Another blatant FCAT bribery scheme
-- from the same Bay County high school that gave a new Toyota to a 15-year-old
last spring.
Rewards too good for students to pass up
By S. Brady Calhoun
News Herald [Panama City]
August 18, 2006
It took only 30 seconds in a cash booth Thursday for Russell Johnson to get his
priorities straight.
Johnson, 17, a sophomore at Bay High School, was one of five students allowed to
enter the small glass container filled with hundreds of dollars. Once inside the
booth, the kids had 30 seconds to nab as much loot as they could while the money
danced wildly around them.
Event host Shane Collins, a local radio disc jockey, said he felt like Bob
Barker.
Johnson snatched $91.
“I’ll never miss another day of school,” he said.
Bay High School administrators made another splash with their freshmen and
sophomores Thursday afternoon during the kickoff to the Partnership to Advance
School Success, or PASS, program. The PASS program debuted last year with the
help of local business leaders.
The program, a partnership between local business leaders, school officials and
state lawmakers, is aimed at improving student performance through rewards and
teacher training.
The three-year commitment required $100,000 of local donations, $100,000 from
the state and $100,000 worth of inkind donations from the Bay High staff.
School leaders seem to have an endless supply of flatscreen televisions, iPods
and other goodies.
“Studying hard pays off,” Collins told the students.
Johnson said his peers were receiving the correct message: “Always try to make
the best grades you can.”
But, in a concession to some of the criticism directed at Bay High officials
last year, Principal Larry Bolinger pointed out that there were no “public
dollars” in the cash tube. The money came from business partners who believe in
incentives both in the workplace and at school, he said.
“Incentives are an important part of the program,” said Randall McElheney, one
of the local businessmen who has given and raised money in support of Bay High
School.
The grand prize last year was a car given to William Anderson, a freshman, in
March. Anderson said he has yet to drive the $18,300 black, two-door Scion by
himself. He turns 16 in November.
Bolinger would not reveal what this year’s grand prize is, saying only that it
will be “as good or better than” last year.
Bolinger got a surprise himself shortly after giving the car away when
Superintendent James McCalister decided to transfer him to another school. The
move was stopped by the Bay District School Board. McCalister has since filed a
petition asking for a judge to review the matter.
McElheney was one of the loudest voices against the move. But both he and
McCalister were in attendance Thursday afternoon and both said the program would
stay at Bay High School throughout the three-year commitment even if there were
a change in leadership at Bay.
“The program is effective,” McCalister said. “It has been effective throughout
the state and it has been effective in our district as well.”
Last year, Bay High raised its FCAT score from a D to a C.
A small percentage of students think it is uncool to study, McElheney said; now
kids can claim they only are working hard for an incentive.
“It’s not cool to do good on the FCAT. It’s not cool to get good grades,” he
added. “This allows them to save face and do good in school.”
