Few people walked the hallways of Marion Oaks Elementary, which was scheduled to open in just 45 minutes.

But then teachers — many pulling rolling crates — began streaming into the immaculate new school. And soon, so did the parents.

At first, a few anxious parents asked questions, but then the flood gates opened.

Led by principal Patricia Hornsby, who transferred from Dunnellon Elementary to open the new school, workers began assisting the parents, helping steer them to classrooms, the guidance office or the lunchroom.

A few teary-eyed parents said goodbye to their child. One father, with his son kicking and screaming over his shoulder, toted him down one hallway to class.

For any school, it was a smooth start. But for a new school on its first day, it was amazingly smooth, though hectic, as administrators settled in for a new year.

Leading up to Monday, Hornsby had to order books, hire staff and complete hundreds of tasks before opening the technology-rich school. And with all that preparation behind her, she still wasn’t resting easy.

“I learned to expect the unexpected,” she said.

It was the first day of school for nearly 40,000 Marion County students on Monday. Officials predict that by the time all the figures are counted, the student body will top 42,000 students at the district’s 51 schools.

About 300 buses streamed through the county today. Those buses will drive 962 bus routes and hit 8,051 bus stops on a combined 28,963-mile journey throughout the 1,600-square-mile county each day.

School District spokesman Kevin Christian said the opening was as expected: a few late buses, lines of late registering students and a few other delays.

Christian asked that parents be patient the first few weeks of school while bus drivers learn routes, schools deal with class-size amendment issues and schools get into the rhythm of the 2010-11 school year.

By Joe Callahan
StarBanner staff writer

A few miles away, administrators at Evergreen Elementary School are orchestrating a different sort of renovation, an academic overhaul ignited by the state because of years of subpar student performance.

So while most students wile away the summer at the beach, in the pool or in front of the TV, administrators and staff at Howard and Evergreen toil feverishly to get ready for Aug. 23 - the first day of school.

That is the day that minor construction projects must be completed and the day that Evergreen will launch another year in hopes of proving its critics wrong.

- - -

Evergreen became Marion County’s first demonstration school last August, part of a radical reshaping of the school, which had not met No Child Left Behind criteria.

Just as district administrators started to reorganize, the 2009 FCAT results were released, showing a 3.8 percent increase in overall scores. Evergreen’s school grade subsequently improved from a “C” in 2008 to a “B” in 2009.

But the purge was already under way. All Evergreen teachers were out, replaced with a new faculty and administration.

School district administrators warned that Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores would drop the first year after the shakeup, and they did. Scores in all areas combined - reading, math and science in all grades tested - dropped by 20.7 percent.

Reading dropped by 18 percentage points on average and math dropped by 9 points. Fifth-grade science proficiency dropped by 18 percentage points, from 29 to 11 percent.

One former Evergreen teacher said most of her coworkers believe the decline in scores shows they were doing a good job all along.

“We feel vindicated,” said the teacher, who asked to remain anonymous because she still teaches in the school district and is afraid of losing her job.

“I know the scores wouldn’t have dropped that much [under the original staff],” the teacher said.

But district administrators stand by their decision to give Evergreen a makeover and insist that they expected test scores to drop at first.

Like Evergreen, Lakewood Park Elementary School in St. Lucie County was totally reorganized after the 2004-05 school year.

Lakewood Park’s FCAT scores dropped after its first year of reorganization, though by only 5.6 percent - far less than the slump at Evergreen this year.

Scott Neil, a former Lakewood Park principal, said FCAT scores take a nosedive while new teachers learn new concepts and students adapt to change.

Lakewood Park’s scores have risen by 38.6 percent since 2006, however.

Cassandra Boston, the principal hired last summer to reshape Evergreen, expects scores to start moving up now that the faculty has had a year to learn new concepts.

And, she says, students now know what to expect.

Despite “all of the hoopla about the testing (results),” Boston said, she knows the staff worked hard and that turning the school around takes time.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Diana Greene said any time there is change, including something as simple as a principal change, scores drop.

Greene pointed to a learning curve that everyone had to experience, from a new curriculum to new management styles.

She acknowledged that a complete reorganization of the school was a radical step, though it is a decision she does not regret.

It was time to do it, and it was like “jumping off a cliff,” Greene said.

- - -

Howard is one of the last schools that will undergo major renovation for a while.

As student enrollment stagnates here, the state has put the brakes on funding for new schools.

Robert Knight, the school district’s facilities supervisor, said the renovation of Howard Middle School should be completed by the 2011-12 school year.

