 4,371 students,” Kuhn said. “The pastor said that the church community wanted to let families in the area know that they have support, even in these uncertain times, and to be a source of hope during the pandemic.”

Published February 24, 2021

School remains in session, online

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Students aren’t returning to campus, but leaders in the Pasco County school district are encouraged by the progress students are making online.

The district went to online learning on March 31, after Gov. Ron DeSantis closed school campuses until at least April 15, due to concerns about the threat of the spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

DeSantis has since announced that school campuses would remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said that he supports keeping the campuses closed because he could not “in good conscience” reopen the campuses.

Still, the district remains engaged in online instruction, the superintendent said during the board’s April 21 meeting.

Vanessa Hilton, chief academic officer for the district, shared some statistics from the district’s foray into distance learning.

“We definitely have some trends in the data,” she told school board members, and those listening in on the meeting.

“Monday engagement is always higher for each week so far,” Hilton said.

But, she also noted: “We do have students engaged throughout the week. Even on Saturday and Sunday, we average 20,000 to 36,000 participation, which are actions of engagement.

“Overall, in Week 3, we had about 98% engagement of students,” she said.

School board member Alison Crumbley responded: “Wow — to those numbers you shared. Ninety-eight percent engagement is unbelievable to me.”

The school board member said that Pasco County’s efforts are vastly different than what’s happening around the country.

She said she recently listened to a call-in show, which involved people from around the country.

“Many kids have no devices. Some districts aren’t even doing anything,” Crumbley said.

Hilton also told board members that the district is in the process of issuing hot spots to some families to enable Internet access.

“Those will be prioritized initially for some of our homeless families and families that really are away where there would be infrastructure for Internet,” she said.

“Since Day 1, I wanted to let you know that we have had over 43 million page views and access of files, and just under 15 million modules of units of study.

“We had 7,278,753 assignments submitted; 4,438,379 engagements in discussions; and, 1,214,552 announcements — which are direct communications between teachers and leaders to the students and families, that we miss so much.”

Kevin Shibley, assistant superintendent for administration, provided an update regarding device distribution to students.

“We are just shy of 18,000 computers that we have issued to students, to aid them in distance learning. We are continuing to have schools enter devices that they have distributed to students, so I expect that number to continue to creep up in coming weeks,” Shibley said.

Hilton also told board members that the district is issuing hot spots to some families to enable Internet access.

Hilton also noted that some changes have been made.

“Through feedback of families and students — students themselves, very resourceful students themselves, and staff — we have made adjustments, particularly to our elementary workload, to minimize stress and ensure that learning continues,” Hilton added.

The district also has been creating weekly parent newsletters, teacher newsletters and periodic secondary student newsletters, she said.

Plus, she noted, “our teachers also have their own collaborative space on Facebook. It’s incredibly impressive, impressive evidence of their sharing and learning together across the district.”

Finally, she reported that on April 20, students submitted 111,150 assignments.

“We had almost 66,000 users working across the day, and at the peak time — which is about midday for us — almost 21,000 students were learning at the same time together,” Hilton said.

School board members heaped praise on the efforts of district staff, teachers and parents, grandparents and guardians.

Board chairwoman Colleen Beaudoin said she’s seen the collaboration taking place among teachers, and she recognized that the volume of student assignments being completed also means that a significant amount of grading is being done by teachers.

She also added: “I have seen our school-based teachers and leaders, and they are extremely creative in the ways they are connecting with the students and each other.

“Our principals and our teachers are really going all out. Their posts have been entertaining, inspiring, innovative and heartwarming.”

Marcy Hetzler-Nettles, assistant superintendent for middle schools, gave a shout-out to Rushe Middle School students who had been planning to put on the play, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

When the show was cancelled because of COVID-19, a student put together a video of cast members singing the song, “Happiness,” which he sent to drama teacher Jeff Roush.

Also, Tom Schimmer, author of “Grading from the Inside Out,” made a surprise pop-in visit during a Zoom book study group meeting of teachers, Hetzler-Nettles added.

Monica Isle, assistant superintendent for high schools, told the board about an act of generosity made by seniors from Sunlake High School. They made a donation to Keystone Community Church’s Second Serving program, after their trip to Grad Bash was canceled. They had raised the money to pay for buses to Grad Bash.

Isle also mentioned the band from Mitchell High School will be doing a virtual concert series.

David Scanga, assistant superintendent for elementary schools, told the board that elementary school principal Todd Cluff has been doing nightly readings for students from “Little House on the Prairie.”

Scanga added: “I thought that was an excellent book to choose, in terms of a family that’s rather isolated and dependent on themselves to entertain and survive.”

Scanga also observed that “teachers and administrators are finding fun ways to engage,” which he thinks offers a good way to build connections with families.

