PAL Academy students, staff working hard for change

BRADENTON

It’s hard to misbehave around Fred Spence.

Spence is Police Athletic League Academy’s no-nonsense chief executive officer, a disciplinarian who cuts an imposing figure on campus.

He runs a tight ship. He’s the one with the gifts and high praise whenever students do well. He’s the one with the sharp words and harsh ultimatums when they don’t.

“Every kid has to know they have to live with me,” Spence says. “As a school, there are certain behaviors we do not accept. I have to reinforce that.”

There’s a lot at stake.

It’s five days before the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test that measures a student’s skills in math, reading, writing and science in third through 12th grades. Third-graders who fail face being held back for another year. High school students who fail risk not graduating on time. Since the academy is a charter school, there is the ever-present threat of being shut down if it doesn’t meet federal education standards.

Spence is hoping all the hard work he, his staff and students at the charter school have done will soon pay off again.

A year ago, the struggling charter school made an about-face, turning from an F school to a C.

Sandra Molignano’s third-grade class outshone many other students in the school — and throughout the district — with their impressive gains last year. Eighty-four percent of her third-graders passed reading, compared to 35 percent a year earlier. Ninety-five percent passed math, up from 59 percent.

“Miss M,” as she’s known in school, wants to duplicate that effort with another class this year.

Since August, Miss M has been helping her new students set goals and figuring out how they are going to pass the tests.

There’s the pool party at G.T. Bray park that Miss M has promised the class.

Then there’s the cash prize — up to $200 for each student — if they pass with flying colors.

In the beginning, the struggle

For years, the PAL Academy racked up bad grades and an even worse reputation. PAL started out as an alternative school; former Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells was one of the founders.

Students struggled with school and their test scores; teachers fought low morale. The school’s finances were in disarray, and administrators came and went.

In its fifth year of facing federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act, the board of directors was forced to turn the school around.

The alternative: losing the charter and shutting down.

So they hired Spence — a motivational speaker, former coach and high school assistant principal — to helm the school.

Spence hired Latrina Singleton, a former coworker from his years in Sarasota schools, to run the academic side of things.

Then they began to rebuild the school, firing all the teachers and making them reapply for their jobs. Most wanted to stay, but only six were allowed to return.