MORE PILOTS NEEDED

When an individual slips on a sidewalk, the first thing we do isn't offer everyone on the city block a foot massage. We don't pass out brochures on how to walk or create a sidewalk awareness campaign.

No, the first thing we do is take care of the individual who fell. When it was seen that children in Escambia County needed more support, voters passed the Escambia Children's Trust, not to take care of every child or create brochures and awareness campaigns but to help those falling behind year after year.

The learning gaps between our Black children and their white counterparts are 33% in English Language Arts, 35% in Mathematics and 39% in Science—roughly 4,600 students who aren't performing on their grade level.

We know what schools they attend. We know where they live, and we have data that shows their health issues. Why isn't the Trust focusing on those schools and neighborhoods?

Its staff developed a beautiful ECT Needs Assessment report with graphs and photos. The 80-page report lists 24 indicators clustered under the themes of health, academics, abuse and risky behaviors. However, it does not tell us where the identified needs are most prevalent.

Fortunately, the University of West Florida and Studer Community Institute have done research on locating the pockets of poverty. The schools serving those areas have students struggling academically and in just about every core indicator listed in the ECT Needs Assessment report.

We sent Tom St. Myer to Oakcrest Elementary and Montclair Elementary because the schools are in two pockets of poverty in the 32505 ZIP code area, where the median household income is $38,863, almost $20,000 below the Escambia County average. The schools earned Ds last year and two Ds and an F among their last five grades. The link between families in poverty and poor academic performance is indisputable. School Superintendent Tim Smith shared with me last month (Inweekly, "Poor Students, Poor School," 1/26/23), "One of the biggest challenges that we have in public education is our students who struggle with poverty don't have the same resources as other kids."

ECT Executive Director Tammy Greer listed for her board the people she had visited since being hired. The list included Achieve Escambia, Julian MacQueen, Dr. Ed Meadows, Quint Studer, Equity Project Alliance, Jenn Grove, Andrea Krieger and Todd Thomson. Greer didn't meet with Shona Person and Dawn Turley, the principals at Montclair and Oakcrest.

Tom did, and he also listened to teachers, staff and parents about what they see as the challenges in their neighborhoods. He shared some of those conversations in this issue.

Montclair and Oakcrest are safe havens where children are nurtured. But each afternoon, students leave the comfort of school and return to rundown houses and apartments in blighted neighborhoods void of health care facilities, grocery stores, parks and other amenities. A family resource guide and awareness campaigns won't make much difference in the lives of children who are hungry, sick and living in substandard conditions.

What is needed are pilot programs targeting specific indicators in defined neighborhoods where outcomes can be measured and programs modified as required. The pilot programs must be scalable to other areas. We have done this before. C.A. Weis Elementary was a pilot for the Community Partnership School program, and it's being replicated at Pine Forest High School.

We should group some core indicators. For example, we can cluster infant mortality, low birth weights and prenatal care and ask for a pilot program in a neighborhood struggling with these issues. Providers submit programs with a budget not to exceed $500,000 annually.

Eight pilot programs would cover most of the indicators, and we expand the successful ones into other neighborhoods. It sounds so simple and much better than the Trust staff's current approach, which spreads money around to please as many people as possible.

Maybe the ECT board will listen—if not to me, maybe to the principals, teachers and parents in 32505. Abandon the shotgun approach and concentrate on where the most need is.

{in} rick@inweekly.net