Windsor Close June 30, 2016

Closing Photo

PCSB unable to renegotiate down Windsor lease, school will close

The PCSB met today in an emergency board meeting today.  The result of the meeting was the PCSB was unable to negotiate the Windsor school lease down to where the PCSB was able to create a magnet school at Windsor.  Unless, this change Windsor will close and a new tenant will move into the Windsor school buildings.

https://t.co/3pHzabtOaf

Windsor Prep & Windsor Middle Academy Board of Directors 5/31/16 Meeting Update

The Windsor Board of Directors to Windsor Preparatory Academy and East Windsor Middle Academy met on Tuesday May 31, 2016 with the Florida Charter School Alliance with Rick Wolfe and Bill Lawrence in attendance along with Windsor parents/teachers/staff to revise the budget and address items identified on the corrective actions plan.  More details can be found in the email message to parents below:

Link to Message from the Windsor Board of Directors

Senator Brandes Holds PCSB Accountable for Lack of Oversight

Senator Brandes speaks
at Tuesday's Board Meeting

Senator Brandes, member of the Florida Senate, representing the 22nd District, arrived towards the end of the board meeting Tuesday evening with a message of hope, and a vow to join the fight in keeping Windsor Prep open. He intends to hold the PCSB accountable for their lack of oversight of Charter School management companies, and expressed his disappointment at the school board for seemingly holding the parents, teachers and students responsible for the management company's wrongdoing. 

Welcome to the fight Senator! Thank you for being our champion!

WFLA's Mark Douglas continues to cover the story. Watch his newscast here.

Learn more about Senator Brandes.

Please Plan on Attending Today's Board of Directors Meeting

Very Important Board of Directors
Meeting Today

There is a Board of Directors meeting today at 5:00 p.m.  The meeting will be in the school's cafeteria.

We will also be attempting to Periscope the meeting. Details to be posted here and on the Facebook group pages. You can download the Periscope app here: (https://www.periscope.tv/)

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Windsor Families = Windsor Strong!

Facts About Pinellas County Schools & Windsor

Pinellas County does not offer adequate quality safe school options to entice  new businesses or professionals to move to the area.  This lack of good schools discourages business from coming to Pinellas.  Access to a good education in a safe environment is not possible when attending publicly zoned schools.  The lottery process for magnet schools is not an option due to the length of the waiting list.  The whole story on magnet schools is not as represented by their school grade, when one examines the corresponding disciplinary incidents data.  Outside of magnet schools, the options are limited to charter schools, private schools, and virtual schools.

Windsor Preparatory Academy and East Windsor Middle Academy offer K-8 education and are centrally located in Pinellas County.   The schools provide students with a nurturing environment and boast a high level of parent involvement.  Windsor serves the economically disadvantaged,  the educationally challenged, and the gifted equally while providing a balanced economic and social representation.

This Windsor Prep & East Windsor Middle Rankings - 10 Mile Radius spreadsheet shows the rankings of Windsor Prep Academy and East Windsor Middle Academy as compared to both Public and Charter schools within the Pinellas County School District.  There are 44 elementary schools and 17 middle schools in this 10 mile radius.  The data is gathered from the FLDOE and  includes 2014-2015 school grades, the PCSB zoning map, and the recently released FSA scores for 3rd grade reading.  While there are good schools in Pinellas County, this analysis shows how Windsor Schools are succeeding at meeting the Charter School Mission and increasing the overall quality of the schools within the county.

Windsor Elementary School Grade & Safety Incidental Map

Windsor Middle School Grade & Safety Incident Map

This Pinellas County School comparison - 5-mile radius spreadsheet includes 2015 safety incidents.  The radius was reduced to 5-miles to mimic current school zone sizes.  The statistics compare Windsor Schools to  Elementary and Middle Schools in a 5-mile range. This data includes the current 3rd grade reading FSA Scores, the schools' 2014-2015 school grade, the number of safety incidents recorded by the FLDOE and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students served. Here are the results:

• Windsor Prep Academy ranks #2 of 20, taking in all these factors.
• East Windsor Middle also ranks #2 of 6, taking in all these factors.

The local Middle Schools have a large number of safety incidents: ranging from 22 to 135. Windsor, by comparison, has had only one incident. This spreadsheet demonstrates how Windsor Schools is serving the needs of the community, as well as providing a safe, innovative learning environment that allows our children to thrive. Windsor is worth saving, and these numbers show it.