In addition, the district will soon start building the new Silver Springs Shores elementary school, slated to open in 2012. And the new Marion Oaks Elementary opens in August.

But those are the last of the larger projects that are funded. Now that the state is only issuing money earmarked for school maintenance, the district has started shifting to projects that will extend a school’s service.

Completing such major maintenance projects, such as roofs and air conditioning systems, creates even more headaches than building a new school.

The reason is simple: They must all be done during the summer.

Knight said they will spend much of the school year inspecting schools, planning and coming up with the best way to complete these projects in just a few months.

Administrators will have to launch a project as soon as the students walk out for the summer. One prime example is at Reddick-Collier Elementary this summer.

They are replacing the air-conditioning system, which originally took four months to install. This time, they have two months, including going into walls to replace ducts.

These smaller summertime projects “do create more of a headache because they need to be done before school starts,” he said.

Meanwhile, the last six of 11 wings are coming along well, and most of them should be completed by Christmas.

Those six wings are being added to Shady Hill, Emerald Shores, Evergreen, Romeo and Saddlewood elementary schools, as well as Fort McCoy School.

During the 2009-10 school year, which ended June 30, wings were completed at College Park, Dr. N.H. Jones, Harbour View, Sunrise and Greenway elementary schools.

Those 11 wings add 124 new rooms to the district.

“We ran out of money,” said Knight of state funding for new construction. “Now it’s time to focus even more on what we have and make sure it lasts as long as possible.”

Joe Callahan can be reached at joe.callahan@starbanner.com.

A week-long senior trip to North Carolina ended on Monday for 23 Ocala Christian Academy seniors, who will be the first to receive high school diplomas this year.

At 7 p.m. tonight at Central Baptist Church, Ocala Christian Academy marks the first of 17 public and private school graduations scheduled the next three weeks.

“We had a great year,” OCA principal Ron Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the 23 graduates were exhausted and ready to come home. The seniors went on a parent-free trip to Anchorage Christian Camp on Lake Waccamaw, N.C., where they took part in a host of activities, from rock climbing to water skiing.

It was the school’s traditional last hoorah, a time where the students gathered together for one last time before they all head off to college.

The event was supervised by adults.

Carpenter said the trip is important for the seniors to spend a week together before heading their separate ways to follow their dreams.

There will be eight private school graduations, seven between now and May 29; the nine public school graduations will be held between June 4 and June 12.

School District spokesman Kevin Christian said graduation time is the big day that thousands of seniors have been working for their entire career.

“They should enjoy their day and be safe,” Christian said. “They were precocious to get to this day, and they need to use the same wisdom from this point on.”

By Joe Callahan
Ocala Star Banner

Saddlewood Elementary kindergarten teacher Cecilia Carballo seemed shocked Thursday morning when she saw the long line of dignitaries file into her classroom.

As soon as Carballo noticed the balloons and flowers, she realized she had been chosen the 2009-10 Rookie Teacher of the Year for Marion County Public Schools.

“Oh, my goodness,” she said as principal Cheryl Laffey handed her a dozen orange and yellow roses. “I’m so nervous.”

Carballo received the traditional Red Apple trophy.

The award is part of the Public Education Foundation of Marion County’s Golden Apple teacher recognition program.

Her students gathered around her and put their hands in the air - palms up, fingers out - and yelled “Woot, woot!”

She competed against 43 other “rookies” - for this contest, that means three years or fewer in the classroom.

This is Carballo’s third year.

She was picked from a list of seven finalists, four of whom were observed by judges in the classroom.

In her portfolio, Carballo quoted author Dr. Haim Ginott: “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.”

Carballo earned her bachelor’s in pre-kindergarten and primary education in 2006 and a master’s in reading from Barry University in 2008.

She was a rookie finalist in 2008-09.

The honor kicked off a long day for two dozen officials, including School District administrators and School Board member Ron Crawford.

In addition to visiting the winning rookie, the group also went from school to school notifying the five veteran finalists for Teacher of the Year.

All of the nominees - 48 veterans and 44 rookies - will be honored on Feb. 26 at the Golden Apple Awards event, which will be held at West Port High’s auditorium.

The Teacher of the Year will be announced then.

Each school faculty chose a veteran and rookie nominee.

A Public Education Foundation panel chose 20 veteran teachers to interview.

Of those, 10 were observed in the classroom.

After the observations, five were chosen as finalists, who are listed below in alphabetical order.

David Burrage, Belleview Middle School
Burrage, a four-year veteran, stared blankly Thursday when the stream of educators entered his room to present his Golden Apple trophy.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said after he was handed balloons. “It’s a great school to work for, and these are great kids.”

