School Technical Ideas

To help reduce the dropout rate for at-risk students in Palm Beach County, the school board today voted to accept a grant from the federal Department of Education to pay for a five-year program the district believes will help more kids earn their high school diplomas. The grant is up to $9.7 million.

Starting this school year, the High School Graduation Initiative will be implemented in four high schools – Forest Hill, John I. Leonard, Palm Beach Lakes and Boynton Beach – with dropout rates that exceeded the state average of 3.3 percent.

The goal is to increase the graduation rate by 15 percent in five years and reduce the dropout rate by 50 percent or more each year of the project by offering academic support, career guidance and emotional support to students.

The district said at least 70 percent of the students in the program will be enrolled in one or more honors or college credit course while still in high school by 2015. More than 3,900 students will be targeted for the program.

“We still have too many students who don’t graduate,” said Alison Adler, the district’s chief of safety and learning environment. “Although our graduation rate is constantly climbing and improving, we’re not reaching every student and certainly not every African-American male.”

In August, a study conducted by the Schott Foundation for Public Education found that fewer than a quarter of black male students who entered the county’s public high schools in 2004 graduated with a regular diploma.

The county’s graduation rate among white males also was well below state and national figures.

For the new initiative, the district will be working with, among others, Workforce Alliance, a nonprofit job development organization; Palm Beach State College; and Take Stock in Children, a nonprofit mentoring program.

“This program,” said board member Sandra Richmond, “holds amazing promise for our children.”

For the past decade, the District 7 seat on the Palm Beach County School Board has been held by Debra Robinson.

But Thomas Hawkins, a teacher at S.D. Spady Elementary in Delray Beach, and William Abrams, an unemployed social studies teacher from Lake Worth, hope to change that.

The nonpartisan contest is open to all voters in District 7, which covers coastal communities from Riviera Beach to Delray Beach.

Of the two challengers, Hawkins has run an aggressive campaign, attending most candidate forums and promising, among other things, that he would start a weekly blog to keep parents and teachers informed and visit one school every week.

Hawkins also believes his experience working as a teacher – he’s taught math and science – and as a county school district administrator will make him a strong board member. As an administrator, Hawkins helped evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs for schools that failed to meet goals for “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

“I have a much better understanding of education and educational programs than any of the current board members do,” Hawkins said.

Abrams, who taught civics at Lantana Middle School for nine weeks and taught infirm students at Hospital Homebound School in West Palm Beach for two years, is a third-generation teacher.

But Abrams said he can have more impact outside the classroom than in it.

“My skills set is better suited for the school board,” Abrams said. “I have a different viewpoint, problem-solving skills and I’m able to listen to people’s problems.”

At 30, Abrams would be the board’s youngest member. But he said his youth and lack of experience aren’t a factor.

“I never really thought about it,” he said. “I think it gives me a bit of an advantage. I won’t have the same boring education ideas.”

Robinson, a physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs in West Palm Beach, said she decided to run for another term because her work on the board isn’t complete. Robinson, who has endorsements from Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters and several city council members, has long fought to close the academic achievement gap between black and white students.

Robinson said she’s concerned that too much change on the board will hurt the district.

“I’m afraid the pendulum will swing too fast and too far,” she said. “We need to find some balance.”

As for the Jeffrey Hernandez debacle, Robinson was the lone board member who voted against Hernandez being hired as the district’s chief academic officer. Hernandez was eventually removed from that position – though he kept the title and salary – and was assigned to work with low-performing schools. He’s no longer with the school district.

Robinson said she remains in favor of step increases, which are automatic raises based on years of experience. Robinson was one of three board members who in 2004 voted against Superintendent Art Johnson’s plan to eliminate step increases.

Abrams said one of his top priorities would be to return step increases. Although the district has said it can’t afford them right now, Abrams said he would advocate reducing the amount of money the district spends on new textbooks and use that money for step increases.

“Students don’t need new books every four years,” Abrams said. “There aren’t many changes in elementary and middle school math.”

Hawkins, who has been co-endorsed by the county’s teachers’ union along with Robinson, also favors step raises and said that “teachers’ pay in Palm Beach County should match that of other urban districts.”

According to campaign finance reports, Robinson has raised $15,205, while Hawkins has netted $3,625 and Abrams has amassed $3,300.

Both challengers said they would make sure the board communicates better with parents and teachers. Last year, Johnson attempted to implement a rigid new curriculum crafted by Hernandez without soliciting much community input.

“You don’t surprise your employees with huge changes,” Hawkins said. “The major problem with this board is that it didn’t communicate with the people who elected them. We should start a bi-weekly or monthly newsletter to keep everybody up to date.”

Abrams, who has no endorsements, said Johnson may work better with a new board.

“With new opinions and new blood, maybe it will change the way he does his job,” Abrams said.