The Advancement via Individual Determination or AVID program helps close the gap for students using real-world skills like writing and organizing information. Meyers and Peters—endorsed by Desantis and the far-right anti-woke non-profit group Moms for Liberty last fall—both raised concerns over AVID’s effectiveness and cost at Tuesday’s meeting.
“This year, we allocated $1.9 mil for the program,” Meyer said at the meeting. “These items and what the program offers are just best practices. These are things we should be doing for all our students, not just students who qualify for the AVID program.”
Overwhelmingly, AVID serves low-income students from homes where they might be the first person in their families to attend higher education. But educators on the board say the program is broader than that and offers learning systems for all students.
Meyer noted that she’s only seen “anecdotal evidence” that the program works. She and fellow school board member Peters suggested the district implement its version to save money. School Superintendent Kevin Henrick said the district implemented AVID 18 years ago. He recommended the board approve its continued funding.
“Every student benefits from AVID. It’s grown from one teacher in one school to every secondary school,” Hendrick said. “It’s actually part of our strategic plan, which requires training of teachers on an annual basis.”
Every summer, roughly 350 teachers attend AVID training for the cost of $1,000 per teacher. Those funds are already in the budget and come from weighted FTE scores (how the state determines district funding). School board member Carol Cook, a former educator, agreed with Hendrick.
“Just as we all know, you don’t wait until high school to start preparing children for college. The same thing applies to AVID,” Cook said. Meyer’s motion to table the item until the upcoming workshop session failed. Ultimately, the school board approved funding for AVID, with Meyer and Peters opposing.
The roster of public comments totaled 56 people and lasted over two hours following that vote. That’s partly because PCSB has banned 11 titles from district bookshelves, including Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” A parent at Palm Harbor High School complained about Morrison’s book a few weeks ago, prompting the ban (thanks partly to Desantis’ HB7 concerning school materials). The book’s two-page depiction of a sexual assault of the main character, 11-year-old Pecola, by her father, Cholly, has been at the center of the controversy.
“It’s not too late to make this right,” Kathryn Hubbard told the board. “What lesson do you want students to take away on strong leadership in the face of fear?”
A formal complaint application has yet to be filed.
“Teaching children about the nastiest, most shameful and violent part of human nature is not culture,” Pinellas parent Renee Chiea said at the meeting.
Previously, Chiea called for the dismissal of Dunedin High School history teacher Brandt Robinson for teaching his students about Karl Marx and Communism. Robinson was at Tuesday’s meeting and encouraged people like Chiea to reconsider what they might not know. “We are not indoctrinating our students, we’re not grooming them, we’re not teaching them to hate America,” Robinson said. “We’re here because we care deeply about our students.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Orlando Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia filed legislation targeting public sector unions (fire and police would be exempt). The Pinellas County Teachers Association turns 90 this year. Local teachers stayed late to beg PCSB to back their union as the legal landscape grows wearier. “In 1968, 30,000 teachers walked out to have it in our state constitution that we have bargaining rights,” Andrea Dort, a high school language arts teacher, told the board. “Our state is targeting education unions. The public needs to know how long PCTA has been here.”
The next school board meeting is on March 21.
This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2023.