Burrage is a man of few words. However, Belleview Middle assistant principal Patrick Kiernan said Burrage has made a huge impact on students, who rarely need discipline.

“The kids love him,” Kiernan said.

Burrage also recognized his partner teacher, Joyce Guilfoil, and two paraprofessionals, Trix Vanderlaan and Linda Holland.

In his portfolio, Burrage notes he teaches all subjects in a contained exceptional student education class for sixth- and seventh-graders with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

“I aspire to be an educator that each student admires,” he wrote. “I adore my occupation and come to work with a smile on my face daily.”

Cynthia Denise Gray, Belleview-Santos Elementary
Gray, a nine-year veteran, was in the middle of teaching her fourth-grade inclusion class when she realized she was a Golden Apple finalist.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said. “It’s because of you guys (the students) that I am a great teacher.”

While the students gathered around her, Gray’s husband, Jack, gave her a hug.

The students then wrote messages to her on the chalkboard.

“Best wishes,” one girl wrote.

“Seth was here,” another student wrote.

Gray believes that “the role of public education is to give each student the best education possible.”

“My main objective as a teacher is to convey an enthusiastic attitude that motivates my students to acquire a love of learning,” she wrote in her portfolio.

RaeAnna Fox Kramer, North Marion High
Kramer, an 11-year veteran with eight years of service in Marion County, was shocked Thursday to see the visitors as she mixed flour with a student to make a batch of cookies.

That’s when she knew she had been named one of the Golden Apple finalists.

“I would like to say there are a lot of good teachers in Marion County,” said Kramer, who is seven months pregnant.

“My blood pressure was high yesterday, but this is nice,” she said.

Kramer’s class sold cookies last year to raise money for the classroom.

They made $8,000 and bought a washer, dryer, stove and other items.

She teaches students with moderate disabilities in a self-contained ESE classroom.

The goal: to help them “transition from high school to independent adulthood through life skills and vocational training,” she wrote.

John Joseph LeTellier Jr., Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary
LeTellier, a 13-year veteran music teacher, smiled Thursday when the educators filled the classroom to give him his Golden Apple trophy.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “Thank you so much. I’m humbled and honored. Thanks for giving me this opportunity.”

After his speech, a kindergarten class gathered around the piano and sang “Is Your Mama a Llama?” while LeTellier played.

LeTellier wrote on the cover page of his Golden Apple portfolio that he “is passionate about sharing the love of music” with his students and it is his “hope that they develop a life-long appreciation for the arts.”

William Marcus Lockley, North Marion Middle
Lockley, a four-year veteran, was speechless Thursday when he was handed his Golden Apple trophy shortly after noon in his honors math class.

“Wow,” he said, moments before all of his students gathered around him for photos.

Superintendent of Schools Jim Yancey handed over the award just as another class of students came in and began yelling and screaming.

Lockley summed up his view on teaching in his Golden Apple portfolio.

“Educators guide the academic and social growth of students through positive interaction,” he wrote.

“We open the doors for students to view their world from new perspectives and provide the guidance students need to reach their full potential,” he wrote.

By Joe Callahan,
Star-Banner

This 50 page guide contains 9 different detailed classroom activities. These include in-classroom studies, experiments and observation and parent involvement. It’s a great addition to the student educational tab.

Interactive Lesson Plans

• Weather Tracking
• Calculating your Carbon Footprint
• Bags: Paper or Plastic?

[download#13]

Sophomore Nealyn Lea typed away on her laptop Friday while she listened to a Lake Weir High teacher talk about assignments in advanced world history class.

Down the hall in the library, media specialist Chris Youman helped freshman Austin Tinton set up his mini-laptop so he could access the Internet on campus.

When school started just a few weeks ago, principal Cynthia Saunders made sure her laptop-carrying students had time to visit computer experts at “mass load day.”

Mass load day, where the school’s computer wizards set up student laptops with the necessary software and passwords to get online, is the latest buzz word at Lake Weir.

Now, the roughly 10 percent of the 1,800-student school who carry laptops can go to the media center on Fridays to set up their computers.

Welcome to the new age of learning.

Lake Weir High students can now get their textbooks on a compact disc, or access them online and avoid the challenge of carrying those bulky books.

“I love having my text books on CD,” Nealyn said.

Lake Weir High is the only school in Marion County that has an entirely wireless campus, an upgrade that came as part of the school’s $33 million face-lift.

