Last night, December 9, 2008, the Orange County School Board voted to reverse the high school-middle school schedule flip.  The change back to the old schedule will become effective next fall at the start of the school year.  The vote was 4-3.  Supporting the change back to the old schedule were board members Vicky Bell, who made the motion, Nancy Robbinson, who seconded the motion, Christine Moore, and Rick Roach.  Opposed to the motion were board members Joie Cadle, Kat Gordon, and Daryl Flynn. 
 
Click HERE to link to the Orlando Sentinel story regarding the vote.
 
Today, CORE is celebrating this victory and thanking all of you for your involvement.  OUR WORK IS NOT OVER!  This was a close vote.  We must all stay vigilant and involved to make sure our voices continue to be heard.  There will be other cutbacks suggested and it is time now to stay involved and put the "public" back in public education in Orange County.
 
The board members who supported flipping back the Flip because they recognized that the Flip was hurting students' education.  They stated that they wanted to regain the community's support.  They recognized that in these extraordinarily difficult budget times, cost savings are critically important, but that the savings in this case did not justify the negative impact on the community. Several speakers and board members suggested it might be possible to adjust starting times so that all children could begin and end their school days at an optimum time for learning rather than on a schedule dictated by the need to save money. 
 
Board member Vicky Bell proposed a Board-created panel of community members to study ways to better and more efficiently provide student transportation.  That suggestion did not come to a vote.  Board member Rick Roach also spoke passionately about the need to engage the community to reach the goal of being the best school district in the country.  His comments are worth watching because they articulate a vision that you and CORE can be a part of.  The School Board meeting will be shown on Bright House cable channel 199 and again on Comcast Channel 9. OCPS should also have this meeting in it's entirity under it's section in the school board's sub-site called 'Videos on Demand'.  CORE is working to obtain a copy to post on its website and will send a follow-up email and link when that becomes available.
 
CORE shares Mr. Roach's vision for community engagement in OCPS.  We have a representative serving on the Superintendent's Budget Study Committee.  However, that committee only reviews the administration's ideas, it is not charged with bringing ideas to the administration.  We will work with Mr. Roach and other board members to inform and engage the community in more meaningful ways.  Please send us your suggestions for ways to improve OCPS and ways for OCPS to save money.