Private Public Schools

Message From The Publisher

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

There seems to be so much conversation about the number of students who leave Broward schools to attend charter schools, private or home education. A former Superintendent Cartwright couldn’t answer the question.  She said the reduction in Broward’s enrollment was due to a decrease in the overall population of families in Broward. That falsehood was debunked by the Sun Sentinel. The truth is parent choice options have resulted in about 50 percent of Broward County Public Schools moving to a status of being under enrolled. Principals are not just competing with charter and private schools to keep their students. They also compete with other principals and schools in BCPS.

Magnet programs like the Performing Arts program at Dillard High School and the International Baccalaureate program at Boyd Anderson used to level the playing field for predominately Black schools that were under enrolled. However, with everyone scrambling for students because of the exodus to charter, non-magnet schools have produced creative ways and specialized programs to keep students in their boundary school and even attract from other boundary schools through the reassignment process. House Bill 7029 made it legal for parents to jump over boundary lines and select any public high school, even ones in another school district as long as the school has room, and they provide the transportation. This law was a principal’s nightmare but an answer to the prayers of a competitive high school athletic coach.

There are a handful of schools that are not under enrolled. Cypress Bay, Cooper City and Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High Schools are in this boat. In fact,  these schools are considered overcrowded and need a reduction in enrollment. that are not under enrolled. Cypress Bay, Cooper City and Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High Schools are in this boat. In fact,  these schools are considered overcrowded and need a reduction in enrollment.

Interestingly, most would think that after February 14, 2018, there would have been a mass exodus of students from MSD, however the enrollment has remained steady. Oddly, parents have produced some very crafty ways to get their children enrolled in MSD. There is a plethora of reasons for this. Some parents report that MSD is probably the safest school in Broward and has more resources than any other Broward school.  Others like the “fame” that comes with their children attending a school with the forever history of MSD. Go figure.

What I have learned of MSD these past weeks is disturbing.  The school is barely 10 percent Black.  Only about 1 in 9 students are Black, yet a boundary change to reduce the student population will seemingly cut out a large amount of minority students… Black and Hispanic. It seems that these students come from the neighboring Coral Springs and most of these students will be redirected to Coral Springs High. Parents are complaining that the decisions were made without much transparency or input from all stakeholders.

What I am finding more interesting than boundary changes is the lengths some at the school reportedly go through to investigate the addresses of current students and kick them out of the school if their address is one city block outside of the established boundary.

The Westside Gazette was made aware of a parent whose child has not been in school for over a week because the staff at MSD withdrew her because they believe she and her parent do not live in the boundary.  The case is not simple. I will take a stab at describing it and how even the principal of the school allegedly became involved to deny the student from remaining at MSD.

First, the school asked current students to submit proof of residency along with their course selections for next school year.  Is this something done at every school? Are students who are currently enrolled required to produce proof of residency as a part of registration for the following school year?

It appears that staff went over these residency documents with a fine-tooth comb.  The parent reports she was contacted by the MSD registrar and told the lease submitted for registration was illegal because the owner of the property has homestead tax exemption status. If this is true, I am floored that the school actually investigates homestead exemption of homes that their students reside in.

The parent explained that they had a home with homestead exemption status elsewhere and it was explained to the parent that any lease the parent brings forward would be invalid because the parent has homestead exemption elsewhere on a home.  The parent says the principal’s secretary said that it’s against the law to rent or lease a place that has homestead tax exemption. Furthermore, since the parent’s name is also on the title of another place that has homestead tax exemption, any lease produces for a property inside the boundary would be invalid.

The parent was told that the child would be withdrawn from MSD on February 10 and would have to attend Coral Springs High School. There is something magical about February 10.  It is the absolute last day that a student could be counted for state funding at a school. MSD was fine with kicking the student out, but only after they collected state funding for her education.

According to the parent who then spoke to the principal of MSD and tried to explain that the spouse is the owner of the home with homestead exemption that is within the boundary. According to the parent, the principal of MSD made some sugary threats which alluded to a report possibly being filed which could result in the spouse losing their teaching license over leasing a property where they have homestead exemption. The parent expressed concerns about her child taking industry certification exams and the principal agreed to allow the student to remain enrolled until such time the exams were taken. The student was subsequently withdrawn.

This parent was resilient and called the superintendent’s office.  The parent was redirected to the North Area office, and it was determined that the student could remain at MSD because they had become homeless.

The parent and student became homeless because the parent told the landlord what the school said about it being illegal to lease a home with homestead exemption. The landlord immediately terminated the lease which made the student and parent homeless and eligible to stay at MSD an approved Heart application as outlined in the McKinney-Vento Act.

The parent completed the Heart application under the McKinney-Vento Act which ensures educational rights and protections for homeless children and youth. Despite this, the student was provided an official transcript and withdrawn from MSD. The principal claims that the school staff had done further investigations, including sending a staff member to addresses that the parent has said they live. They have concluded the student does not qualify to stay at MSD based on McKinney-Venmo. Yet, when the parent went to register at Coral Springs High and gave the address of the hotel the parent and children were staying in, the parent was told that the hotel is in the boundary of MSD and it makes her qualified to remain enrolled at MSD via McKinney-Vento Act.

The parent says the staff at the Heart program says the student is eligible, yet MSD is refusing to re-enroll the child.  Coral Springs High is saying she belong to MSD. Meanwhile this child has been out of school for over two weeks. No one at the district office will give a directive for this student to be re-enrolled at MSD.

The parent ended our conversation with this: “I believe my daughter and I have been singled out in a discriminatory manner. And I’m sure other Black, Brown, and homeless families have been as well.”

Inquiring minds would like to know.  Is this the practice in Broward County Public Schools or is this an example of overreach by the principal and school staff.  Does MSD as a school have allowances that other schools don’t have? Do they not follow the rules and are they not called out on it when caught dead to right?

Inquiring minds want to know.

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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