“Students who have their own laptops can now sit anywhere on campus and access the Internet,” said Saunders, adding that they must get a code to use the service. “It’s just like a college campus now.”

She also said the students must sign a document, which informs them of campus online protocol and the fact that firewalls will keep them from unauthorized sites.

The school is finally finished. On Friday, the construction trailer was moved, allowing Saunders to make plans for the Open House on Oct. 2 between 10 a.m. and noon.

“It has been an amazing transformation,” Superintendent of Schools Jim Yancey said.

The school, built about 35 years ago, had become an eyesore.

Behind the gymnasium, a fenced storage area for construction class supplies obstructed the view of the football stadium.

Worn grass and dirt paths zig-zagged between buildings. School spirit had dissipated, and student morale seemed to mirror the worn campus off Maricamp Road in Candler.

Not anymore.

The renovated campus includes a new cafeteria, as well new administration and classroom buildings.

There are new concrete walkways. And the school’s courtyard, once dirt and mud during rain storms, is now a concrete patio for students to gather after lunch.

But what’s creating the biggest buzz throughout the school, as well as around the county, is the school’s cutting edge technology.

All but 10 of the 100 teachers have engaged classrooms, which means they have smart boards, writing computer pads and 77-inch digital white boards.

Last spring, Saunders had planned to offer laptop purchasing programs through Dell at school. However, she soon learned other stores offered them cheaper.

“Parents can just shop around themselves if they want to purchase a laptop for their child,” she said.

And soon, every child on campus will get 25 gigabytes of storage on Live@Edu, a Microsoft-sponsored online site for high school and college students to store projects.

That means students will be able to work on class projects anywhere, storing them on the online database, allowing students to work together on team projects from home.

Scot Provost, Nealyn’s world history teacher, said the storage opens the door for online learning. And, on top of that, he encourages online study groups.

He even holds review sessions in the evenings online.

“I also have an online blog,” said Provost, who says students access his blog, tutorials and his Web site at home, or even at school if they have a laptop.

And now, as Lake Weir High moves into its prestigious International Baccalaureate program, officials say the revamped wireless school is wired for greater success.

Megan Losito, Lake Weir’s IB program director, said wireless capability that will allow campus-wide laptop use will play a big role in the program.

“It will be very important,” she said.

IB officials will conduct their on-site inspection on Nov. 16, and then Lake Weir officially becomes the School District’s latest school with a magnet program.

By Joe Callahan
Star Banner

By Joe Callahan
Star Banner

The sound speaker popped as Evergreen Elementary School teacher Chris Davis spoke to her reading class through a microphone that hung from her neck.

Davis, 44, a first-year teacher, began directing her students, all holding their books, to form a line for a short walk to math class.

A few classrooms down, fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Carey used a stylus to write on an interactive tablet that was linked to a computer. Her written images were projected onto a white board.

Carey, 23, also a first-year teacher, scribed fractions - which appeared red on the screen - in hopes of helping students solve word problems.

It was a fast-paced morning at Evergreen, which this year became Marion County’s first demonstration school. It’s part of the School District’s radical restructuring of Evergreen, which has not met No Child Left Behind criteria.

Principal Cassandra Boston quietly walked from room to room on this recent day, catching a glimpse at some of the 49 teachers who were hired over the summer.

Boston will soon be entertaining many visitors wanting to learn the new innovative teaching styles created by this magnet school of sorts.

Outside Evergreen, which is off West Anthony Road just north of Ocala, a sign states the school’s mission: “Prepare All Students for Success.”

In three months, Evergreen was remodeled and had new sound systems installed.

Boston and assistant principal Cathy Balius also hired a completely new staff.

The Evergreen staff was ordered to apply at other schools; anyone wishing to stay had to re-apply.

Only four of the 49 teachers at Evergreen last year are back.

Boston and Balius wanted teachers who understood they would host visitors.

And those teachers must embrace technology.

They ended up with a nice array of teachers - new and veteran - to launch the reborn school.

“The staff really jelled right away,” Boston said.

Its overall goal: improving student scores across the board.

Now that the team is in place, and technology has been installed with only a few glitches, Boston said the next big step is getting Evergreen parents involved.

Evergreen will have regular “Literacy Nights” with parents to teach them ways to help children grow academically.

Because some parents are lagging in education, Evergreen will offer monthly workshops to refresh parents on math, writing and reading.

“The parents must be able to help their children,” Boston said.

Boston said Evergreen needed a way to get parents to the school.

So parents who volunteer will receive credits to use in a store to purchase necessities such as toiletries and hygiene items.

