Dept. Of Ed Releases High School Accountability Grades
January 5, 2012
School accountability grades were released Wednesday for Florida’s high schools, and they were good news for most North Escambia area schools.
Northview, Tate, Washington and Pensacola high schools all maintained their B grades from last year, while West Florida High School remained an A school for sixth consecutive year. Two Escambia County schools — Escambia and Pine Forest — showed improvement from a D last year to a C grade.
Every high school in Santa Rosa County earned a B — with Jay, Milton, Pace and Gulf Breeze falling from A grades last year.
“We are disappointed that we incurred a penalty. However, we are very excited about the continuous effort and performance of our Aggie family. With immeasurable support from the parents and community, our students and staff have had an incredible year. We will review the current data making necessary adjustments to provide our students with the best opportunity to be successful,” Tate High School Principal Rick Shackle said.
“We are ecstatic about our School Grade, knowing that we really were an “A,” without penalty for drop in At-Risk Graduation Rate,” Northview Principal Gayle Weaver said. “The teachers and staff have worked extremely hard to accomplish our goals. Our total points, FCAT Points and High School Component Points combined, increased 180 points above 2010 points. That improvement is twice as much as any other high school in our district
“Right now, we are just basking in the fact that we had total points to be an “A,” and we will begin to look into why our At-Rick Graduation Rate declined. I encourage parents to view this accumulation of points as a validation of the hard work that has been done by their students and the entire NHS faculty and staff. It is truly a team effort,” Weaver said.
Statewide results from the Florida Department of Education showed that 78 percent of the state’s high school earned either an A or B grade, up from 71 percent last year.
The expanded high school grading system, first used for the 2009-10 school year, focuses on a broader set of student outcomes, including graduation rates and student participation and performance in advanced coursework. The high school grade is earned based on two major elements: 50 percent from the performance of each school’s students on the FCAT, and 50 percent from factors that include the following:
- The school’s graduation rate.
- The performance and participation of students in Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Dual Enrollment, Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), and industry certification.
- The postsecondary readiness of high-achieving students as measured by the SAT, ACT, or College Placement Test (CPT).
- The high school graduation rate of at-risk students.
Statewide, the greatest average increase in high school grade component points earned in 2010-11 was for student performance on accelerated coursework measured by AP, IB, AICE and industry certification examinations, as well as dual enrollment courses.
High School Seniors Can Apply For Cooperative Scholarships
January 5, 2012
This April, Escambia River Electric Cooperative will award the Herman D. Johnson Scholarships to graduating seniors in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Two $4,000 scholarships, one in each county, will be offered to students with a parent or guardian that is a member of cooperative. The students must show proof of enrollment and maintain a 2.5 GPA to continue to receive the funds each year.
To apply, seniors in EREC’s service area should check with their high school guidance counselors or contact EREC Marketing and Communications at (850) 675-4521 or (800) 235-3848. The deadline to submit an application is March 1. Winners will be announced at EREC’s annual meeting on April 28.
This is EREC’s 15th year of offering scholarships to high school seniors. In the past, capital credits issued by EREC that were unclaimed were required to be turned over to the state. But state legislation now allows such funds to be deposited into a qualified, educational charity fund. The EREC membership voted to use these funds in the form of scholarships for graduating seniors in EREC’s service area.
Escambia Man Indicted For Murder
January 5, 2012
A grand jury has indicted Charles Douglas Boshell for first degree murder in the death of Caroline Marbury-Smart.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Marbury-Smart’s decomposing body in a bedroom closet under boxes and suitcases at her Starboard Village condo on Pensacola Beach on July 23, 2011.
Boshell is scheduled to be arraigned on January 5, 2012.
Area Band To Perform At BCS Championship Game
January 5, 2012
An area high school band will perform next Monday night at the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.
The T.R. Miller High School band of Brewton will play at the game as the Alabama Crimson Tide takes on the Tigers of LSU for number one in the nation.
Band members have rehearsed and held fund raisers for months. Band Director Lance Gainous said his young musicians earned the trip through hard work and a string of superior ratings in competitions last fall. The band departs for New Orleans on Friday and will return after the game.
The game airs on ESPN beginning at 7:30 Monday night. There’s no word yet if the Miller band will appear in the broadcast.
Pictured: The T.R. Miller Band practices. Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Minor Fire At Historic Molino Home
January 4, 2012
Area fire stations responded to a minor fire in a historic Molino home Wednesday night.
A fire in a floor around a fireplace was reported about 9:20 p.m. in a two story wood frame home at the corner of Fairground Road and River Bend Road. No major damage was reported.
The Molino, Cantonment and McDavid stations of Escambia Fire Rescue responded to the call.
