The Flagler County School Board found the $1.8 million in cuts it needed to balance its books Thursday, but was also told that closing Indian Trails Middle, Wadsworth Elementary or Old Kings Elementary may become necessary by 2014-15 if enrollment declines persist.
Flagler County School Board
As Closing a School Emerges as an Option, District Calls for Emergency Meeting Thursday
Despite some confusion about budget numbers described as a “moving target,” the Flagler school board was spending a day-long workshop to find some $1.7 million in cuts, many of them affecting educational programs directly.
Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 280 Musicians Take The Auditorium in Year-End Concert
The Flagler Youth Orchestra’s “Take a Bow” concert at the Flagler Auditorium Monday at 7 p.m. will feature all 280 musicians in different orchestras in the culmination of a year’s–and for many, several years’–work.
Flagler Schools Gets $5.3 Million in New State Dollars and Still Ends Up in the Hole
The Flagler school district is looking at next fall’s budget from a $1.4 million deficit despite a substantial increase in state dollars, because the state’s new revenue is attached with so many strings as to strangle the school district. Meanwhile, board members are looking to convince voters that a new property tax is necessary for needs beyond that deficit.
School District Missed and Ignored Long List of Serious Problems With Youth Center Employee
Flagler County Youth Center Assistant Director Shannon Diamond’s arrest Sunday on charges related to drunkenly behavior were the latest in a series of criminal and other issues, including some in the district, that Diamond has faced over the years, and that the district either ignored or found of no consequence.
Flagler School District Hones Its Sales Pitch for New Tax Ahead of June 7 Referendum
The Flagler school district is campaigning for the June 7 referendum on a new property tax for schools with a “You Decide” approach that emphasizes restoring time to the school day and reinforcing school security in spite of cuts in state funding.
Sue McVeigh Is a State Finalist for Employee Of the Year, a First for Flagler School District
For the first time ever, the Flagler County school district has a finalist for the state-wide Employee of the Year award. Sue McVeigh, an exceptional education specialist, will travel to Legoland on May 17 to the final award banquet.
Jamesine Fischer Is Sentenced to 25 Months in Prison for Hit-and-Run Death of Pecqueur
Jamesine Fischer, the 56-year-old wife of Flagler School Board member John Fischer, will serve at least 21 months in a Florida state prison following her sentencing Wednesday for the hit-and-run death of Francoise Pecqueur, 76, in Palm Coast in November 2011.
Feedback Failures: When Flashing a Grade Devalues Students and Teachers
JoAnn Nahirny views giving feedback to students as one of the most valuable and important things she does as a teacher. Too bad FCAT graders don’t do likewise. Nor does the teacher evaluation process.
As County Ratifies School Levy Referendum, Elections Supervisor Lines Up Concerns
Weeks, who expects a very low turn-out, is not planning on having an early-voting site for the June 7 special election, which falls on a Friday. The election may cost upwards of $100,000. The commission voted 5-0 to place the initiative on the ballot.
Flagler School District Is Glowingly Re-Accredited, a Timely Validation Ahead of Levy Push
The Flagler County school district was re-accredited for the next five years by the nation’s leading accreditation agency, a boon to the district as it makes the case to voters that they should approve a levy raising property taxes modestly to preserve programs and improve security.
Risks, Cautions, But Mostly Needs as Flagler School Board Readies for Tax Referendum
The Flagler County School Board Tuesday evening will approve going to a tax referendum in June, asking voters to increase their property taxes modestly to preserve programs and add security in schools, but the proposal doesn’t have the unanimity two similar proposals had in the last three years.
Flagler School District Will Propose New Tax, Citing Costly Security Needs and Programs
The school board voted 4-1 to ask voters to approve doubling an existing critical-needs levy, to 50 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value–a decision Board Chairman Andy Dance opposed for being too large, citing “school-funding fatigue” among voters.
Sequestering Florida’s Children And Their Schools
The across-the-board federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, will slow our economic recovery and cost upwards of a million jobs nationally. But here in Florida, the sequestration knife cuts especially deep, particularly in the already underfunded field of public education, writes Katie Hansen.
Jamesine Fischer Pleads Guilty in Hit-and-Run, Will Serve 21 to 36 Months in State Prison
Jamesine Fischer Thursday morning pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident with a death, in the hit-and-run killing of 76-year-old Francoise Pecqueur in Palm Coast in November 2011.
John Fischer’s Hate Speech
In twice calling for a return of school prayer in the last three weeks, Flagler County School Board member John Fischer did so not from good will but out of angry resentment for “special interests” and “political correctness” that he claims are standing in the way of “our rights.” He is offensively wrong, and the school board should resist his call to prayer.