They hope the incentives will get the poorer parents involved in their child’s academics. So far, so good.

“We had huge numbers here for orientation,” said Boston. She’s hoping for another big turnout at Tuesday night’s open house.

Staff members who worked at the school last year and returned for 2009-10 report a big shift in classroom participation and learning.

Teacher’s aide Priscilla Bellchase was saddened last year when she heard about the staff overhaul.

Bellchase said those teachers, who had become her family, were hardworking, and she was nervous about the coming transition.

But Bellchase is sold on Evergreen’s new vision.

Students are obviously excited about learning-based technology and the new sound system is helping them pay closer attention.

Assistant principal Balius said the attitude changed immediately.

“When they [students] got off the bus, they were thinking the school was the same as last year,” Balius said. “By the time they arrived in their classroom, they could tell it was different.”

Why would any teacher, especially a first-year instructor, want to be at a school under this much scrutiny?

Chris Davis said she wanted the job because she wants to hone her skills using the latest technology.

Though she knows she will be closely watched, she is pleased to be taking part of Evergreen’s transformation, a perfect way to kick off her career.

“I looked at the opportunity for learning,” she said.

Carey agreed that technology was a big selling point. She believes in the concepts the School District is implementing.

“I love the technology aspect of teaching,” she said.

All agree that Evergreen’s first true test will be next spring when state test results are revealed.

Those Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores will be the ultimate gauge the state will use to determine whether the demonstration school is a success.

And Boston knows it.

On a bulletin board outside her office, numerous graphs that break down student scores and compare them to state and School District averages remind her of the challenge.

They all know they do have an uphill climb.

“That’s what we’re working toward,” Boston said of the ultimate goal of improving test scores.

It was 1998, and more than 70 percent of Florida voters demanded that new wording be added to Article IX, Section 1, entitled Public Education for Children.

“It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders,” the Constitution now reads.

Jon Mills, a former speaker of the Florida House, penned those words, considered at the time the most definitive education requirement in any state constitution.

Mills, now director of the University of Florida’s Center for Governmental Responsibility, said the state has not lived up to that standard.

Instead, lawmakers have shifted the responsibility of paying for K-20 education - kindergarten through college - to property owners.

Of all the state’s general revenues - which include sales tax and fees - education’s share declined from 61.5 percent in 1984-85 to 50.5 percent in 2005-06.

Looking at just the education budget: In 1985, state sales taxes and fees paid 65 percent of the cost of public education. Now, sales taxes and fees pay only 47 percent. The rest comes from property taxes.

“Local taxpayers are now shouldering the responsibility that should be shouldered by the state,” Mills said.

State revenues and property taxes both are subject to fluctuation, depending on the economic climate. But even though there’s no perfect ratio, there is a strong sense - outside Tallahassee, at least - that the state just isn’t doing its share.

It’s a debate that heated up again after Florida nearly lost $2.2 billion in federal education stimulus aid because the state hadn’t been adequately funding schools.

What’s worse, no matter how the funding burden is divided between the state and property owners, Florida continues to rank near the bottom of all states in per-pupil funding.

The picture grew darkest in the past (2008-09) school year, when education funding was severely cut, causing school districts around the state to slice programs, reduce staff and trim expenses.

The issue prompts educators to question the state’s commitment to education and lawmakers to defend their actions.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, a seven-year veteran of state politics, agrees with the 1998 amendment, though he said educators forget about the state’s other costly obligations.

“We have a 1,000-pound elephant in the room called health care,” Cretul said, noting that those costs have skyrocketed, especially since 1998.

“Education is our core mission,” he said. “But we have to make sure there’s enough funding for the other services.”

Just a few years ago, Florida was flourishing financially. Tourists and new residents flooded into the state and property values soared.

By the 2006-07 budget year, the state collected a record $73 billion in sales taxes, ad valorem tax and other fees.

But then came a recession-led storm that kept away tourists, thus reducing sales tax revenue, and slowed the once-steady stream of incoming residents who supplied new property tax revenue.

When the housing market crashed, which sent property values and revenues plummeting, state funding was like a house of cards in a wind tunnel.

In just three years, the state budget declined by $11 billion, lawmakers say. Thanks to federal bailout money, the state’s budget for 2009-10 will top $66 billion.

The 2009-10 total revenue for education is expected to remain constant, but only because federal stimulus dollars are essentially providing a two-year grace period.

In 2006, if the state had funded education at 1985’s 61.5 percent level - and if the local efforts remained the same - there would have been $3 billion more in the state education budget, a 22 percent increase.

