The FAMU Developmental Research School (DRS) has rebounded to the grade it received before former Superintendent Ronald Holmes’ first full year.DRS earned a “C” combination grade on its 2009-2010 Florida School Accountability Report.
Six months after the FAMU Board of Trustees approved Ronald Holmes’ three-year contract in late 2007, DRS received the good news that it had improved from an “F” in 2006-2007 to a “C” in 2007-2008.
The school grade dropped down to a “D” after Holmes’ first full year in 2008-2009. DRS supporters faced a very tough road on their way to reversing that school grade slump.
DRS faculty members struggled within an atmosphere of fear following a series of highly publicized scares concerning their employment. Holmes’ failure to recruit enough students to satisfy the demands of the 2009-2010 year’s budget threatened nine teaching jobs. FAMU President James Ammons saved those nine jobs from Holmes’ layoff ax by providing a $425,802 bailout for the school.
Morale plummeted during the Holmes years at DRS. Rattler Nation learned that frustrated DRS stakeholders who approached Holmes said he often dismissed their criticism as if he was “untouchable” and knew he wouldn’t be held accountable by any one. Ronald Holmes is the brother FAMU Trustee R.B. Holmes.
Dedicated teachers, parents, and community volunteers still worked hard and did their best to prepare students for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test despite the lack of leadership from the former superintendent.
The healing began when Ammons accepted Holmes’ resignation last summer and appointed an experienced K-12 principal, W.E. “Bill” Johnson, to lead DRS on an interim basis. Word has spread on campus that R.B. Holmes is angry about the way his brother’s exit was handled is trying to make life hard for Ammons, but this will not be a problem if Gov.-elect Rick Scott denies reappointment to Holmes on January 6, 2011.