As she revealed at a budget meeting Tuesday evening, just before voting on what she did not know, Sally Hunt does not know how the school district’s budget is funded by a state formula. She does not know how the millage, or property tax, is set. She does not know whether to cheer or jeer lower school property taxes, even coming off a budget briefing on July 24, when she voted to approve advertising the budget.
Schools
Next Flagler School Superintendent’s Salary May Be As High as $200,000, a 48% Jump in Last 3 Years
Barely three years ago, the Flagler County School Board hired Cathy Mittelstadt as its superintendent on a base salary of $135,000. The next superintendent may earn as much as $200,000. Flagler School Board member Sally Hunt wanted to go as high as $215,000, though the average salary in Florida is $174,000, and Flagler County is among the state’s smaller districts.
Why Are Florida Republicans So Scared of Higher Education?
Florida Republicans are scared of higher education. Colleges. Universities. Known hotbeds of wokery, Marxism, and foreign languages, they should instead focus on the one thing that matters to real Americans: training future cogs in the uber-capitalist machine and sports.
Joe Avallone Takes the Reins as Head Coach of Daytona State College’s Men’s Soccer Team
In his three years as Daytona State’s men’s soccer assistant coach, Joe Avallone helped take the Falcons to three conference titles, three Southeast District titles and three trips to the NJCAA nationals. Named head coach following Bart Sasnett’s departure, Avallone says he’ll use his 30+ years of experience as a player and coach to build on that winning formula.
Donelle Evensen Is Bunnell Elementary’s New Principal as Sanfilippo Moves to District Job
Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore is appointing Donelle Evensen, the current Assistant Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools, as Bunnell Elementary’s next principal, replacing Marcus Sanfilippo, who moves to the district office.
Brain Drain at New College? DeSantis Is ‘Good With That’
New College has been filling positions that account for nearly a third of the school’s faculty. DeSantis appointed a slate of conservative members to the school’s Board of Trustees early this year.
DeSantis ‘War on Woke’ Mirrors Whitewashing of History in Other Countries
Florida’s new law forbidding the teaching of systemic racism is the most extreme example in a series of recent U.S. state bills that critics call “educational gag orders.” The tactics that Gov. Ron DeSantis is using to censor the teaching of American history in Florida look a lot like those seen in the illiberal democracies of Israel, Turkey, Russia and Poland.
Texas University Suspends Professor Accused of Criticizing Lt. Governor in Lecture on Opioids
The professor, Joy Alonzo, an expert on the opioids crisis, was placed on paid administrative leave and investigated, raising questions about the extent of political interference in higher education, particularly in health-related matters.
District Breaks Ground on Two-Year, $22.6 Million Matanzas High School Expansion
The $22.6 million project is the largest on a Flagler school campus in a decade and a half, adding 20,000 square feet, including classrooms, and renovating 11,000 square feet over the next two years.
Will Furry’s Rate Plan for Belle Terre Swim Club Is ‘Ludicrous’ and Disconnected from Reality
School Board member Will Furry is demanding a new rate structure for Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club that is based on “personal belief unmoored to any study or research,” Doug Courtney, who leads the club’s advisory board, argues. The rates would increase sharply, and be split into tiers. The board is voting on the new rates Tuesday evening.