And that doesn’t include about $1 billion in lottery funds.

Even that would have left Florida about $500 below the national average in per-pupil funding.

The Heritage Foundation, a national think tank, found that after adjusting for inflation Florida was the second worst at increasing its K-12 per-pupil funding between 1994 and 2004.

Florida increased its per-pupil spending by only 8.5 percent to $7,683. Alaska was the only state with less of an increase, 5.9 percent. But it was already spending more than $11,000 per pupil on its children.

Dominic M. Calabro, Florida TaxWatch president, defended the Legislature, but only in regards to comparing 1985 and 2006 budgets.

He said just because education received 61.5 percent of the general revenue in 1985, that doesn’t mean education should necessarily get the same percentage today.

He said the cost of health care has skyrocketed since 1985 and other issues have required bigger shares of the state budget.

State Rep. Kurt Kelly, R-Ocala, said people need to get away from concentrating on percentages. General revenues for education did rise by nearly $10 billion from 1985 to 2006 - $5 billion more than inflation.

“Percentages do not spend; dollars do,” said Kelly, a former Marion County School Board member.

The big concern for Florida TaxWatch is that property owners are paying a larger share for education.

In 2008-09, 53 percent of the education budget was financed by ad valorem taxes. Two decades ago, property owners paid only 35 percent.

Steve Barrett, Marion County’s executive director of support services, said lawmakers should remember that student enrollment in Florida has doubled in 20 years. That’s why the budget has grown by $10 billion.

The best way to gauge funding is on per-pupil figures, he said. And Florida ranks among the worst.

“Education was also underfunded back then [1985] and they [state officials] have been trying to play catch up all of those years,” Barrett said.

Keith Birkett, the assistant superintendent who oversees the budget for Alachua County Public Schools, disputes any claim that the state is paying its share.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” he said. “The increase in funding has been based on property taxes increases” and not sales taxes.

Cretul, however, asks residents to remember that they are - and have been - paying for education all along, whether through fees or ad valorem or sales taxes.

“These are all taxes,” he said.

There has been a long debate about whether Florida Lottery dollars, which are supposed to enhance education, have actually been supplanting state general education revenue.

Calabro said in the early 1990s that lottery money had been supplanting general revenue. Today, however, lottery dollars are in fact enhancing education, he said - just not all at the local level.

Lottery funds are being used to pay Bright Futures scholarships and to help schools build more classrooms, mainly due to class-size reduction mandates.

In 1992, the state issued Marion County $8.3 million and Alachua County $6.3 million in discretionary lottery funds to be used as needed.

By 2008-09, that number had dwindled to $1 million in Marion and $700,000 in Alachua. In 2009-10, school districts will no longer get those discretionary funds - just school recognition money earmarked for high-performing schools.

That will be roughly $1.9 million in Marion and $1.4 million in Alachua.

The reason lottery money is not going as far is due to a large increase in the number of students qualifying for Bright Futures. Plus, lottery proceeds have remained stagnant due to the recession.

Cretul said lawmakers will have to look closely at Bright Futures, which he calls a very “successful program,” because it is using up nearly all the lottery funds.

“We will have to look at capping it,” he said.

While the state is reducing education’s share of the pie, voters and lawmakers have been adding more unfunded mandates, especially the class-size amendment.

Experts agree that small classes are best. When class sizes remained too high for voters’ tastes, advocates eventually went to the voters and asked that requirements be written into the state Constitution. Despite then-Gov. Jeb Bush’s fight against it, the effort prevailed, and the state has been trying to find money to pay for it ever since.

When the class-size amendment passed in 2002, Florida lawmakers had to start funneling more money into building classrooms, instead of improving teaching, said Barrett. And it meant many more teachers had to be hired, thus increasing school district expenses.

All told, it crippled school districts, most school experts, lawmakers and finance directors agree. That’s because school districts now must abide by the amendment with less revenue than they were receiving back in 2005.

“Before class-size amendment, we just put more kids in a class until it [economy] got better,” Barrett said. “Today, we can’t do that.”

Barrett, whose financial team has won nine consecutive national budgeting awards, says Tallahassee needs to fix this. But, “lawmakers do not have the fortitude to create a mechanism for a dedicated funding source for education,” said Barrett, who retires this month.

He said lawmakers need to look at repealing some of the estimated 250 exemptions that could free up as much as $2 billion in revenue.

Tax Watch has a committee reviewing those exemptions. State Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, filed a bill last session that required lawmakers to look at those exemptions. She didn’t get much interest, she said.

