• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Manatee County, Fla., Board Approves New Curriculum

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 21:01 CDT

By Michael Barber, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Oct. 25--MANATEE -- The Manatee County School Board voted Monday to transform Wakeland into the elementary school equivalent of an International Baccalaureate program, which involves a demanding new curriculum taught by specially trained teachers.

The move to an IB program means Wakeland's current attendance boundaries will be wiped out, leaving the school open only to students who use school choice to attend there.

Parents who decide to place their children in Wakeland's IB program will have to sign a parents compact that requires a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer work per year, along with other provisions. Students who attend the school will have to sign and abide by a good-behavior contract.

If the parents or students don't live up to their obligations, they will not be allowed to stay at Wakeland.

Before approving the changes at the school, located at 1812 27th St. E., Bradenton, several board members sought assurances that the parents of the 489 students who currently attend Wakeland will be informed of the changes and given top priority to stay at the school.

"My concern is that the board be satisfied that every parent of every child at Wakeland have a wealth of information about this program so that any child that lives near the school, if they decide to buy into all that's required, have an opportunity to stay there," said board member Harry Kinnan.

Families of students who currently attend Wakeland but who don't want to take part in the IB program will be able to send their children to other elementary schools, such as Bashaw, Freedom, Manatee, Rowlett and Tara, according to Superintendent Roger Dearing.

Board member Barbara Harvey wanted to make sure the teachers at Wakeland would be able to transfer to other schools if they didn't want to take part in the IB program. All teachers who want to participate in the IB program must undergo 72 hours of training between now and the start of the 2006-07 school year.

"I want to make sure the staff understands that if they are there now and they don't agree with the concept, they are allowed to go some other place," Harvey said. "I want to make sure they know there are other openings."

Dearing told Harvey that one of the requirements of the IB program was that every teacher be supportive of the concept, so the district will actively seek teachers who want to participate in the program.

Dearing also assured board members that current Wakeland students would get the first shot at attending the school.

"My commitment is that any student that is currently attending Wakeland, if their parent wants them to remain in this program and they understand what the program is and they agree to the behavior contract and they sign a parent compact, then those students will be allowed to stay at Wakeland," Dearing said.

Southeast High School already has a successful IB program and Johnson Middle School is working to incorporate an IB program at its campus. The goal for the district is to have an IB program available to students from first through 12th grades.

Wakeland Principal Chuck Fradley said that he was thankful for the school board's support and that he understands their concerns.

"The issues that board members brought up are the same issues our staff have," Fradley said. "They really have a strong allegiance to the current student body so we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we have a multitude of those kids that stay if they want to be there, and I think a majority will want to be there."

-----

To see more of The Bradenton Herald -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bradenton.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

More News in this Category