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Hernando Today

Challenger Gifted Center Up For Vote

TOTAL COST FOR PROGRAM ESTIMATED AT NEARLY $1.5 MILLION

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: February 4, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE It's decision time.
Today, the Hernando County School Board will vote on the location of the county's future gifted education center for kindergarten through eighth grade students.
Last month, the board's gifted education task force chose Challenger K-8 School of Mathematics and Science in Spring Hill as the site for the center, set to open this August.
A student is defined as "gifted" if he or she scores at least two standard points above the mean IQ score, and passes at least two sections on a state IQ test.
The center would place more than 400 of the county's kindergarten through eighth-grade students in gifted classes in one location, instead of the district's current means of offering separate classes at each school.
The task force recommended Challenger for the following reasons:
— It has an established, innovative and successful academic program that attracts students from all parts of the district
— Transportation is presently in place to bring students from the various zoned schools, therefore, no additional costs will be incurred to establish new bus routes
— Challenger K-8 is centrally located in the district
— One-third of the gifted students in kindergarten through eighth grade currently attend Challenger
— Due to the fact that Challenger K-8 is not a zoned school, it will be easier to expand the gifted center as the number of gifted students increase.
— Challenger principal Sue Stoops has said rooms will be available to accommodate students for the 2008-09 school year.
However, total cost for the implementation of the gifted program is estimated at $1.485 million — a fact that is concerning at least one board member.
"There is a big cost associated with this whole plan," Pat Fagan said. "I support the program and I support the Challenger concept, but I would like to hear what everybody has to say."
While no new buildings would be needed at Challenger, costs for renovations, furniture and technology for the program's 16 rooms and two computer labs are expected to cost $412,600. While the district already has 16 gifted teachers, additional staff would cost at least $513,000 more in salaries and benefits.
But it's been 16 years in the making, said longtime school board member and vice chair Jim Malcolm.
"I would be absolutely dismayed if a reversal of the board's previous positions (occurred)," he said. "We need to make sure we're doing the very best we can for gifted kids, and we're not doing that right now."
However, at least one school board member said she believes there could be some other approaches to the creation of a gifted center, instead of placing it at one school.
"I don't want to mandate that kids can just receive a gifted education at one school," Diane Bonfield said.
She pointed toward possible legal questions provoked by only providing gifted services for elementary school students at one school.
"I don't want to force children who are gifted in our county to only be able to receive an (appropriate) education in one place," she said. "There may be some other avenues to provide (that) in Hernando beyond strictly a gifted center for K-8."
Board members also weighed in on the fear some parents and teachers have expressed that Florida Comprehensive Assessment Testing scores will decline at other schools if gifted students are pulled out.
Malcolm, a member of the gifted center task force, called the fear a misconception, pointing toward the fact that FCAT is not based on average scores, but performance from year to year in various subgroups.
And both he and Bonfield said the focus needs to remain on building the best education possible for gifted students, not worrying about the others.
"When we're looking at gifted education, we have to look at what's best for that group, versus anything else," Bonfield said.
Other discussed options for the program were Parrott Middle School, the new Explorer K-8 or a new freestanding location, built on vacant acreage on Spring Hill Drive or Mobley Road.
Longtime board member and chair Sandra Nicholson said that while she supports the idea of a gifted center — and intends to support placing the center at Challenger — she still has some reservations about it.
"That school is perceived as an elitist school now, and if we put a gifted program there now, it could add to that perception," she said.
"But if that's what we have to do, then we should," Nicholson added. "A better program for our gifted students is long overdue, and we have not been challenging these students enough or helping them reach their potential."
As the program expands, officials would most likely decrease the amount of new students accepted to Challenger's current magnet program, which is also a concern.
"I have had parents call me on both sides of this, particularly the lottery and portfolio issue," Fagan said. "A lot less students would be able to submit an application and be accepted, and that's an issue with parents."
In August, 124 gifted students would be moved to Challenger from the district's other middle and elementary schools.
That is, if they want to.
"There could be a lot of kids whose parents say they're not moving to another school," Fagan said. "I'd like to make sure of what the feedback is from parents (of gifted students) at the other schools, to see if they're even buying into relocating their kids."
But Malcolm said he thinks the program will spur more parents to get their children identified and into the program.
"We're finally doing something that makes it worthwhile for parents to get their children (tested)," Malcolm said.
Once identified, students who qualify as "gifted" fall under the umbrella of exceptional student education, or ESE, and bring in about $2,100 more in state per-student funding.
This year, the district reported 2.5 percent of its elementary students as gifted. The state average is 3.7. However, many other students may be unidentified.
Before August, officials plan to hire teachers committed to gifted enrichment, formulate a specific education plan modified to the chosen location and finalize a collaborative standard mission and vision.
The money for the implementation of the program would come out of the district's capital improvement fund.
In other news:
The board will discuss the possibility of transforming Chocachatti Elementary School in Brooksville from a kindergarten through fifth-grade school into a kindergarten through eighth-grade school.
Facility and support operations director Ken Pritz has requested that the board leave Chocachatti as it is. The estimated financial impact for a conversion would be approximately $17,896,616.
According to materials provided by Pritz, the pros for converting to a K-8 program are that it would continue the flow of the program through K-8 and that parents would probably support it.
However, the cons are that expanding the numbers would hurt the program, given the current facilities.
It would take 3 to 5 years to get the K-8 numbers to 1,000, unless officials decided to hold off on enrolling an estimated 300 or more students immediately. Other downsides are that not doing the 3- to 5-year transition would result in the need for more extensive facility renovations, athletic programs could potentially compromise the magnet school theme and there is a lack of acreage.
If student numbers increase, district officials would have to consult county planners and go back for approval to increase. They would also have to increase staff, and pay an additional $5,000 for a class-size conversion and code requirements survey.
Also at the workshop, board members will discuss the pros and cons of relocating the district's middle school environmental magnet program from its current location at J.D. Floyd Elementary School in Spring Hill to Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics in Spring Hill or West Hernando Middle School in Brooksville.
Staff has recommended the following two options to the board: leave the program at J.D. Floyd and house it in a new board-approved wing — while removing existing portables — or move the program to West Hernando and return J.D. Floyd Elementary to a true K-5.
While neither would financially impact the district immediately, costs for the West Hernando option could reach $259,970 if student enrollment increases and portables are needed.
If the program is moved, it will most likely be phased out at J.D. Floyd and phased in elsewhere at the same time, over a two-year period. For example, sixth graders would be moved to the new site the first year, then sixth and seventh graders the following year, according to staff recommendations.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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