Parents of students in Hamilton County’s public school system are understandably upset after two of Hamilton County’s four schools received F’s under the state grading system.

In efforts to rectify the problems plaguing our schools, Superintendent Martha Butler and Assistant Superintendent Rex Mitchell have been holding meetings with parents this month to discuss ways parents can make better choices with regard to their child’s academic needs.

Three of these community meetings have now been held, the first at North Hamilton Elementary on July 14, the second at South Hamilton Elementary last Thursday and the final meeting at Central Hamilton Elementary on Monday.

Speaking before a group of more than 100 parents and concerned citizens, Butler and Mitchell presented the school district’s plans for countering the failing grades and bettering the system in general.

Butler spoke regarding the activity bus program that was abandoned in the 2008-09 school year, explaining that a grant has been applied for to cover the operating expenses of the running the bus. She added that the bus would run whether the grant comes through or not.

Mitchell presented four main ideas during the presentation: the Physical Education Waiver, Florida’s Differentiated Accountability Plan (FDAP), School Choice and the availability of the Virtual Instruction Program and The Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Florida law requires that each student receive 150 minutes each week of physical education. The waiver would allow those students requiring remediation to opt for an educational class rather than PE during that time. It also applies to children who are already receiving the physical exercise each week by means of outside sports, dance, gym, etc. This would free up the student to concentrate on academics.

On the topic of FDAP, Mitchell explained that a school’s placement in the Differentiated Accountability matrix is based on the number of years a school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). If a school makes AYP one year, it enters a “holding period” and remains in its current Differentiated Accountability Category. A school must make AYP two consecutive years to exit Differentiated Accountability. If a school exits but misses AYP in a subsequent year, it is considered to have missed AYP one year. During FDAP, there are different levels of intervention a school may be required to submit to. Both CHE and HCHS are now listed as being under the direction of the school district, and the district and the state will monitor progress at the school.

Regarding school choice, parents received a handout explaining, “SB 1676 is a new law that requires all Florida school districts to provide a Virtual Instruction Program (VIP) for its students. The North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC) is pleased to provide VIP services to its member districts’ students.” To find out if a child is eligible for this program, parents can contact the school board office or log on to old.nefec.org and follow the prompts for “Student Application Process.” Mitchell explained that the window for enrolling a student in VIP is July 1 through July 31.

The final topic was the Opportunity Scholarship. Parents were encouraged to submit the parent Option Request Form that allows parents to keep their child at CHE and work with the staff and parents to improve the child’s academic performance, or request a transfer to a better-graded public school in another district. These requests, he noted, are also due back to the school by July 30.