Pasco County’s Cox Elementary School, which has long struggled to keep up with state testing expectations, on Wednesday got a one-year reprieve from state requirements to earn a C grade in the spring or face an outside takeover.
The school, which has received D grades from the state since 2019, won unanimous State Board of Education approval to extend its ongoing turnaround plan only after the Pasco school board and administration revamped the proposal the district initially submitted in the fall.
Superintendent John Legg told State Board members that the revised proposal aimed to both help Cox improve and build capacity to help other struggling schools in the district.
“It is my intent to get out of turnaround and never go back,” Legg told the board.
Florida education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., a former state Senate colleague of Legg’s, recommended approval of the plan.
“I am glad to see, as expected, the sense of urgency you have in rectifying the issues at this school,” Diaz said. “We want to give you the opportunity.”
Board chairperson Ben Gibson praised Legg’s effort and expertise, too.
“We’re pretty confident in your ability to do this,” Gibson said.
Legg said he learned shortly after taking office in November that the board might not approve the district’s original request to continue the plan established in 2022. While it acted in the fall on turnaround proposals for Gulf Middle and Pasco Elementary, the board delayed on Cox, the county’s oldest public school.
Upon hearing the state expected different initiatives to propel Cox forward, his team devised additional actions that include:
• Contracting with the outside firm MGT, which worked with eight struggling Hillsborough County schools to help turn around their performance. The firm would help Cox find new ways to improve student performance, but it would not operate the school. Its work is to begin in February and run through the 2025-26 academic year.
“We cannot wait until the school grade to see if we should partner with someone else,” Legg told the State Board.
• Creating a new division focused on low-performing schools throughout Pasco. The division will have a dedicated assistant superintendent, rather than having the most needy schools divided among several assistant superintendents, as has been the case.
The School Board on Tuesday approved the appointment of Shana Rafalski, assistant director of the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center tutoring program, to the post. Rafalski has served as chief of staff for the Clark County, Nevada school district and executive director of elementary education for Pinellas County, among other positions.
• Adding dual language programs at Cox to help students still learning English, who achieve proficiency at lower rates than others in the school. State records show that nearly a third of Cox students are classified as English language learners.
“We want to retain control over the school,” Legg said in an interview. “We also want to recognize it has been a D for four years now, and we need to provide some immediate services to those students and families.”
Cox has been the subject of improvement plans and turnaround efforts for years. It earned a D in 1999, Florida’s first year grading schools, and has persistently hovered in the C and D range since.
At its high point, it earned a B in 2012, but within three years it had dropped to an F. It has rebounded since then, but for the past four years of school grading — the practice was suspended two years during the COVID-19 pandemic — it has received a D, putting it on the state’s list for intervention.
Last year, 79% of Cox students were reading below state grade level expectations, according to test results, while nearly 71% were below grade level in math. Almost all children who attend Cox are considered low-income.
During a Tuesday workshop Legg and his team emphasized the importance of taking immediate steps.
School board members said they were impressed with the school’s strides, including added parental involvement and community partnerships, but agreed that more steps were needed.
Legg said Cox has a good foundation to build upon.
“The culture of the school is strong,” he said. “But when you have 8% of students on grade level, that’s not good. We’ve got to do better.”
Principal Wendy Lane, who grew up near Cox in Dade City and attended as a child, said she has worked with the staff to improve student discipline practices and get children more engaged. They pore over data looking for areas where instruction can be improved, she said, working with a team from the state that has offered many action steps.
Teachers and staff are nervous about what might happen as the school approaches its 100th anniversary, Lane said. But they’re committed to seeing the effort through, she said, welcoming any added input to make Cox better.
Everyone knows the state law calls for a new plan, which could include closure or outside control, if Cox doesn’t get a better grade, she added.
“Deep down, I do not feel that is going to happen,” Lane said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make that not happen.”