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Hernando Today

AYP Causes Schools Switch For Students, Teachers

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By Linnea Brown

Hernando Today

Published: September 4, 2008

Brooksville - With the "10-day count" in and roughly 328 fewer students than expected in Hernando County schools, a record number of students and teachers are also switching schools because of "adequate yearly progress," or AYP.

Nearly 300 students have switched schools this year due to AYP, forcing 29 teachers to be shifted between schools. Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill will gain 19 teachers, most likely in co-teaching situations, while schools such as Deltona Elementary School will lose seven, absorbing their students into other classes.

A standard set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, AYP gauges the progress of subgroups of students, including minorities and students with disabilities.

Of the district's 10 Title I schools — which receive federal funding due to higher poverty rates — only Pine Grove Elementary School is without federal sanctions, because of the school making AYP for two years.

At the other nine, district officials are required by law to provide transportation for parents who would prefer to send their children to better performing schools.

Schools now losing teachers include Deltona, Moton, Pine Grove, Spring Hill and Westside Elementary Schools and West Hernando Middle School. Schools gaining teachers include Brooksville and Suncoast Elementary Schools, Explorer, Powell Middle School and Nature Coast Technical High School.

AYP is one reason for the mass exodus of students from schools such as Deltona Elementary School in Spring Hill, where enrollment is down, to schools such as the new Explorer K-8 in Spring Hill. On Tuesday, Deltona had 140 fewer students than expected, while Explorer had 221 more students than expected, nearly topping 2,000 students.

With 291 students switching schools because of AYP, 90 transferred to Explorer, 91 to J.D. Floyd K-8, 71 went to Suncoast Elementary and 39 went to Powell.

Other students switched schools this fall due to rezoning efforts and magnet programs.

Superintendent Wayne Alexander acknowledged that this year's numbers are more noticeable than in past years, but said enrollment changes are "a bit of a moving target that (officials) have to react to each year."

"I think in the last five or six years, we've grown, so the need to switch wasn't there," he said. "This year, it's a little more profound because enrollment is down."

Many of the teachers will move from classrooms with smaller class sizes to co-teaching situations, with two teachers and as many as 40 students. However, officials are not yet sure how all the teachers will fit into each school.

"We have room," Alexander said. "We'll utilize co-teaching, classrooms and every space we can to meet the needs of the kids. Teaching units go where the children are."

District staff members are finalizing class lists and placements this week, said Laurie Pellito, the district's coordinator of certification, recruitment and retention.

Officials hope to have placements complete by Friday, and all transferred teachers at their new schools by Sept. 15, she said.

For parents opting to switch schools due to AYP, students on the lowest end of the economic spectrum and those who have earned the lowest scores on the FCAT are given first priority of choice.

The first 10 days of school are considered the most important for the district's staff, attendance-wise. That's because those are the enrollment numbers that district officials look at to determine teacher transfers.

On Tuesday — the 10th day — 22,504 students had been counted at Hernando County Schools, or 328 fewer than projected. At $3,998 in state funding for each student, that would equal a shortfall in revenue for the district of $1,311,344.

In addition to Explorer, other schools in the district that boasted notable enrollment increases were Brooksville Elementary School, J.D. Floyd K-8, Powell Middle School and Nature Coast Technical High School.

The rest either had fewer students than anticipated or met their projected enrollment.

In October, each child is counted for state enrollment numbers, which determines how much the district will receive in per-student funding.

At that point, officials have said some teachers could lose their jobs if enrollment doesn't increase.

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

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