P.K. Yonge director addresses potential admissions process changes in letter to school

In a letter Monday, P.K. Yonge, a K-12 school governed by the University of Florida, addressed proposed changes to its admissions process, providing community members with an additional opportunity to give feedback.

During a March 8 board of trustees meeting, Penny Schwinn, UF's vice president of PK-12 and pre-bachelor programs, outlined her goals and recommendations to make P.K. Yonge's high school a top-10 school in the state, which included a proposed selective admissions process. She also suggested a larger K-8 pool of students, which would allow more students to matriculate into the high school.

The plan, proposed by Schwinn, would have a K-8 student population that is reflective of state demographics (to align and continue with P.K. Yonge's vision) while allowing the school to focus on a more selective admissions opportunity at the high school level.

Pushback: Proposed changes to PK Yonge's admissions process met with pushback from community

First proposed: Selective admission process suggested for PK Yonge high school

Despite UF President Ben Sasse stating on March 8 that any proposed changes would not affect students already in grades 9 through 12 at the school, the suggestions sparked a negative response in the P.K. Yonge community. A petition form created April 13 by those opposed to a selective admissions process has gathered over 800 signatures as of Wednesday. Additionally, people have spoken out against the changes at various community meetings since they were proposed.

Danaya Wright, UF trustee, expressed her concern with P.K. Yonge becoming a selective high school, stating March 8 that "if we really want to save public schools, we have to save it for everybody at the top and the bottom."

Wright has since spoken out about community concerns and impacts of the selective admissions process at a board of trustees meeting April 29. Additionally, she suggested to continue P.K. Yonge's concept of “lifers,” which would allow children admitted in kindergarten and all students currently enrolled to continue at the school through 12th grade, while choosing selective admissions for any student new to the school in 6th and 9th grades

Brian Marchman, P.K. Yonge director and superintendent, sent a letter to the P.K. community Monday regarding the suggested changes to the school.

"Following recent presentations on the status of PK, the UF Board of Trustees identified a clear expectation of becoming a top 5 high school. PK has been tasked by the Board to join UF staff and Vice President Penny Schwinn to create a plan to elevate PK into the state of Florida’s top 5 high schools. A variety of options have been presented to explore and achieve this charge, including selective admissions which would base enrollment choices on academic achievement measures to replace reflective admissions at the secondary level. There is no plan to replace the lottery admissions process for students entering elementary school."

The letter also stated that there have been multiple opportunities for input regarding this issue, such as P.K. and College of Education Faculty Policy Council meetings, a School Advisory Council meeting, an Advancement Steering Committee meeting and a Student Government forum. It encourages anyone involved with P.K. that would like to provide more input on this issue to do so in writing on a form created by the school. The letter said this input will be compiled on behalf of the P.K. community and presented directly to the UF board of trustees (who will decide on a plan) for review and consideration.

Marchman said that no decisions have been made yet and conversations regarding the changes will continue leading up to the next UF board of trustees meeting on June 13-14. UF has not announced any changes to P.K. Yonge related to the discussions.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: P.K. Yonge director addresses proposed changes UF school