Flagler School Board Approves Posting Cops at All Elementary Schools Through Year’s End
The doubling of cops to cover all of Flagler County’s 11 public schools would bring the total school-cop program cost to between $1 million and $1.2 million. The district’s share would be less than half, but would still require dipping into savings–or cutting programs–because the district has no money budgeted for additional security.
School Security’s Buy-A-Cop Delusions
The Flagler County School board this week will debate adoption of a new security plan that includes adding armed cops in elementary schools. The approach would be costly, ineffective, and more emotional than intelligent. Smarter approaches–and far greater priorities–abound.
Lt. Steve Cole Will Be Sheriff’s Point Man On Growing School Cops and Victims’ Beats
Cole’s appointment might have been routine in any other year. But the use of school resource officers is the leading issue for the Flagler County School Board in the wake of the Newtwon school shooting, and ahead of a Feb. 5 meeting on the school district’s revamped security plans.
As Gov. Scott Calls for $2,500 Teacher Raise, Reactions Are More Skeptical Than Jubilant
Even in Flagler County, teachers and the school board chairman reacted to Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal with a mixture of skepticism and guarded optimism, as questions about math, political motives and local control abound.
With Stern Words on Process, Flagler School Board Ratifies Private Hire of Cop at Old Kings
Board members Sue Dickinson and Colleen Conklin raised issues with the preferential message the private-pay guard at Old Kings Elementary may send to other schools, and the way the decision was made without the board’s knowledge. Three board members had no issue with the process. All five welcomed the check.
Colleen Newman of Belle Terre Elementary And Sue McVeigh Are School District Champs
First-grade teacher Colleen Newman of Belle Terre Elementary is the Teacher of the Year, Sue McVeigh, a parent specialist in the district’s Exceptional Student Education administration, is the employee of the year.
Less Than 5 Months In, Charter School Closes, Upending Parents, District and County
Global Outreach Charter Academy opened hurriedly at the Flagler County Airport in August, with generous lease terms from county government and accommodations from the school board, only to tell its 122 students and staff on New Year’s Day that the school was out of business.
Flagler Schools Considering Public Color-Coded Emergency System to Signal Lockdowns
Before the Newtown massacre but after a close call with a student who threatened to attack a school last week, Flagler school and sheriff’s officials met to devise a system that would let people know in real time when a school, college or day care center was in lockdown.
Matanzas High School Is an A School Again, FPC Maintains B, Heritage Gets 3rd F in a Row
The much-anticipated high school grades are in, with Matanzas High School getting the second A in seven years, after three years as a B school, and FPC maintaining its B for the third straight year. Now-closed Heritage, a charter, got what would have been the third successive F.
Flagler School District Cut from $30 Million Race-to-the-Top Grant; Rezoning Still Ahead
The $30 million federal grant–a third of the district’s annual budget–would have let the district turn all its middle and elementary schools into K-8 magnet schools of choice, with transportation. Nevertheless, the district still plans to adopt several reforms, including converting Indian Trails into a K-8 center, and countywide rezoning.
In a Day of Inaugurals, 3 Governments Swear In New Members and 2 Elect New Chairmen
The Flagler County Commission, the school board and the Palm Coast City Council all either welcomed new members or shuffled their chairmanships in an annual ritual with a mixture of ceremony and consequences.
Astronaut Suni Williams Enthralls 1,000 Flagler Students in a Ham Radio Chat From ISS
Suni Williams, one of the most decorated American astronauts, was 210 miles above Florida as she fielded some 20 questions for 10 minutes from students before a packed audience of 1,000 at Indian Trails Middle School today, in a thrilling, old-fashioned hook up made possible by the Flagler Palm Coast Amateur Radio Club.
K-8 System, Choice, Rezoning: Flagler School District Bracing for Reforms Affecting All
Major changes are coming to Flagler County schools: Rezoning, reforming and rethinking the district’s physical and intellectual boundaries. By the time it’s done—or at least implemented—students, teachers and parents will have all felt the ground beneath their feet move a little, and in some cases a lot.
Flagler Schools’ Overall Enrollment Flat For 4th Straight Year as Charters Keep Growing
Flagler County’s three charter schools’ enrollment exceeds 1,000, or 8 percent of the district, which saw its traditional schools’ enrollment fall to the lowest level since the 2005-06 school year.
Flagler School Board Takes a Hard Line on Corporate Charters as it Delays Latest Bid
The Phoenix-based Leona Group’s application to open a middle and high school charter in Flagler next year was tabled at least two weeks as Flagler board members raised concerns with the company’s track record and its dearth of local involvement or support.
Flagler School Board Members Forego $91 Raise and Stick With $30,442 Annual Salary
For the second year in a row, Flagler County School Board members have decided to take neither a raise nor a pay-cut. They were in line for a $91 raise as set by Florida law, though they could have chosen to reduce their salaries.
