The Florida Department of Education released district-by-district scores for the 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test’s Writing Exam Wednesday.

This is the first year students have received scores that include their performance on a new multiple-choice portion of the FCAT writing test.

Results on the essay portion – which students have been taking for years – show a slight increase versus a year ago. But the combined scores statewide aren’t as rosy. Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg.

“The results for this year are that in grade 4 60-percent of the students are at or above grade level…that’s level 3 and above on writing skills. In 8th 45-percent of students are at or above grade level. And grade 10 49-percent are at or above grade level.”

Blomberg says individual school grades will be calculated on essay scores only. But that the combined scores will eventually be used to determine if high school students can graduate.

Beginning with the class of 2010 all students will have to score 300 or better on the combined FCAT writing test to graduate. The requirement does not affect this year’s 10th graders… only 49-percent of which met the standard.

Here in Southwest Florida: Charlotte Sarasota County students surpassed the state average – Lee County was almost exactly average…while students in Glades, Hendry and Collier Counties all scored below the statewide numbers.

The tallest building in Immokalee is now complete. The third floor of the Immokalee Community School had been an empty shell but a grant from the Naples Children and Education Foundation paid to put up walls – creating classrooms - office space and even a dance studio. Valerie Alker prepared this report.

The Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees voted to give former President Dr. Bill Merwin nearly 400 thousand dollars Wednesday to end his contract with the school.

One Winter Saturday art festival in Southwest Florida is the culmination of a year's worth of work, and the money raised supports local art and music programs in Lee County Schools. Kathleen Moye reports. The Edison Celebration of Art is Saturday from
10 to 5 in the Fort Myers River District. Details are online
At www.edisoncelebration.com.

Education officials in Charlotte County are considering making a move to single sex classes in one middle school.

Depending on feed-back from the community, math and science classes at Murdock Middle School may be segregated next year according to gender. Charlotte school’s spokesman Mike Riley says school superintendent Dr. Dave Gayler is considering the move based on the results of new research.

"he had a lot of research data. it was good data. it showed improvements in test scores for both boys and girls and the thing that was appealing somewhat was the discipline problems really dramatically dropped."

Riley says data shows some middle school students learn better in single gender settings. He says before any changes are made – parents, students and student advocates will have ample opportunity to talk about it with school officials.

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If the School Board gives its approval, students at Murdock Middle in Charlotte County may find themselves in single gender math and science classes next year. The classes would teach the same material but would use gender-based teaching methods. School Spokesman Mike Riley says research indicates it’s an effective approach to teaching middle school students.

"socially, especially in middle school, their hormones are just spiraling off on every piston and they are a unique group of individuals and sometimes girls don’t want to show how smart they are and they want the boy to like them – you get individual situations like that."

Other school districts, including Manatee County’s have already decided to separate the sexes in some schools – and more have been considering it since a federal law was loosened in October.

Collier County has received the second largest federal grant in the country to conduct random drug tests on high school students. Florida is the only state to get more than one grant. Hernando and Citrus Counties also won money. WGCU’s Amy Tardif reports.

Florida Gulf Coast University’s board of trustees has agreed to accept a developer’s 70-million-dollar proposal to build a satellite center in Charlotte County. The vote was nearly unanimous, despite apparent resistance from Charlotte County’s Board of commissioners.
FGCU’s campus in South Lee County is filling up fast, so it wants to branch out. Last week a selection committee unanimously chose a 24-hundred-acre cattle ranch in Northeast Charlotte County, near the Desoto County line, for a satellite campus. But Charlotte County Commissioners also unanimously voted last week…to quote-“strongly discourage” any proposed sites that aren’t in the county’s Urban Service Area…sites like the Hudson Sun-River ranch. FGCU President - Dr. Bill Merwin – says this is just a first step…and if commissioners don’t want this site, all they have to do is vote no. He says any deal this big is bound to encounter some resistance…

“There will be push back, yes. I definitely expect that there’ll be opposition. These are major deals…I mean, if somebody’s willing to donate 70-million dollars worth of land and services and cash to the university you’ve got to recognize that these are huge financial deals, and there are people who are not quite satisfied yet.”

One of those people is FGCU Trustee Lindsay Harrington. The former Charlotte County State Representative tried unsuccessfully to get the board to postpone its decision. He told his fellow trustees he’d received some negative feedback – and thought more time would benefit everyone. President Merwin says Harrington’s move took him by surprise…but he wished dissenting voices had spoken up earlier in the process.

“I guess my point being is that we’ve gone through this fairly elaborate and detailed process…and my question was, where were those people then?”

Harrington was the only board member to vote against accepting the Hudson Sun-River proposal. Worth nearly 70-million-dollars, the offer includes 150-acres of land, 5-million-dollars in cash, and a water and wastewater facility to serve the campus and any nearby development.
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Florida Gulf Coast University’s board of trustees voted yesterday to accept a 70-million-dollar package for a satellite center in Charlotte County. Hudson Sun-River’s proposal includes 150-acres in northeast Charlotte County, and a water and wastewater facility to serve the campus and any surrounding development. The approval came in spite of a recent vote by Charlotte County Commissioners to quote-“strongly discourage” any sites outside of the county’s Urban Service Area. FGCU President – Dr. Bill Merwin – says there are still many hurdles…

“We’ve got to go to the Charlotte County Commission and get them to extend their Urban Service Area a little further to the east than what it currently is. I’ve got to get approval from the Board of Governors to get their approval to build a branch campus. And all of those are hurdles, but this is the first step.”

