Independent Audit to Help Marion Task Force Improve Schools

OCALA -- Born of a desire to improve the school system, the Marion 2020 Task Force realized that if it wanted to help, it first had to find out how well Marion County schools function.

"Just about everybody had an opinion and we had no independent assessment of where we stood -- especially against someone who looks, demographically, like we do," said task force member Jim Copeland, public affairs manager for Sprint United Telephone Co.

The 12-member task force grew out of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce's Business/Education Professional Alliance, noted Central Florida Community College President Charles Dassance.

An independent audit SchoolMatch performed on the Duval County public school system caught the eye of some task force members, who sought to bring the Westerville, Ohio-based private company to town.

The effort was driven partially by angst over the failed half-cent sales tax for school construction and the divergent opinions which that defeat uncovered. But alliance members figured the best way to find out where the school district really stood was to get an outside perspective.

"Maybe an independent audit would give us a starting point to improve the schools," Dassance said. "From the beginning, the whole discussion has been, 'How can we help the schools become the best in Florida?' "

The current task force includes people from both sides of the education political debate: Pat Bald, Dr. Bob Barnett, businessman George Carrasco, developer Kulbir Ghumman, Mike Harris, County Commissioner Steve Henning, Whit Palmer, City Councilwoman Mary Rich, Nancy Stacy, Star-Banner Publisher Chip Stout, Copeland and Dassance.

"Children only get one chance at education," Stacy said. "They're supposed to be in first grade once, eighth grade once ... and hopefully we can help the school system do it right."

Stacy said she hasn't researched SchoolMatch as much as she'd like, but felt comfortable that others have.

"I feel that I have confidence in the business community, and a lot of the businessmen in the community have bought into this, and I appreciate them for that," Stacy said. "I'm looking forward to hearing the good things about our school system -- in the eyes of SchoolMatch -- and the areas that need work."

Palmer, one of those businessmen who focused on SchoolMatch for its skills, said his goal was a frank assessment of the schools.

"I hope this will give us a common understanding of where we are and what we need to do," Palmer said. "This exercise is just a vehicle to help us reach a common understanding and try to fix some things that need improving and to build on the strong points that I'm sure exist."

The group will continue on after today's unveiling of the SchoolMatch audit. Though, Dassance noted, it's only an advisory panel.

"This group has no authority to do anything other than hopefully to be helpful to the administration and the school board to strengthen our schools," Dassance said. "I don't think anybody ever thought the school system wasn't doing a lot of good things.

"The school system is working hard to improve all the time."