Flagler School Board Rejects Building-Tax Cut, a Blow to Builders and the Chamber
Chamber President Doug Baxter had hoped Palm Coast would “fall in line” with a building-tax moratorium of its own if the county and the school board adopted one. The county did. The school board refused to go along Tuesday evening, calling the proposal irresponsible.
From Red Lights to School Buses: Florida Looks For Traffic Spy Cameras’ Next Perch
Despite having by far the safest record of any mode of transportation, including in Flagler, Florida school officials are looking to add spy-and-snap cameras on school buses similar to red-light cameras at Palm Coast and other cities’ intersections. School districts would reap most of the cash benefits from fines.
Flagler’s SAT Scores Tumble to Lowest Level in at Least 8 Years as Florida’s Improve
The declines some of them steep, took place in all categories–reading, math, writing–at both Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School, with one exception in reading at Matanzas.
Ripped from Her Trenches, a Teacher Mobilizes for Months of Cancer Combat, and Anguish
From feeling like a human easel to a convicted felon, Matanzas teacher Jo Ann Nahirny takes us step by step through the anguish of preparing for cancer treatment and its implications–physical, financial, emotional and spiritual.
For the Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 8th Season, 200 Students Join Before Recruiting Begins
A Flagler Youth Orchestra trio is visiting five Flagler County schools Thursday and Friday in the FYO’s annual recruiting tour, but a record number of students have already signed up for the increasingly popular program ahead of its open house on Sept. 12.
What Six School Cops and $287,464 Buy: Mentor, Counselor, Law Enforcement Officer
A trio of school and sheriff’s officials described to the Palm Coast City Council the impact of six school deputies in Flagler County middle and high schools, but not without triggering questions about what “went wrong” to make the cops necessary on campus.
Flagler Students’ ACT Scores, Reflecting College Readiness, Fall for 4th Year in a Row
If Flagler County were a state, its composite score of 18.6 would rank at the very bottom of the table, below Mississippi’s 18.7, well below the national average of 21.1, and a universe away from the scores of students in New England and the Northeast.
Flagler School Board Hails Sales Tax Victory and Revenue But Readies to Lose $2 Million
As Sue Dickinson and Colleen Conklin took their seats after winning a fourth term, the school board learned that its sales tax revenue was up to $4.2 million, thanks to more sales activity in the county. But the district is also losing at least $2 million from the expiration of an unrelated tax by year’s end.
Sheriff’s and School Bus Director’s Caution: “Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible.”
With Flagler County schools resuming on Thursday, Aug. 15, the sheriff’s office and the school district’s transportation department–responsible for 85 bus routes traveling 8,000 miles a day–are reminding parents, students and all drivers to heighten their prudence. A list of bus routes and times is included.
AP Oncology: What a Teacher Did On Her Summer ‘Vacation,’ and How It is Ending
Matanzas High teacher and columnist JoAnn Nahirny returns from what was not exactly a summer break, with a story of her students’ unique success in the Flagler school district–and shattering news about herself for her returning students next week.
Complaint Cites Broad, Harsh Discrimination Against Black Students in Flagler Schools
Flagler County schools are among five Florida districts cited by the Southern Poverty Law Center in complaints filed with the federal Office of Civil Rights, calling for federal investigations into discriminatory punishments that disproportionately target black students.
Uniform Policy Rules and Penalties Dress Up School District’s New Code of Conduct Edition
The Flagler County School Board Monday approved rules and penalties that apply to the district’s new uniform policy. But the Code of Conduct makes many allowances for students who cannot wear uniforms.
Two Flagler School Board Races Will be Decided Aug. 14: The Live Interviews
Three-term incumbents Sue Dickinson and Colleen Conklin are being challenged by Bill Corkran and Debbie Laury in two contests for the Flagler County School Board that will be decided Aug. 14. All registered voters may vote regardless of party affiliation or address.
Andy Dance: Why You Should Support Flagler Schools’ Renewal of the Half-Penny Sales Tax
Andy Dance, the school board member, explains why your vote approving the renewal of the half-penny sales tax in the Aug. 14 referendum is critical for Flagler County schools. All registered voters may cast a ballot regardless of party affiliation.
Back to School Jam Returns Saturday at FPC: Uniforms, Discounts, But No Free Backpacks
This year’s back to school jam for all flagler county students will feature discounted uniforms, $5 backpacks and many other supplies, at Flagler Palm Coast High School Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Bill Corkran, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Bill Corkran is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 14 primary election, which will decide the winners: all Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Sue Dickinson, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Sue Dickinson is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 14 primary election, which will decide the winners: all Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Colleen Conklin, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Colleen Conklin is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 14 primary election, which will decide the winners: all Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.