Florida’s VPSC Grant Project: Year Two

Article Submitted By: Yolanda Miranda-Hill

Year One of the five-year Florida Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) grant has come to an end.  Projects facilitated during this first year included: 1) two new School Choice parent resource centers (PRCs), 2) three proposed interdistrict agreement models, and 3) twelve statewide appointed School Choice Parent Advisory Council (SCPAC) members.  Collaborative efforts through the partnerships with Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and the primary districts of Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Polk, have added value to the VPSC grant.  Their impact on students in lower-performing schools will be more significant as each VPSC project increases the opportunity for acquiring a high-quality education.  

Year Two of Florida’s VPSC program promises to build on this strong foundation.  One area that Florida recognizes as crucial is the importance of a quality comprehensive outreach plan.  For this reason under the management of NSU, three additional School Choice PRCs will be established in Year Two.  The current proposal seeks to form a North Florida PRC location near the Panhandle and two PRCs in Palm Beach County; one community-based and the other within the district.  Outreach efforts will also be coordinated through the existing PRCs to promote the three interdistrict agreement models during the spring of 2009, kicking-off the models’ implementation during the fall.  But wait, the newly appointed statewide SCPAC, along with five regional and local PACs, and the PRCs will work closely to fulfill the mission of informing all Florida parents about all educational options and opportunities available to their students.  The SCPAC will serve as a resource to parents, community members, and the school district to discuss issues and concerns related to School Choice Options.  The fun does not stop here.

Implementation of the three interdistrict agreement models is another program focus during Year Two.  In a partnership with Polk County, Hillsborough County’s B.R.I.D.G.E. Model seeks to replicate an advanced studies choice program through the AVID Program.  Students in low-performing schools will be served in the AVID program in two ways:  1) through membership in the AVID elective class, and 2) through AVID strategies used in all content classes by content teachers.  Palm Beach County, partnering with Monroe County, will replicate their nationally recognized West Boca Raton’s Culinary Career Academy as a School-within-a-School Replication Model.  The model will provide a cohort of students, who currently do not have viable school choice options, the opportunity to enroll in the career academy program at Monroe County’s Marathon High School, a Title I school.  Through organized activities, Web casting between school sites, attendance at student trainings and workshops hosted by each school district for the joint participation of students in both school districts, as well as a pen-pal/buddy system between the two schools, a common bond will be formed between the students of both culinary arts career academies.  Polk County’s focus on Breaking the Barriers Choice Improvement Model concentrates a two tier project.  They will expand their existing interdistrict partnerships with Hillsborough and Osceola counties, and continue to seek transfer applications from students in low-performing schools who wish to transfer to a higher-performing school.  In addition, the model will include activities to create a comprehensive partnership among six additional districts to collaboratively examine the challenges of the school choice programs in the central Florida region, in hopes of improving the quality and quantity of their own appropriate educational options to encouraging parents to utilize options for their children.  All models will enhance and replicate a public school choice option, thus strengthening the availability, accessibility, and equity of educational options for parents.