Barrett doubts that any tax increases will be added in the future because of retirees, most of whom have no children or grandchildren in the education system.

“They come to Florida just for these tax breaks,” Barrett said, adding that lawmakers intend to keep it that way.

Lynn, a 16-year veteran in Tallahassee and a former teacher, said Florida is a leader, especially in Bright Future scholarships, dual enrollment and pre-K.

“We’re ahead of many states in these areas,” she said.

She also says it’s not about the percentage of money going to education, but “how you spend it.” Lynn believes the money is being spent wisely.

Cretul believes the state is fulfilling its responsibility to education, considering overall funding is near an all-time high.

Cretul said a House committee looked at the exemptions and found that removing some could have a trickle-down effect and actually lead to less state revenue. He also points out that Education Week ranked Florida high in providing quality education.

Barrett was appalled to hear that lawmakers are citing the state’s good ranking in the prestigious Education Week’s report.

Though Education Week gave Florida an F in overall funding and college preparedness, it ranked the state 10th in quality of education. The review basically ranks states based on doing more with less.

“It’s all due to the hard work of the teachers, staff and administrators across this state,” he said, adding that employees worked hard without appropriate state funding.

Kelly said he went to Tallahassee to make sure that education was properly funded and it was protected when it came to the class-size amendment.

He believes lsegislators are doing their best, considering overall funding in Florida has dropped by $11 billion. He says he has fought to maintain education funding “levels.”

“While we maintained funding education, we have had to cut many other areas,” he said. “I think we have done a good job at protecting education.”

Judy Preston, a Brevard Public Schools associate superintendent over finance, has become known statewide for her push for better education funding. She believes that education needs more money to operate, and that less should be coming from property owners.

She believes a financial disaster is looming if the economy does not turn around by the end of 2010-11. That’s because stimulus money will run out, and it appears that lawmakers are not making plans for alternative funding sources.

Cretul acknowledged that Florida could see a $1 billion deficit in 2011-12, when stimulus funds expire, if the economy doesn’t turn around.

He said lawmakers have been making all the necessary cuts to prepare for the worst, though more preparation is needed.

Alachua County’s Birkett said the funding crisis led a grassroots group, called Citizens for Strong Schools, to push last year for a 1 mill levy to help fund Alachua County education.

The four-year funding source passed in November and will generate about $13 million annually for that district. That’s a prime example where the state is failing and proof that the state needs to step up, experts say.

To help make educational ends meet in 2009-10, lawmakers also increased the required local millages that school districts must levy. They also reduced the capital millage by 0.25 mills and added a 0.25 critical needs millage for individual school boards to consider.

Many school districts have passed the critical needs tax. The Marion County School Board will vote on its final budget, which includes the critical needs tax, on Tuesday.

Alachua County will not enact the tax because voters already approved the 1 mill tax.

“There must be a lot more discussion on these very issues,” said Mills, the former House speaker. “Failure is not an option.”

By Joe Callahan
Star Banner

A video made by Grant Harriss, 11, which covers Ocala’s history, with more than 8,300 viewings, has become a bit of a YouTube sensation since being posted in July.

“History of Ocala,” at a length of seven minutes and 48 seconds, covers the town’s early roots and more current information. It contains images of landmarks such as the Brahma, Plantation Pancake Inn and Four “B’s” restaurants, Six Gun Territory and “then and now” pictures of the downtown square and Munroe Regional Medical Center.

Grant uses his mom’s video camera, his Mac computer and iMovie and Final Cut Express-Special Effects computer programs to make his videos, which include mood-setting music, titles and credits.

The “History of Ocala” includes banjo music and, according to Grant’s dad, Wally, has been incorporated into an area real estate promotion.

Grant’s mom, Kelley, said Scott Mitchell, director of the Silver River Museum, has expressed an interest in using the video as well.

The production was a family collaboration, combining Kelley’s recently acquired pursuit of collecting antique Ocala postcards with Grant’s interest in making videos.

The project earned Grant the Boy Scout’s Citizen of the Community merit badge, one of five he has garnered since starting scouting in February. He has a long-range goal of attaining Eagle Scout rank.

Although his upcoming productions likely will include action and horror genre videos because they involve Grant’s love of special effects, future creations may also include public service or mystery.

Kelley, a guidance counselor at Eighth Street Elementary, said her son’s filmmaking — in the spirit of fun and learning — is part of his “well-rounded” education.

Grant said he hopes to get a digital video camera soon. When asked what he would do with an unlimited movie budget, he replied: “I would like to make an action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“Grant enjoys the ‘Terminator’ type movies because of the special effects,” said his father. “He would like to be the Clint Eastwood of his era — an actor and producer.”

