Senate bill pleases Walton school officials

A recently adopted bill by the Florida Senate that reduces Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores impact on high school grading has received the support of Walton County School Board members.
“From a general conception, we like it,” said Walton School Board Chairman Darrell Barnhill.
Under the bill, reliance of FCAT scores for a school’s performance grading is reduced by 50 percent and industry certifications and college readiness will be added for evaluation.
Currently, a school’s grade depends fully on FCAT scores, which determine if it will receive financial bonuses for high scores or sanctions from the Florida Department of Education for failing.
The new legislation will become effective during the 2009-2010 school year across the state.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” said school board member Mark Davis. “I’ve been begging for this for years.
“There is a lot more to high school than three subjects.”
According to a report from Northwest Florida Senator Don Gaetz, who co-sponsored the bill, four new school grading criteria were added, including performance and participation in such advanced programs as International Baccalaureate.
Although both Barnhill and Davis feel the new system is a must, they said grading on advanced programs might be a flaw in small counties such as Walton.
“So many students who go to Walton High School leave after ninth-grade and go to vo-tech institutes,” said Davis. “It really all depends on how they will compute the drop-out rate.”
Outside of the grading issue, Barnhill said he is more worried with the full-time equivalentcy rate for students, which decreased in 2008 for the first time in more than 40 years.
“Definitely not happy with it,” he said. “That’s where we get stuff like classroom supplies and art programs. Even a little bit is a lot of money.”