A review of out of school suspensions (OSS) for Leon County middle schools during the 2017-2018 school year shows that Fairview Middle School leads the group with 194 suspensions. Fairview is followed by Nims (166) and Griffin (136).
TR has previously reported on high school suspension data.
The data, provided below, indicates that during 2017-2018 there were 906 OSS in nine middle schools for an average rate of 12.4% based on the middle school population of 7,311.
A review of school level data shows that Fairview, Nims, and Griffin all have OSS rates over 20%.
Nims’ 33.5% rate of OSS is approximately 2.7 times the district average and approximately 6 times the average rate reported by the lower suspension schools of RAA, Montford, Deerlake & Swiftcreek.
Leon County Schools Code of Conduct states that “Suspension, expulsion and exclusion are formal consequences and shall be employed only after parental/guardian assistance and all available school and support services have been unsuccessful in dealing with the student’s misconduct, or when the student’s conduct or conditions are disruptive to the learning environment, dangerous to the safety or welfare of other students or staff or if the situation is of an emergency nature.”
Im not really surprised.
During the campaign I submit to you and the school board that Scott Hansen needs to be investigated for allegedly calling administrators, telling them they need to lessen support for Pons, if Rocky wins he will remember what you did. Voter intimidation pure and simple. The school board has been made aware of this and Hanna, yet a promotion. If you are on the Hanna hit list, unemployment, others do the dirty work of Hanna, rewarded.
And now Mr. Hansen is being promoted to the position of director of secondary schools.
And put in charge of $1 million to spend on furniture, equipment etc. After he allegedly claimed to give computer equipment meant for disadvantaged Title 1 students to the IB students at Fairview. Someone needs to look into that and Rocky needs to explain.
Fairview is a joke. The staff at the school already stereo type the students just because of their community. They do NOT care about those students. They are quick to suspend the students and involve the deputy. I thought the deputy was on campus for safety and criminal activity. They really need to change staff at the school and not have APs (over discipline) look down on the students and the parents for that matter. They cater to the IB students and treat the school zone students like their nothing. Of course there are always some exceptions but in general, that’s my view. LCS might want to look at the person over discipline and see if all the proper steps were taken before suspending these students (I DOUBT IT).
Steve, I am a fan of you and TR, and am thankful that you shed light on issues the other 'media' refuse to. In this article, there seems to be a slight inconsistency. The text states that Fairview had an OSS rate of 33.5%, but the chart shows it was Nims. Fairview was 23.3%.
Thanks. Corrected.
I went to Hartsfield, Fairview, Rickards, TCC, and FSU.
There is no way on gods green earth I would send my kid to a public school in Leon County. I drive past Hartsfield Elementary everyday, the teachers I see going in that building are all morbidly obese and speak like they are in a street gang.
Sounds like WalMart.
Or an SEIU convention.
Or the Post Office too.
But at least one year (17-18), Mr. Hansen told parents he had spent the school's Title I monies on computers for those top Leon County students, with kids struggling only allowed to pay for their own when the community org donated them. And there is a culture of suspension which positively reinforces behavior educators should want to extinguish by encouraging students who struggle in school to act out so they won't have to come to school. If there is trauma informed instruction (low income students are disproportionately exposed to trauma), it is recent. There are no apparent research proven instructional interventions with fidelity for students with disabilities offered by teachers fully trained in them, with sufficient intensity. (Most of this is not necessarily unique to Fairview though: more than 20 years ago a judge found that LCSD had no programs for those with dyslexia, and there is still no such structured sequential scaffolded multisensory program across subjects for those who cannot read or do math in the entire district.)
If it is true that the Title 1 money is being used to pay for computers for the least disadvantaged kids in leon county, then whomever runs against Hanna and Wood (Fairview is in her District) in next year's election needs to blast that in every ad they run. That seems outrageous both morally and legally and I think its pretty easy for anybody to understand why.
That’s the purpose of Title 1 funds...
The least disadvantaged, in other words the computers are going to the most advantaged students in the whole district, those that were accepted into the prestigious and competitive IB program which is housed at Fairview. Title 1 money is federal funding designated to help those on the bottom, not the top. If true, its a clear misuse of funding.
You can thank the total lack of leadership in LCS to Rocky Hanna. Two years ago the district invested in Lindamoodbell. Hanna and Gregory did away with support. The Hanna hit list not only took jobs it took away opportunities for students. According to the affidavit Scott Hansen knew Rocky fathered a child and did nothing, this in my opinion was a catalyst to enable Hanna to hide in plain view and not pay child support for 10 years. Hanna, Hansen and those loyal to Hanna need a course in professionalism. How we elected Hanna after not paying child support for 10 years boggles my mind. How the school board does not act on Hanna's admission of dating teachers while a principal, falsely claiming whistleblower and admitting to Hank Coxe hired by the Board, that he made up everything in his notebook with no knowledge of any wrongdoing is beyond mind blowing.
Fairview has the pre-IB program with about 200 of the top middle students in Leon County. I cannot believe these student act out. If you do not count this sub-group, then their OSS would be near 33%.
Sure enough Rocky got elected he and enacted a hit list and his best buddy Scott Hansen has these dramatic school suspension rates. Interesting side note, in the affidavit it states that Mr Hanson knew all about a child yet did not force Mr Hanna to pay child support or report Mr Hanna to authorities for not paying child support for 10 years.