Board member Megan Harding also expressed appreciation for the dedication of the district’s teachers and to the help provided by parents and guardians.

She said she’s attended some teacher Zoom meetings with their students.

“I’ve been blown away,” Harding said. “Those students are engaged. They are excited to be there.

“They miss their teachers, their teachers miss them.”

Harding also praised the parents and guardians.

“I know this isn’t something that they signed up for. They’re trying to work from home and to try to help their child be academically successful, and they’re also trying to keep their household afloat while ensuring their children are doing their schoolwork. I want to thank them for their partnership. I want to  thank them for doing their best to balance it all,” she said.

Published April 29, 2020

School district adapts to distance learning

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While parents suddenly found themselves thrust into the role of being frontline teachers, educators in Pasco and Hillsborough counties also found themselves making a big shift when the state ordered school campuses to be closed.

The order is in effect until April 30, and as press time for The Laker/Lutz News it remained unclear whether that will be extended.

During a virtual Pasco County School Board meeting on April 7, district officials discussed how county schools made the switch to online learning.

Superintendent Kurt Browning told the audience viewing the meeting, “When this thing hit, I remember our first meeting in the superintendent’s conference room. We were all a little shell-shocked by the fact that school was going to be closed for an additional week after Spring Break.”

But, district staff stepped up, and by the time the shift was made, the district was well-poised to make the shift.

He credited Joanne Glenn and her eSchool team for the guidance and encouragement they provided to district teachers.

“Our brick-and-mortars classroom teachers, for a large part, most part, have never done virtual education before,” he said. But, once they received the training that the district’s Office of Leading and Learning and the eSchool staff put together, he said, “a lot of the angst disappeared.”

The district also distributed about 17,000 devices to families needing them, including roughly 9,000 for elementary school students and about 8,000 for secondary school students, said Assistant Superintendent Kevin Shibley. A small number of devices were still in the process of being provided for families.

Don Peace, president of the United School Employees of Pasco, complimented the district’s handling of the transition of shifting from direct to distance instruction.

“As we work in our second week of distance learning, I want to recognize our district superintendent and staff for having a Plan B in place,” Peace said.

“A special thanks goes out to Joanne Glenn and the wonderful group of eSchool employees who have willingly served as resources to those in need of help, during this transition period,” he said.

“I also want to thank you for how you are handling the thousands of ‘new teachers’ in our district, by that I mean, the parents, grandparents and guardians who have suddenly been thrust into the role of teacher. They are now the first people asked to help with questions or concerns when students struggle.

“I know in my grandson’s case, resources, tutorials and updates are going out constantly to provide information and reassurance in these situations.

“I would urge all of us to be caring and compassionate when dealing with student and parent concerns,” Peace said.

School board chairwoman Colleen Beaudoin expressed gratitude on behalf of the board for the district’s leadership and extra efforts made by teachers and staff.

“The last several weeks, everyone has been thrust into new ways of teaching and learning, and doing the work that supports that learning,” she said.

“On behalf of the board, we are very grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make sure our students will continue to have learning opportunities and to have food in their homes.

“Thank you to the district staff who worked through the entire Spring Break getting things put into place.

“Thank you to Mrs. Glenn and the eSchool staff who have been supporting the teachers across the district, 24/7, answering questions and troubleshooting.

“Thank you to our communications team for pushing out all of the information, in multiple formats.

“Thank you to the teachers who have had to make this difficult transition to distance learning in such a short time. I have seen you collaborating and problem-solving at all hours to help our students and families.

“Thank you to the students for doing your work, even when it can be difficult to log on and while you are experiencing stressful life circumstances.

“Thank you to the parents for extending grace. We appreciate your patience as we work through some bumps in the road.

“I am confident that this district and our community will get through this and our students will continue to make academic progress,” Beaudoin said.

Assistant Superintendent Betsy Kuhn also expressed appreciation to district staff for pulling together to ensure that meals could be delivered to students who depend on school meals as their only reliable source of food.

The district delivered food to 27 sites and 16 bus stops.

“This was our second week of doing the once-a-week on Tuesdays, where we give out 10 meals to each child who comes through the line,” Kuhn said.

“The unofficial number for today is that served over 121,000. That does not include our bus stops. Those are still being calculated.

“What that means is that we served over 12,000 children in our community. That is up 8,000 served last week. And, the first week we served, March 23, we served about 5,500 students per day.

“This would not be possible without the support and very hard work of FNS (Food and Nutrition Services) and transportation, after school enrichment programs and maintenance,” Kuhn said. Kuhn also gave kudos to human resources for helping to coordinate and schedule 200 volunteers that stepped up to help.

Browning said he’s incredibly proud of district employees.

“We could not be where we are today without everyone in this district pulling together and doing what’s right for our kids,” the superintendent said.

Published April 15, 2020