organicmama
Beach Fanatic
Don't act like it's not something to worry about. I take being a parent quite seriously, whatever the issue is.
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South Walton Fifth Graders Might Be Moved to Middle School
- Thread starter Jdarg
- Start date
Don't act like it's not something to worry about. I take being a parent quite seriously, whatever the issue is.
I agree with jdarg. We asked at the Board meeting to be allowed to be a part of a "task force" that includes parents to address this problem of shortage of elementary classrooms in South Walton and help come up with viable solutions that are in the best interest of this school age group of students. Our group of parents plans to be at the budget planning meetings in June and the October meeting that will review FTE counts. Through this process over the last few weeks, we have become more educated about the 5 year plan that is used to determine building projects for the district. We understand what both elementary schools are facing with their shortage of space. We have parents in our group that have ESE students, so we are well aware of the issues involving these sudents. We know what the problems are at ECMS and on the buses from personal experience. Our main goal is to protect our children and do whatever work is necessary to provide them with the best educational environment that is age appropriate. We are glad that the decision for the 2011-2012 school year was to make 5th grade at ECMS optional, like it is in Destin, which allows parents to choose the best educational environment for their child.
Matt J
SWGB
I'm not saying it's not something to worry about, but FTLOG put things in perspective. If this is the big issue of education in South Walton then I'd say we are doing extremely well.
momof2kids
Beach Fanatic
Is there someone in your group that can let the PTO's of both Bay & Butler know what is going on at the meetings & such that you attend? Butler has a email program to inform parents of whats happening maybe it can be used to keep the info flowing...
Also - how does one become a part of your group?
We would be happy to share all information we learn and what was discussed at the School Board meetings in any way that the schools will allow. At this point, most of our shared information has gone out through emails. I think informed parents are an invaluable asset for their children and many parents aren't able to attend meetings in DeFuniak. Anyone who would like to be a part of this group is welcome to join. Being new to using SoWal, I'm not sure of the best way, but you can contact me and I will let you know what we are currently working on and when we will be meeting. We have moms and dads in the group, and would love others in the community who could contribute to solving this growing problem of needing more classrooms in the south end of the county. This will eventually affect the high school as well. Immediate planning and building seem to be key at this point. The biggest obstacle we faced was obtaining accurate and timely information from the district. We did find that the 2006 5 Year Building Plan included adding wings to Bay and Butler, so our question was why these plans changed. We did feel that the Board was listening at the last meeting, and also wanted answers to some of the questions we asked. I think this cooperative sharing of information will only help all involved - the children, parents, District, and community.
momof2kids
Beach Fanatic
I had a relative in town over the weekend with a 13 yr old boy who said that in his middle school kids bring guns; drugs are everywhere; girls are offering sexual favors in the bathrooms during school hours; fights are happening daily...
All I can say is thank goodness the few bad things that happen in our middle schools are nothing like his experiences. He was amazed at our schools & what they have to offer compared to his "big city" school...
**(And by "bad" I don't mean moving the students)
scooterbug44
SoWal Expert
How much of a factor is school choice in contributing to crowding?
There seem to be a lot of students who don't live here, but go to school here by choice.
There seem to be a lot of students who don't live here, but go to school here by choice.
GoodWitch58
Beach Fanatic
where do they live?
We asked the same question. The superintendent said there are only a few students at Bay and Butler that are from other counties. They have approved waivers that allow them to attend our elementary schools. There are also students that come to our schools from Freeport and north Walton. Our district does not have any inforced zoning and allows students to go to any school within the district, but they do not provide transportation out of your zone. We were not told how many students out of the south walton zone are attending Bay and Butler, but feel this number is significant. We asked about inforcing zoning to help alleviate overcrowding and grandfathering in the children currently attending schools out of their zone. We are not for displacing children. Ms. Anderson said that many parents from the north end of the county work in the south end, and they want their children going to school in the south end. She said she does not want to go to zoning for this reason. However, she did suggest that the Board should look at this issue.