A.A. Dixon-A Leap of Faith and the Reasons Why

The school board voted last night to allow A.A. Dixon to remain open despite the fact that Dixon's state FCAT grade may come back as an F for the second year in a row.  State school grades will be released any day.

Last Thursday during the workshop, the idea of an amendment to the previous agreement was not even on the horizon.  Three board members of five expressed an inclination to allow the charter contract "sudden death" clause to remain intact, even though the charters' finances had apparently stabilized and many community partners had stepped up to pledge support.  

Friday, superintendent Thomas sent all board members this document--clearly illustrating that this school is making progress and these students are making significant learning gains.

Then Linda Moultrie requested an amendment to the charter be added to the Board's agenda on Monday.

Adding to these developments, new state law that speaks to the appeals process for a double F charter was brought to the attention of the board in the eleventh hour on Tuesday. All of this led to a finalized draft amendment for board consideration to be presented at the table during the regular meeting.

Blend in to this commotion  a sizable crowd of supporters gathered to advocate for Dixon--and what you end up with is a temporary reprieve for this charter school;  their fate, more than likely, will be decided by the Florida State Board of Education at some point over the next 6 months.

But the school is intact for the near term, on tenuous footing.  More is certainly to come on this school......