In addition to Charlotte County the project also needs approval from the Florida Department of Community Affairs. The board of trustees decision was nearly unanimous, with only former Charlotte County State Representative Lindsay Harrington dissenting.

The Charlotte County School District is hosting 3 ground breaking ceremonies today. They reflect the district’s continued recovery from Hurricane Charley which devastated the county in 2004. Hurricane Charley damaged 10 schools in Charlotte County – six of them beyond repair. Now plans to rebuild three of them are complete. School and Community relations officer Mike Riley says the triple groundbreakings mark a milestone.

“We have reached a settlement with fema and our insurance and then received a guaranteed maximum price from the architects, engineers and builders so we were able to go ahead with those three schools so we thought we’d go ahead and make a it a great day and do all three at one time.”

The price tag for rebuilding the 3 schools is about 112 million dollars.
A rebuilt Neil Armstrong Elementary and Baker Head Start Center will welcome back students in mid 2007. Punta Gorda Middle School’s new campus should be ready by early 2008.

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Charlotte County School officials have a busy morning planned. They’re attending groundbreaking ceremonies for three schools being rebuilt following destruction by Hurricane Charley in 2004. Students from Neil Armstrong Elementary, the Baker Center and Punta Gorda Middle School have attended class in portables since then. Community Relations Officer Mike Riley says the new schools represent a wide-ranging collaboration.

“one of the things that’s unique about the planning and building of this school is the children have been involved – school staff – cafeteria folks – teachers – parents have been involved – and what we’ve done is built the school to fits the needs of our community”

The price tag for the three rebuilt schools is about 112 million dollars. The new campuses should all be up and running by early 2008. The student population in Charlotte County declined by 11-hundred following Hurricane Charley – but enrollment is once again on the rise.

Naval crews from some Caribbean and Latin American countries will soon do part of their training here in southwest Florida…thanks to a collaboration between the U-S Department of Defense, and the Lee County School District. The new program is called Operation Enduring Friendship. The Defense Department contracted with Naples Yacht, and ‘Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats of Cape Coral’ to build 8 interceptor ships. They’ll be used by the militaries of several Caribbean & Latin American countries to combat smuggling.
Lee Schools spokesman - Joe Donzelli – says once built, the vessels will need crews to maintain them…and that’s where the district comes in…

“We were approached because of the programs we have in place – specifically the facility at High Tech Central, which is located right here in Fort Myers. We were asked if we could provide the training component for this program…and we couldn’t jump at it quick enough.”

Donzelli says the new partnership comes with little cost to the district.
The first class gets underway in January with a crew from Panama. Another one from the Dominican Republic will follow after that.

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The Lee County School District’s High Tech Central will soon be home to a training program for naval crews from Latin American and Caribbean countries. The U-S Defense Department has tapped two local companies – Naples Yacht, and ‘Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats of Cape Coral’ –to build 8 military vessels.

District spokesman – Joe Donzelli – says they’ll provide the ships – and Lee County Schools will provide a place to teach their crews how to maintain them…

“As far as the military procedures that’ll all be done by the militaries of the respective countries. The training that’s going to be going on here is to make sure that those boats can operate so these individuals can do their job.”

Naples Yacht will hire specialized instructors…and pay for tools needed for the training.The first crew will come from Panama…and will get started in January. Next it’s the Dominican Republic and other countries after that.

Students in Collier County head back to school Monday. And they will find some changes when they return to their classrooms.
The Collier County School System hired nearly 400 teachers over the summer and now have a total of 28-hundred. District spokesman Joe Landon says those extra teachers will get to work immediately:

“We’re welcoming 44,000 students today and that’s about 1,100 more than we welcomed a year ago. So we’ve got 1,100 students who are new to the district this year.”

The yellow and black school buses will travel more than 270 routes, transporting a total of 20-thousand kids to campuses every day. Also new this year: all student-athletes in Collier County will now be required to prove their ages before they can compete. It stems from Immokalee High School’s use of overage students in soccer and football.
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Charlotte and Lee County Schools have already returned from their summer breaks. Now they’re joined today (Monday) by their counterparts in Collier County. More than 44-thousand students start class today in Collier – an increase of a thousand over last year. The district added 400 new teachers to accommodate them. In addition, nine elementary and middle schools have added a dress code. District spokesman Joe Landon says a handful of campuses tried it last year and they noticed improvements immediately:

“Reduced discipline problems and just students overall seem to be pleased with the way things go when they’re wearing uniforms.”
Landon says the Collier school dress code usually consists of a collared shirt and khaki pants.

Also new this year: student athletes are required to prove their ages before they can take the field. The district made the change after Immokalee High School played several overage students in soccer and football.