512 SE 3 Street, Ocala, Florida 34471 USA
352-671-7700 | FRS 800-955-8770 | TTY 800-955-8771 An Equal Opportunity School District
DISTRICT PREPARES FOR STUDENTS, CLASS SIZE, AND CONSTRUCTION IN NEW YEAR
August 16, 2010 Marion County
More than 250 newly-hired teachers start their Marion County teaching careers today with New Teacher Orientation at Forest High School. As well, another 2,700-plus returning teachers head back to their classrooms tomorrow.
Meantime, a projected 42,024 students are expected on the first day of school come Monday, August 23.
The new school year’s shaping up for Marion County Public Schools as the district deals with issues like enrollment fluctuations, new school construction, campus renovations, and Class Size Reduction.
Parents can ease their frustrations and avoid long waiting lines by registering their children before school starts. This includes kindergarten students, who will “stagger start” their first days, meaning they’ll attend just one day of class during the first few days of school, lowering the student-teacher ratio dramatically to enhance the transition into school.
Students, especially seventh graders, must have their immunizations up-to-date as required by Florida state statute by August 23. If not, they won’t be allowed in class on the first day. Last year, over 550 seventh graders lacked proper immunizations and were not allowed to attend first-day classes.
School times remain relatively the same as last year. Most elementary schools start at 7:45AM except Eighth Street (8:15AM), Ft. McCoy (9:30AM), Hammett Bowen, Jr. (7:50AM), Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks (8AM), Madison Street Academy (8AM), Oakcrest (7:55AM), and South Ocala (7:50AM). Most middle schools start between 9:05AM – 9:35AM except Liberty (8AM) and Osceola (7:50AM). Finally, high schools start between 8:50am – 9:30AM with the exception of MTI (7:15AM).
AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) transfer requests totaled 114 as of today. All requests were granted, including 74 with district-provided transportation. Approximately 1,000 students could receive Supplementary Education Services (free tutoring) in the first round of enrollment, which means parents have until September 3 to apply for these first-round services through the district’s Title One Office (352.620.7652). If funds permit, SES enrollment forms will continue being accepted so additional students can be placed throughout the year.
CONGRATULATIONS to all of the DJJ education programs in Marion County (Marion Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility, and the PACE Center for Girls) earned "Exemplary" status from the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP) and Florida Department of Education through the Quality Assurance (QA) process.
It’s the second year in a row for local programs to receive this status, the highest offered through QA. Less than 50% of all DJJ programs in the state receive this, much less all DJJ education programs within any one County.
Data released last year by FDOE for the 08-09 school year ranked the Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility second in education among all other High Risk programs, the Marion Regional Juvenile Detention Center fourth among all other Detention Centers, and the PACE Center for Girls in the top five of all PACE and Day Treatment programs in the state. All of MCPS staff in DJJ education programs are highly qualified and dedicated educators.
CONGRATULATIONS to West Port High’s MCCA Photography students. The Florida Council on Aging named the Art of Aging project created between West Port students and Marion County Senior Services as the winner of the Senior Vision Media Award. The Intergenerational Photo Journal project promotes a positive image of aging.
West Port High photography students shadowed “Meals on Wheels” drivers and Dining Site volunteers with cameras ready. The photos are a work of great depth and emotion and have been on display several times in Marion County.
The project began as a student assignment and ended with photos capturing the beauty and grace of local seniors in a poignant and haunting manner.
ALERTnow Helps Keep Parents Connected
Keeping parents and employees informed is a top priority in Marion County Schools. That is why we have adopted the ALERTnow Notification Service which allows us to send a telephone message to you providing important information about school events or emergencies.
Parents can now log on to www.alertnowmessage.com to hear the latest messages sent to their phones via ALERTnow. Simply search by your phone number and hear any messages sent within the last 15 days.
ALERTnow makes up to 4,000 calls per minute during routine use and 6,000 calls per minute in an emergency. To access ALERTnow, click here.
Follow Transportation Department on Twitter
Parents of bus riders may follow our Transportation Department's latest updates on Facebook (Marion County Public Schools Transportation) and Twitter (MCPSDOT).
Though not accessible from District and school computers, MCPS employees and students can use their personal hand-held devices to follow Twitter.
Transportation Department's purpose in using Twitter is to send Tweets to parents' and students' cell phones containing timely information about late busses, inclement weather, etc.
You may call the Transportation Hotline should you have questions and/or concerns at 671-7050. To look up a bus schedule click here.
Prior to the 2010-2011 school year, class size was measured initially as a district average and most
recently at the school average. The final phase of the Class Size Amendment will take effect during
the 2010-11 school year. Article IX, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution requires that action must
be taken once a class exceeds the cap by just one student. Classes in the areas of language arts,
reading, math, science, social studies, and foreign language cannot exceed 18 students in grades
PreK-3, 22 students in grades 4-8 and 25 students in grades 9-12. Marion County Public Schools
must meet these caps at the individual class level or risk paying fines for every student enrolled over
the caps set by the amendment.
How does this impact elementary school students?
• New classes may have to be formed and student placements will be adjusted across the grade
level after 10 day count;
• Classes with more than 18 students (PreK-3) or 22 students (grades 4, 5) may become
combination classes- i.e. K/1, 2/3, or 4/5;
• If classes in a grade level are at the maximum cap at a school, a newly enrolling student may
have to be assigned to another elementary school that has space in that grade level (the district
will assign the school and provide transportation);
• Out-of-Area Transfers may be denied or accepted based on class size.
How does this impact middle/high school students?
• Schedule changes will be made to stay within the class size caps;
• Class sections may be closed and not available;
• Multiple schedule changes could occur with fluctuations in enrollment at a school;
• Schedule changes may occur throughout the school year;
• Use of flexible scheduling may be used to create additional class times;
• Use of Virtual School options will be highly encouraged;
• Use of Media Centers, Cafeterias, and Gymnasiums to house students who want to take
virtual classes;
• The delayed release of FCAT scores may have an impact on a student's schedule, prior to the
opening of school;
• Out-of-Area Transfers may be denied or accepted based on class size.
How does this impact teachers?
• Class/course assignments may be changed due to the enrollment needs;
• Classroom assignments may involve teachers floating to various classroom locations
throughout the school day;
• Student schedules may be changed in order to balance the academic classes capped by the
Class Size Amendment;
• Enrollment may be restricted in grade levels and/or academic classes/electives where
there is no room;
• Teachers with appropriate certification may volunteer to teach an additional period for a
pay supplement (middle/high school);
• Non-core teachers may be impacted in ways not known at this time.
How does this impact individual schools and the school district, in general?
• District/School support personnel may have to be reduced to create additional teaching
positions to implement the constitutional mandate on class size;
• Based on the latest student enrollment projections for 2010-2011, these additional
teaching positions may not be sufficient to fully implement the class size amendment;
• The increased amount of class sections being scheduled per period may require the use of
more portables on school campuses;
• Transportation demands/costs may increase if students are bused to alternate schools due
to class caps being met at schools;
• Failure to comply with the constitutionally mandated class sizes will result in financial
penalties to the school district.
PUBLIC HEARINGS re: Class Size Amendment Plan: August 24, 2010, and September 14,
2010, at 6:00 PM. Both public hearings will be held at the Marion County School Board Office (512 SE 3rd Street).
I want to do everything possible to accommodate our student enrollment needs and meet the
mandate of the Constitutional Class Size Amendment.
Jim Yancey, Superintendent
Marion County Public Schools
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