An estimated 400 people showed up to the school district’s event at Olympic Heights High School on Lyons Road north of Glades. The meeting was for discussing the school board’s Resolution on Accountability. Slides from the presentation are at the bottom of this article.
The resolution has mysteriously disappeared from the school district website, and of course they ran out of English language copies of it. Plenty of Spanish language ones were available. However we were able to find a copy of it online at Diane Ravitch’s blog.
The resolution is lengthy but basically it seeks to limit the impact of testing on education. We give credit to the school district staff for keeping their presentation reasonably brief, and then allowing the audience members to speak.
Many of the audience commenters were teachers, though there were also students and parents. The group below spoke toward the end of the event.
An Olympic Heights junior, below, spoke early on.
And this 5th grader spoke well about the pressure of testing and the uncomfortable experience it has been for her.
There were other kids in the audience:
One of the teachers who spoke identified himself as the chair of West Boca High’s Language Arts Department, Noel Levin.
Generally the speakers read from prepared statements and were well received by the audience. The main complaints seemed to be about testing, curricula, and teacher pay. The “Common Core” buzzword came up repeatedly.
It seemed that a couple of things were missing. First, while the complaints were coherent, there did not seem to be a clear solution. Second, the resolution and much of the comments addressed federal and state issues beyond the power of the school board, but there was virtually no presence from state and federal officials.
There was one exception to that, as State Rep. Irving Slosberg took the microphone and gave a rousing speech encouraging people to vote out Rick Scott and the Republicans in Tallahassee and “change the management” in state government.
We spoke with Slosberg outside. We asked whether the problems people are complaining about (testing, curricula, common core, etc.) were brought about by both parties and he didn’t answer that directly. He focused on teacher pay, blaming Republicans for it being so low. We also asked about Charlie Crist’s role in the FCAT and Slosberg said that was in the past. He clearly did not like our questions and stuck to his partisan message. Regardless, we appreciate that he showed up and so did the audience.
A few other state and federal elected officials live close by but didn’t come. Early on we “tweeted” to Ted Deutch and Kevin Rader on Twitter but they did not respond.
Slides from the presentation are below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/slides.pdf”]
Category: Schools
West Boca Runs Up Score on Olympic Heights: 80-3
This article was written by one of our new interns.
In a rivalry that has totally been one sided since the school was built in 2004, the West Boca Bulls once again were victorious last night against the Olympic Heights Lions.
You could literally call this game “The Run of the Bulls,” because that’s what happened. This game was competitive for maybe the first half of the first quarter. West Boca edged out to an early lead on the opening drive and never gave it up. It included a circus-like one handed grab from Sophomore Wide Receiver Shavon Taylor and was later capped off by a bumblin’, grumblin’ 19 yard touchdown run by Junior Running Back Jerrod Ferguson.
A few possessions later Olympic Heights would score their only points of the game, a 50 yard Field Goal, which would have been good from 53-54 yards, by Senior Kicker Khalid Iqab. He’s a bright spot for the Lions. Khalid is quoted to have said “I’m just playing on the football team to kill time before Soccer season starts”. If he kicks 50 yard Field Goals more often he may be scouted to kick on the college level.
The offensive line for the Bulls proved quite fruitful for them. They had key blocks which opened up great holes for Shavon to run through.
On the other hand the offensive line and offense in general wasn’t as fruitful for the Lions. They didn’t make enough blocks to have their running game be successful. However on the Special Teams for the Lions their Senior Returner/Wide Receiver Josh McMann was quite the spark. He led them a couple of times into stupendous field position but the offense squandered the opportunities he provided.
It just didn’t look like Olympic Heights came out serious enough to play this game. In fairness to them though they’ve had their head coach who was hired in March, leave the team two weeks before Fall practice started and their current head coach was hired a week before Fall practice started. Hopefully they’ll be able to turn it around with the new coach, who has a winning background.
