Lee School Board changes Head Start policy
Eligible 3-year-olds can now be admitted to the program if slots are available
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With the School Board of Lee County's approval, 3-year-olds who are eligible may now take advantage of the Head Start Program.
The board approved the head start eligibility recruitment selection and enrollment policy to include "three year old eligible children, if vacant slots available after the enrollment of all eligible four-year old children."
The board adopted the revised student enrollment plan for 2022-2023 a 6-0 vote Tuesday night. Board member Chris Patricca was not present.
Board member Gwyn Gittens brought attention to the district's target for each school, which is to have no more than 20 percent variance from the zone-wide average of students scoring in level one, which is measured by the reading portion of the Florida Standards Assessment.
Level one is the lowest level on the five-level scoring system.
"That is not the case right now. Is this what we are aiming for? Trying to get there," Gittens asked.
Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage said the issue is a primary driver behind a new proximity plan. The issue is not just school boundaries, but the nature of the current School Choice lottery system, as it produces tremendous inequity in the schools.
"When the plan was originally developed, this is what would be an ideal distribution of achievement throughout zones and subzones," Savage said. "The lottery does not produce this."
There is no single method to achieve the 20 percent, as the number is largely based on where students live.
"There is no mechanism to ensure these numbers remain anything other than targets," Savage said. "It's a goal, but there is no ability, or strategy to reach that goal."
Gittens asked how the proximity plan will better create this equal distribution for level ones and twos when it is so unequal at this point.
A presentation was scheduled to take place during a Tuesday briefing meeting regarding the elementary proximity plan, which was pulled and rescheduled for January.
"We have a PowerPoint to show how schools are performing relative to these targets, not just now, but over the last 20 years. It tells a compelling story and paints the picture of how the lottery process works," Savage said.
In other business, the board on Tuesday adopted the same redistricting map as did the Lee County Board of County Commissions with board member Gwyn Gittens opposing and Chris Patricca absent. This map includes 13.81 square miles of area change.
The changes include the edge of District 4, which takes away a little from District 1 in the Cape Coral and North Fort Myers area. In District 5, it takes a tad from District 4 in the Tice area. District 3 and District 2 remains the same.
The School Board is comprised of seven members, five from designated districts and two at large.