Manatee leaders say they have ‘Big Plan’ to make students better readers

Community leaders have announced a “Big Plan” to address an age-old problem in Manatee County.

Last year, the School District of Manatee County joined its partners in a brief celebration of students’ improved reading scores. In a measure of reading skills among third-graders, the district score increased from 49 percent of students being proficient to 51 percent, according to the Florida Standards Assessments tests.

The results were a hopeful sign in the fight to improve grade-level reading. However, it also meant that 49 percent of students finished third grade without a firm grasp on reading, and that Manatee was still 7 percentage points below the state average.

On Monday morning, the school district will convene local media and present a new initiative called “The Big Plan,” which involves targeted support for the most at-need neighborhoods and their schools.

“While great strides have been made improving school grades and programs offered at those schools, the work is far from complete,” the district said in a news release. “Students who are not reading on grade-level by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.”

As a lead partner in the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, United Way Suncoast formed an advisory council to spearhead the effort. Along with the school district, council members include Manatee County government, the Manatee Community Foundation, the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County and the Patterson Foundation.

Working alongside other community organizations, the council will focus on supporting three neighborhoods in zip codes 34221, 34205 and 34207.

Known as the Central Corridor, the neighborhoods include students from:

• Ballard Elementary School.
• Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School.
• Manatee Elementary School.
• Palm View K-6 School.
• Blackburn Elementary School.
• Palmetto Elementary School.
• Tillman Elementary School.
• Daughtrey Elementary School.
• Oneco Elementary School.
• Samoset Elementary School.

While progress is measured by the results at each school, the plan is largely focused on bringing support and resources to the students’ neighborhoods, said Bronwyn Beightol, area president for United Way Suncoast.

Students benefit from school-level programs, but with the help of book donations and trained volunteers, the students can also learn at their neighborhood barber shops or laundromats, Beightol said, pointing to existing programs in the community.

“How do we support our families before our children get to school?” she continued.

Though complex problems often require complex solutions, she said the plan relies on simple concepts. The group will hone existing programs, such as Soar In 4 and Reading Pals, while also forming new solutions at two pilot schools.

“We have a lot of efforts going on, but it’s time to get concentrated and address the needs of our children who need it the most,” Beightol said.

Samoset Elementary and Palm View School are currently in their pilot year, and the remaining schools will likely join in the coming months and years, said Carolyn Griffin, director of strategic impact for United Way Suncoast.

Each campus in the Central Corridor is a Title I school, meaning they serve a large population of low-income students. A child is hard-pressed to learn reading when their home lacks basic needs or their school lacks resources, but the Big Plan aims to help all struggling students, regardless of whether they face poverty or other unique obstacles.

“I think one barrier is a lot of our families had bad experiences in school, and they’re passing that baggage onto their children,” Griffin said. “They may not know how to advocate for their children because they didn’t have anyone advocating for them.”

The short-term goal is to cut the number of under-performing students in half over the next five years. Those students represent the future, and their success would benefit all of Manatee County, Griffin said.

“It is a community responsibility,” she said. “We thrive when all of us are doing better.”