Editor’s Note: I asked our new intern if West Boca pulled their starters after the game got out of hand. He said they did not.
Olympic Heights Autism Fundraiser at Packy's
Packy’s Bar & Grill will host a fundraiser for the autism unit at Olympic Heights High School. The event takes place on Tuesday, October 21st from 5-8 pm. Packy’s will donate 20% of the event’s proceeds to the unit’s “community-based instruction budget.”
In addition:
The teachers [Sharon Dix-Stark and Kelly Brown] started a non-profit business, Pawsability, to teach the kids job skills and to raise money for the classes. They hope that Pawsability will become big enough to give students paying jobs. They are looking for a store or stores that would be generous enough to put their dog treats in their stores. They can only get so far by word of mouth & flyers.
For more details on the October 21st fundraiser, please click on the image below:
We encourage area businesses and individuals to help this effort.
Vending Machines Serving Trouble At West Boca High
This article was written by a student from West Boca High School
Something Fishy Is Going On
Where education is concerned, the number one priority should be safety. However, when West Boca Raton Community High School (WBRHS) adopted the use of vending machines in the school year of 2014-2015, this safety was threatened.
According to The Guardian, vending machines are more dangerous than sharks, killing more people. These ‘murders’ on behalf of vending machines are most likely caused by the tilting of broken vending machines in order to get food.
While it is difficult to imagine, you must consider the fact that in schools there are thousands of hormone-raged, ‘starving’ teens not willing to take ‘no’ as an answer from a vending machine. It is quite common to hear the pounding of vending machines from across the courtyard at WBRHS, almost like a person knocking on death’s door.
Along with the physical threat that vending machines pose within schools, they also contain a vast amount of hypocrisy. The purpose of vending machines is to provide quick, efficient, and preferably healthy snacks to those without food. However, when a bottle of water costs $1.50 and a can of soda costs $1.25, it encourages the consumption of unhealthy drinks. This concept also applies to the foods in the vending machines, making ‘unhealthy’ the easiest choice.
Ultimately, vending machines were installed in schools as a method of making money. However, when the pursuit of money is valued over the safety and health of students, it is time to call into question whether we should just swap to a safer alternative…replacing sharks with vending machines.
Editor’s Note: For another take on vending machines in schools, see School Vending Machine Bans.
Opinion: Referendum #2 –
A reader asked that we publish this opinion piece on a ballot referendum for this November. We’re happy to do so and invite other such opinion pieces on either side of this and other ballot issues.
Palm Beach County school district is known for educational excellence – a reputation that didn’t happen by chance. It happened as a result of you – a remarkably supportive community who four years ago voted to allocate a quarter mill property tax to sustain Fine Arts, Music, Physical Education and Magnet/Academy programs. Our students thrived amidst drastic budget cuts.
Palm Beach County is consistently rated the #1 academically performing urban district in Florida while also having schools selected as “Best in the Nation” by US News & World Report. Many of us chose to live here because of the standards of excellence in education.
This year we’re asking voters to Say Yes to Referendum #2 to continue the existing tax allocation. In other words, nothing will change. We will continue to pay the same amount as we have for the past four years.
Saying Yes to #2 is crucial. Roughly 90,000 students will lose access to Fine Arts, Music, PE and career academy classes while over 500 teachers may lose their jobs. Class sizes will inevitably increase and graduation rates may plummet after stripping away career classes that keep our most challenging students enrolled.
Career academy programs, many of which offer industry certifications, help students gain employment or provide a jump start to determining what’s next. Without your help, the school district will be forced to pick and choose educational priorities for students making it more challenging for our graduates to be competitive for jobs and college.
Please Vote Yes to PBC Referendum #2 and continue to provide the best educational and career-ready offerings to improve Palm Beach County’s economy and future. Our children are our future.
Rita M. Solnet
President, Parents Across Florida
Chairman, West Boca Raton High Community Academies Advisory Board
