Volusia County Schools to end Plus One program

VUE President Elizabeth Albert opposed the change, saying the program provides 95 more hours of learning annually per school.

JARLEENE ALMENAS SENIOR EDITOR

Next school year, Volusia County Schools will end a program that provides up to an hour of extra instructional time per day at five Title 1 schools. The district said it wants to let schools use their federal funding to address other needs.

The teachers union, Volusia United Educators, opposed the decision in a press release and at a School Board meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

VUE president Elizabeth Albert said the Plus One program — currently in place at Starke Elementary, West Side Elementary, Palm Terrace Elementary, Holly Hill School and Turie T. Small Elementary — provides 95 extra hours of academic learning per year at each school.

The program provides 30 minutes of learning time for students daily, and an additional 30 minutes of planning time for instructional staff.

“The reduction of academic classroom learning time by this amount is more than concerning to me and the teachers and staff members I serve,”

Albert said. “It has been shared with me that the data does not support the continuance of the program. However, what reasonable expectation is there that improvements, or just the maintenance of the current level of learning, will occur with less classroom learning time?”

The district is proposing to replace the Plus One program with tutoring, but Albert said not all students will be able to benefit from tutoring.

Title 1 schools receive federal financial assistance due to their high number of children from lowincome families.

“If our focus is on remediating learning loss and filling the gaps that have been created by almost three years of interrupted learning due to COVID, then please allow additional time to remain in place,” Albert said.

“We cannot say that every minute counts if we are willing to take so much of it away.”

According to VUE, the Plus One program costs about $2 million. It started as a pilot program in Volusia County in 2003 at Woodward Elementary for single-gender classes, which no longer exist.

When Volusia County School Board member Ruben Colon asked for more information on the program, Deputy Superintendent Rachel Hazel said that the state withdrew funding for Plus One programs two years ago, but VCS opted to continue the program in the schools with the

DISTRICT, UNION AGREE ON TUTORING PAY

Volusia County Schools Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin presented Volusia United Educators with a memorandum of understanding to increase pay for hours teachers spend tutoring.

The agreement, which was signed by both parties on Friday, April 28, raises the compensation teachers receive for all tutoring offered before, during and after school to $35 per hour.

Previously, the hourly rate for tutoring offered before and after school was $30 per hour.

highest share of students in poverty.

The district isn’t cutting the program to save money, Hazel said.

“The money is Title 1 money,” she said. “So that money goes back to the schools, back into the Title 1 budget, which must be used to support students.”

District staff also told the board that VCS is using federal money for before- and after-school tutoring and transportation for tutoring and summer programs.

A tutoring program would involve 45 minutes of learning time with a 15-minute planning period.

Superintendent Carmen Balgobin added that the district plans to use federal coronavirus relief funding for tutoring and clubs, as well as collaborative planning.

“Volusia County Schools is thrilled that VUE has come to the table with us to increase opportunities for teachers to be compensated for the vital services they provide every single day,” Balgobin said. “In addition to the increased hourly rate teachers received in the last contract, this increase demonstrates our dedication to teachers, who provide outstanding educational opportunities to the county’s students.” This change will go into effect in the 2023-24 school year.

“We’re looking at $1.6 million that will be assigned to those schools specifically for either collaborative planning or additional instructional minutes with students, whether it’s remediation or acceleration, or schools can choose to do both,” Balgobin said.

This is an annual operational decision, not a School Board decision, School Board Chair Jamie Haynes said.

Since the district has been offering the program only at the five schools with the highest poverty ranking,

Bob Snyder honored at Boy Scout Golden Eagle Dinner

The Department of Health’s administrator in Flagler County was selected for the annual community leadership award.

OBSERVER STAFF

Bob Snyder, the health officer/ administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Flagler County, was the honoree at the Flagler County Boy Scout Golden Eagle Dinner at Hammock Dunes Resort on April 19.

“This is meaningful to me because Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts were a big part of my life growing up in Hyde Park, New York,” said Snyder, who earned the Boys Scouts’ highest rank of Eagle when he was just 13.

The dinner is the premier fundraising event for the Boy Scouts. Each year, the event honors a community leader. Snyder was chosen as this year’s honoree by the event’s nominating committee.

Snyder moved to Flagler County in 1997 with his wife, Michele, to oversee planning for the hospital which is now AdventHealth Palm Coast. He some of the schools on the list would be dropping the program based on the latest ranking data, she said. The change will give schools a more flexible use of Title 1 funds.

“A couple years ago, the whole plan changed, and it was no longer an hour’s worth of instruction during the day that was systematic and pinpointed,” Haynes said. “... And so, I think we just have to look at all of it.”

School Board member Carl Persis said there’s mixed evidence on keeping elementary-age children in schools longer, and that he’d rather see teachers at Title 1 schools be paid more.

“I think they should just be paid more for the same hours of any other school,” Persis said.

VCS has 47 Title 1 schools for the 2022-2023 school year.

VUE’s press release calls the district’s decision to stop the Plus One program “ill-conceived and shortsighted.”

“The consequences of this action will lead to disruption and uncertainty for our education professionals, students, families and communities,” Albert said in the release. “It is no secret that VCS has struggled to retain teachers and staff. The decision to end Plus One will cause many to once again wonder if VCS is where they want to be.” has been associated with the Health Department for the past nine years.

Bob and Michele Snyder have been involved as coaches, chaperones and event organizers with the Special Olympics.

Bob Snyder serves on several boards, including the Flagler Beach Rotary Club, Healthy Start, Flagler Volunteer Services, Early Learning Coalition, United Way Cabinet and the Northeast Florida Health Planning Council. He is a founding board member of Flagler Cares.