“This designation does not give us the ability to restrict anything.”
Dear Pine View community,
During the month of January, Dr. Covert and Mr. Cantees will present a "new vision" for Pine View to the Sarasota County School Board. It will forever impact every Pine View student from 8th grade down regarding high school graduation requirements. It will create a "plan" under the "magnet school" designation, which many feel is not really in students’ best interest; it is simply a guaranteed income stream for Pine View and the District.
Currently, Pine View students are able to craft their own plan for graduation and it can consist of DE (dual enrollment), FLVS (online classes), and classes on the Pine View campus. Going forward, under the guise of a committee (we maintain without real stakeholder input) this plan will limit and control classes to be taken exclusively on Pine View’s campus of AP (Advanced Placement) courses delivered by "gifted certified teachers.”
The committee has some legitimacy issues
The committee members were not able to speak freely as most were district employees. There were not people with differing opinions reaching consensus. There was not actual data used to make decisions. Further, the committee was biased towards gifted certified teachers, preferring them to even actual college professors who may not be gifted certified, hence the rationale to limit/deny DE classes. For the record, even Pine View teachers are not all gifted certified (10-20% annually are not gifted certified). Also, there is no evidence or data to support the educational outcomes delivered by gifted certified teachers vs. highly qualified teachers who do not have a gifted certification.
Why this limits and denies opportunities for Pine View students
First of all, many sections of AP classes delivered by effective teachers are capped for enrollment, therefore, the same options are not offered to all students, which is why many in the Pine View community feel other options are critical.
Secondly, if this was really in students’ best interest, authentic data, (actual AP data of grades and pass rates for tests) for all teachers at Pine View would be publicly posted and viewed prior to this big change. That didn't happen. Instead a control group of mostly employees was convened to create a predetermined plan for students - the "new vision" is really a money grab.
Here’s the deal
AP courses bring money in. Options for students are costs to the district. High school teachers have gone so far as to tell students this. However, official statements frame these new changes to be in the interest of the "integrity of the diploma." If that was true, again, real data would have been available.
The bottom line is the district is using gifted kids to generate further income and if you don't happen to like it, then you can go to your district school. It's a win win for the Sarasota County School DIstrict. Really smart kids will help the other schools maintain A ratings, and the gifted school will guarantee more money, and have less expense.
Pine View students will not be afforded the same opportunities as all other district high school students.
Pine View students will no longer be able to get their A.A. (Associate in Arts) degree concurrently with their Pine View diploma, while all other district high school students can.
Approximately half of Pine View’s graduates attend Florida’s state colleges and universities. Pine View students are competing (nationally) for seats with all other high school students.
While some administrators at Pine View and in the district boast about the power of AP courses, what you need to know is that increasingly, colleges and universities are no longer accepting AP classes for college credit! (DE classes are accepted at all Florida colleges and universities).
This change certainly makes the “new vision” already antiquated and definitely not forward-looking into the next 50 years!
Finally, the National Association of Gifted Children advises that the limitations of AP coursework mean that districts must offer additional curriculum options to be considered as having gifted and talented services.
NAGC recommends
https://www.nagc.org/myths-about-gifted-students
FLVS and DE classes are your right, unless you go to a magnet school
Information on Virtual School Choice Options for Florida Students
Virtual Education Choices FLDOE