Wellington Budget Forums The Village of Wellington continued its series of public forums on budget issues last week with several on July 28 and a wrap-up forum on July 29. SEE STORIES, PAGE 3A & 7A
T H E W E L L I N GTO N
TOWN-CRIER Wellington’s Hometown Newspaper
Volume 28, Number 31
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Stand ‘B’ Grades W Will ill Stand For WHS And SRHS By Paul Gaba Town-Crier Staff Report Administrators at Seminole Ridge and Wellington high schools have confirmed that neither school is eligible to appeal its 2007 “B” grade with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). After administrators from both schools analyzed 2007 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) data with district officials last month, they were faced with the realization that they were unable to find questionable student results that would allow them to properly seek appeals. In late June, the FDOE rated Seminole Ridge a “B” school based on FCAT results that earned the school 524 points, one shy of the 525 required for an “A.” Wellington High School’s 576 points were 51 points above the minimum “A” grade benchmark, but the school was docked a grade because only 49.6 percent of its lowest-scoring students in reading made gains in the school year just ended. The state requires “A” schools to demonstrate a minimum 50 percent improvement in their lowest-achieving students in reading and math in order to retain the grade, and rounding up is not an option. Wellington High School Assistant Principal Barbara For-
Serving Palms West Since 1980
gash said it is truly frustrating that Wellington far exceeded the number of FCAT points needed to achieve an “A” grade. “The state doesn’t round up; I wish they did,” Forgash said. “We were less than one student [from avoiding the penalty]. It’s very disappointing, but we have to regroup. I know we have great kids and a great staff. We shouldn’t have been so close to the edge; next time we need to exceed it.” While the school’s review of the lowest 25 percent of reading students unearthed several debatable student scores, “the state wouldn’t let us use those students,” Forgash said. “We don’t meet the criteria to submit an appeal,” Forgash said. “In fact, no high school has found a way to appeal. At the elementary level, they can piggyback on the problems they had with the test, but we’re not in that position.” Forgash was referring to the FDOE’s May announcement that the state had messed up the 2006 third-grade reading test, leading to questions about the viability of state grades. SRHS Principal Dr. Lynne McGee said she and her staff were unable to find a viable way to appeal the grade after reviewing all the data. “It’s not that we didn’t want to, but we pored through the data, and the results line up with the state, so there’s no reason See SCHOOLS, page 46A
IT’S A PETAPALOOZA!
Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach hosted the Petapalooza Adopt-a-thon last Saturday. The event included numerous pet craft vendors, pet photo IDs, face-painting, speakers offering dog-training tips, a canine show featuring the Amazing Frisbee Dogs and more. Shown here is Charlotte Murphy with a black lab she adopted. More Photos, Page 15A PHOTO BY CAROL PORTER/TOWN-CRIER
August 3 - August 9, 2007
TRAIL CLEANUP IN THE ACREAGE
Acreage volunteers began to arrive even before the scheduled 8:30 a.m. start of last Sunday’s cleanup of the Indian Trail Improvement District’s planned eastern trail network. The district is working to improve, enlarge and interconnect its system of multipurpose trails, which will be used by equestrians, hikers and bicyclists. Pictured here is Amy Cole aboard April. STORY & MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 13A PHOTO BY LEONARD WECHSLER/TOWN-CRIER
PBSO Cracking Down On Red Light Runners In Royal Palm By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report Pop quiz: Do you know the definition of “running” a red light? If not, you might want to learn quickly as the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is participating in “Stop Red Light Running Week” Aug. 4 through 11 in cooperation with the Florida Department of Transportation. For the record, the PBSO defines running a red light as when a driver enters an intersection some time after the signal light has turned red. According to the FDOT, 40 percent of all traffic deaths and injuries in the state occur in intersections. Many are caused by red light running, driver distractions or failure to yield the right of way. Last year, Florida law enforcement officers issued more
than 300,000 tickets to drivers who ran red lights. Capt. Tony Araujo, who commands the PBSO’s District 9 substation in Royal Palm Beach, welcomed the focus on red light runners. “Here in District 9, we’re very proactive when it comes to traffic enforcement on many fronts,” he said. “This is a good opportunity to rally all law enforcement and pay particular attention to red light running.” Araujo said District 9 has a district-wide traffic action plan, “but we’ll probably duplicate our efforts at certain intersections that are problematic, and we’re going to do zero tolerance.” Araujo didn’t specify which intersections will experience extra vigilance, but said there are several in the village that see many scofflaws daily. “If you stand at the corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and Royal
Palm Beach Blvd. on any given day,” he said, “you’ll see the light turn red and you’ll see five to ten cars go through the intersection. I think the same occurs at State Road 7 and Okeechobee Blvd. and at State Road 7 and Southern Blvd.” Araujo said his deputies can’t stop every red light runner, “but we are going to have as many contacts as we can so we can get the point across.” As with any community policing effort, Araujo said, contact between a deputy and a citizen is as much about education as issuing citations. “When we see someone run a red light and we stop them, it’s up to the officer’s discretion as to what action they take,” Araujo said. “It could be a citation or it could be a warning. Our goal is to get folks in the habit of stopping, as opposed to what they do now.”