Grant said he also likes the special effects work of Steven Spielberg.

The Osceola Middle School sixth-grader has been making videos for about a year, learning many aspects of computer-based film work by studying tutorials on YouTube.

“His friends Harris Cannon and Connor Feagle met every Monday last school year and studied,” Kelley said.

They learned the fundamentals of film, for example, storyboarding and other aspects of the art. The three produced a video titled “Four Knights,” a Claymation short where chess pieces move by themselves and melt and stretch.

The chess pieces were moved “a little at a time,” Grant said, as filming was stopped and restarted time after time in a painstaking process. The production won the trio the first-place award in the Marion County Student Media Festival in May, according to Kelley.

The three friends also were involved in a three-minute, 42-second “Bike Safety” public service announcement, which includes equipment safety reminders, proper fitting and wearing of helmets, and rules of the road advice. It took third place in the media competition.

Grant has recently produced a video based upon poetry by Robert Frost. Impressive special effects in some of his other productions include making his brother Reid, 8, appear and disappear, fire breathing, simulated gunfire and “magic” blood. He said his yet-to-be-released “Camp Moonlight” is a mystery about kids at camp that gets pretty grisly.

“Grant’s videos include rough and tumble play, which is typical of 11-year-olds, but it’s all in good fun,” Kelley said.

Grant’s parents encourage him, but he pursued filmmaking on his own.

Although his endeavors earn him the title of producer, director and actor, he still must take occasional direction himself inside the 1940s split-level brick home that has housed three generations of the Harriss family.

“My mom says I watch too much TV,” he said.

By Andy Fillmore
Star Banner Correspondent

Located just off Lake Weir Avenue, Jeannie Wilkins walked her twin 5-year-old boys, Austin and Dillan, to Carol Chandler’s class at South Ocala Elementary School.

Wilkins smiled as she watched her stoic boys say goodbye.

“This is the first day of the rest of their lives,” Wilkins said. “They are now little men. I am so proud.”

The mother said she expected to be in tears in the car as she drives away from the school, which is in the process of a $15 million remodeling project.

It was the first day of school in Marion County, where 42,000 students are expected to fill hallways by October’s peak enrollment period.

Though there were some late buses, glitches in a few routes and some confusion at a few schools, School District officials say the 2009-10 year is off to a smooth start.

“So far it appears everything is going very smooth,” said Kevin Christian, School District spokesman. “We are not getting the same volume of calls (about bus issues).”

Usually the phone rings off the hook on the first day of school at the School District’s downtown headquarters. On Monday, a just a few bus-related calls trickled in.

School District officials believe that an online system, which allows parents to find bus numbers and times, has helped with transportation confusion.

And it appears parents may have been better prepared this year, making sure they took children to open house to learn about supplies, school times and teacher assignments.

Superintendent of Schools Jim Yancey traveled to numerous schools on Monday, including the newly remodeled Lake Weir High School.

“It looks great,” he said, adding that school was off to a good start with very few glitches. At Hammett Bowen Jr. Elementary, there was an electrical issue, Yancey said.

That issue was repaired quickly.

At South Ocala, first-year principal Laura Burgess nervously awaited the first day to begin. And with the construction, she had to create special car lines and bus loops.

And despite nearby construction crews, who were separated from the students with double fencing, the first day of school went very smoothly.

And most all of the teachers credit the smooth start to Burgess, who worked hard over the summer planning bus and car loops, as well as sending letters to parents.

A few miles away, at Osceola Middle School, principal John McCollum talked about his unique challenge this year. He is also the principal of Eighth Street Elementary.

The two school share the same campus. And the combined campus, McCollum said, is small in comparison to some of the larger middle school campus on the county.

“I cover about the same ground that my counterparts cover at other middle schools,” said McCollum, who admits he is getting used to two campus.

Osceola Middle School begins class now at 7:50 a.m. — 100 minutes earlier than last year — and Eighth Street Elementary starts at 8:15 a.m., 25 minutes later.

That means McCollum welcomes middle school children at that car line first and then heads to elementary side to do the same. He spends time in two offices.

In the afternoon, he says goodbye to the middle school students and then walks over to see off the little ones. In between, he has to double duty when it comes to some things.

He has two separate budgets, parent/teacher organizations and student advisory councils to oversee as well. Not to mention two different faculty meetings.

“It will be a challenge,” said McCollum, adding he has two great staffs that help him keep it all together.

By Joe Callahan
Star Banner