Parents to be notified of school transfer option this week

Parents at 13 Lee County Schools will get letters this week telling them their students could be affected by the federal law known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

The schools, which have been designated as “in improvement” for two or more years, must allow students to transfer to another school. Some also will have to offer free tutoring through private companies.

Bonita Springs Elementary and Spring Creek Elementary are the only two south Lee schools on the list. Parents at those schools will have the option to transfer to Rayma C. Page Elementary, which opened last year at U.S. 41 and Alico Road.

Few are likely to do so. Lee County’s student assignment policy already allows parents to choose what school their children attend; Bonita Elementary still has a waiting list.

All three schools made a B grade from the state of Florida this year and all three failed to make AYP. But since Page Elementary is not a Title I school and has only been in existence one year — and therefore hasn’t had a chance not to make AYP two years in a row — it is eligible to be a transfer option.

Bonita Springs Middle School faced corrective action last year, allowing low-performing students to receive free tutoring from private companies, but only two students signed up. This year, it won’t have to face sanctions, since it no longer receives Title I funding.

Three south Lee schools did make AYP: Pinewoods Elementary in Estero, Three Oaks Elementary and Bonita Springs Charter School.

The No Child Left Behind Act is intended to make all students proficient in reading and math, regardless of ethnic background, English skill or disability status. Passed in 2001, the law requires all states to give standardized tests and review schools based on the scores.

But the test, and the standard of proficiency, are left up to individual states and vary widely. As Florida is required to raise its standards every year, a growing number of schools aren’t classified as up to par.

Statewide, 28 percent of schools met standards the state set to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, down from 36 percent last year. That’s because every year, a higher percentage of students must be considered proficient.

To be eligible to transfer, parents must respond by July 13. The letters include a self-addressed, stamped envelope that can be returned by mail. The response can also be dropped off at district headquarters, the Dr. James A. Adams Public Education Center at 2055 Central Ave. in downtown Fort Myers.