School Board to vote on STEMM Center

The Okaloosa County School Board is set to decide Monday evening whether or not to go forward with a proposed STEMM Center at the old Valparaiso Elementary School.

The board’s decision will come more than two months after the concept to create a science, technology, engineering, math and medical middle school, teacher training center and a school district-run location for the Engineers for America Program was presented by the district’s staff.

 “This is really an all-encompassing effort to develop STEMM,” said Shawnea Tallman, who updated the board on the center during a workshop Thursday morning.

Right now, the district estimates that if it has 88 6th-graders enrolled in the middle school, it will cost $164,497 to operate the first year, Tallman said.

The amount the district will spend on the center  likely will decrease as more grants come through, Tallman added.

After updating the board on the high student interest in the school, Tallman touched on why the teacher training center and Engineers for America program would benefit from the center.

For teachers, it would mean a place to learn about vital technology and have more opportunities for professional development.

“We’re actually limiting the professional development opportunities,” Tallman said. “Technology without teacher understanding is really not going to move STEMM forward.”

As to the Engineers for America program, which is now run out of the Air Force Armament Museum, the permanent classrooms will allow students to use the laptops now stored in a locked closet and open doors for additional grants.

School Board members had several questions.

Melissa Thrush was concerned about what the STEMM Center would mean for other schools in the district.

“We’re moving the priority level of this school ahead of another school that’s already here,” Thrush said.

Tallman and Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts said other principals support the STEMM Center. As if to prove that, two middle school principals at the meeting came forward.

“This is not another middle school. This is another opportunity,” Bruner Middle School Principal John Spolski said. “We don’t look at it as a competitor … If we really believe it’s going to be the best thing for that kid, we’ve gotta support that.”

Pryor Middle School Principal Jeff Palmer agreed and said he didn’t think the program would harm his school.

“I don’t anticipate it limiting what we’re going to be able to do with our high-level kids, either,” he said. “I still think we’re going to be able to do what we need to do at Pryor.”

Valparaiso City Commissioner Neal Shermer also was given an opportunity to speak.

He began by touching on the recent dispute between his city and the school district over the use of the former elementary school.

A divided City Commission voted a few months ago to change the zoning designation of the school‘s property to restrict its use. Commissioners said they wanted to open a charter school in the building so Valparaiso again could have a neighborhood school.

The district sued the city over the zoning change and the sides now are in mediation.

In those discussions, city officials have proposed that the district allow the charter school to use eight rooms in the building. But district officials have said that based on the interest of the STEMM program, all the space will be needed.

Shermer asked the School Board to consider giving the charter school those rooms.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the School Board, the proposed charter school will best serve the property’s intended use, providing elementary educational opportunity to the children of Valparaiso,” Shermer said. “The proposed STEMM Center alone will not.”

The board didn’t respond to his presentation.

Shermer wasn’t alone in raising objections about the STEMM center.

Okaloosa County Education Association President Karen Peek said members of the teachers union had “grave concerns about the hidden costs” associated with the center. She also said OCEA is concerned that under the current proposal, the program would exclude any child who didn’t score high on the math section of the FCAT.

“I would just say the taxpayers would say whether your child has a 1 or a 5 (on the FCAT), they deserve a good public education,” Peek said.

Tibbetts said all students in the district get a good education and defended the school’s proposed entry-criteria.

“We’ve put billions into our lowest quartile and it’s time that this nation better start doing stuff for our top performers, too,” she said.