The home is one of Molino’s oldest remaining; according to Escambia County property records, the 4300 square foot home was constructed in 1928.
Suspicious Package Prompts Evacuation Of Sheriff’s Office
January 4, 2012
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office was evacuated this morning because of a suspicious package.
A man reportedly received the package mailed to his address but not his name and took it to the Sheriff’s Office on Leonard Street. It also included a mailing label asking him to mail it to the Ukraine.
A bomb sniffing dog alerted to potential of possible explosive material in the package, prompting the evacuation of about 150 people. A robot from the State Fire Marshal’s Office was used to removed the package from the building. There was no immediate word as to what was in the package. There was no explosion.
Further details have not been released.
Scott: GOP Candidate Must Win Florida For The White House; Still No Favorite
January 4, 2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott declined to endorse a Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday after Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses narrowly over Rick Santorum.
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Wednesday morning, Scott stuck to his message that whichever candidate can best articulate a plan for lowering unemployment and creating jobs will be the successful GOP candidate and have the best chance to unseat President Obama.
The Republican governor said he hasn’t chosen a favorite candidate – he doesn’t know if he will before the Jan.uary 31 Florida primary – in part because none of the GOP candidates are talking enough about job creation for Scott’s satisfaction.
“Let’s talk about where we want to take the country,” Scott said. Eventually one of the Republican candidates will, he predicted. Scott also said the candidates have to pay attention to Florida. “You have to win Florida to win the White House,” Scott said. “I don’t know how you can do it without.”
Century Swears In Mayor, Council; Mayor To Focus On Economic Development
January 4, 2012
Two incumbent council members and a incumbent mayor that says his top priority is economic development were sworn in Tuesday night in Century.
“I really think we are in a position now to move forward with economic development and some jobs for the town that are much needed,” second term Mayor Freddie McCall said. “That’s what we are concentrating working on.”
McCall defeated former council member Henry Hawkins by a 3-2 margin in October’s general election.
Incumbent council members Ann Brooks and Annie Savage were also sworn in Monday night for four year terms. For Brooks, it will be her second complete term on the council. Savage was first appointed to the council in August 2011 to finish the term of the late Nadine McCaw.
Also Monday night, the council re-elected Brooks as council president and Gary Riley as vice president.
Pictured top: Century Town Clerk Leslie Gonzalez swears in Mayor Freddie McCall for his second term. Pictured inset: McCall with council members Annie Savage (left) and Ann Brooks. Pictured below: Gonzalez swears in Brooks and (page bottom) Savage. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Bumps Up Garbage Rates
January 4, 2012
The new year is bringing a slight increase to garbage bills in Century.
Monday night, the town council voted to increase residential service from $15.04 per month to $15.38 — a 34 cent increase — for household waste. The town is passing along a 2.9 percent rate increase from Allied Waste, the town’s service provider, according to Mayor Freddie McCall.
Commercial refuse service from the town will also increase by 2.9 percent.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated that residential bills would increase from $11.46 to $11.80. Those figures accurately reflect the amount of a customer’s bill that pays for Allied Waste residential service through the Town of Century. Residential bills also include an additional $3.58 for bulk trash pickup, which is now included in the story above.
Couple Charged With Child Neglect After Kids Found In Squalor
January 4, 2012
A Jay couple is facing child neglect charges after deputies found their young children living in a roach-infested home full of trash and decomposing food.
Rebeccah Lynn Ates, 35, and Vance Joseph Ates, 38, were released on bond from the Santa Rosa County Jail.
Deputies had responded to a domestic disturbance when they found two small children in the disturbing living conditions in a home on Highway 4 east of Jay. According to an arrest report, deputies said they were overwhelmed by the smell of urine inside the home and had to step over garbage and clothing in the floor. Deputies also reported observing bags of garbage outside the bathroom, dirty sheets on the beds, and garbage on the living room floor that “contained old food broken glass, crushed soda cans, potato chip bags, candy wrappers and filth”. Children’s toys and clothing were scattered among the garbage and blocked the pathways to and from rooms, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.
In the kitchen, deputies observed old decaying food on the stove top, dirty bowls containing food on the table and garbage covering the floor. A plugged-in electric space heater, according to the report, was also surrounded by garbage, creating a fire hazard.
Rebeccah Ates told deputies that the home had been in the condition for about a year.
Rebeccah Ates also told deputies that the urine smell was coming from her son, which the deputy reported was wearing pants that were wet on the front and back.
“At no time did Rebeccah make any effort to change (her son’s) pants. After several minutes, I had to instruct Rebeccah to change him,” the deputy wrote in her report.
The children were turned over to family members, and the case was turned over to the Department of Children and Families for investigation.