The Flagler County School Board this evening will again formally reject a developer’s interest in buying the district’s old 7.2-acre Corporate One property at the southeast corner of Palm Coast Parkway and Corporate Drive, a 7-acre site that used to be one of ITT’s headquarters, in the early years of developing Palm Coast, before the board bought it for $3.5 million. It was not one of the board’s wisest decisions.Tailwinds Development, a company that specializes in building retail commercial shopping centers, was interested in the acreage.
Schools
Flagler Schools Will Only Make Up One Day and Sacrifice 4 Lost to Hurricanes, While Preserving Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks
Assuming no more storms or other events require further school cancellations, Flagler County schools will have four fewer instructional days this school year. Thanksgiving and winter breaks will not be affected, the year will not be extended, and the district will still meet the legally required total of instructional days. The Flagler County School Board signed off today on its calendar committee’s minimal changes.
Hurricane Milton’s Flagler Path in Pictures: Flooding, Beach Erosion, Damaged Roads and Roofs, but Nothing Disastrous
Hurricane Milton barreled through the midsection of the Florida Peninsula Thursday morning, lashing Flagler County with tropical-storm-force winds (and a few hurricane-force gusts) and up top 19 inches of rain in parts of the county. But damage overall was mostly minor despite floodwaters. Here’s an album in pictures and video.
Flagler School Board is Doing Nothing to Encourage Applicants for Seat Vacated by Sally Hunt. Here’s How to Apply.
The Flagler County School Board discussed the appointment of Sally Hunt’s replacement for the first time Tuesday, for just four minutes. It had no clue what to do next, and has no intentions of informing the public that the application window is open, or facilitating applications. The board chair has had contact with the governor’s appointment office, but did not say what that entailed other than getting an acknowledgement from that office that Hunt had resigned.
Florida Retains US News Title as Top Higher Education State
Florida was named — for the eighth year in a row — the top state for higher education by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings, released Tuesday, take into account factors including graduation rates, social mobility, student debt, retention rates, and academic reputation.
Stetson Receives National Recognition for Promoting Student Voter Engagement
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has recognized Stetson University for excellence in its nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections.
Mixing Self-Pity with Self-Applause, Sally Hunt Resigns For Real This Time; DeSantis Appointment Could Take Months
Flagler County School Board member Sally Hunt submitted a resignation letter by email early this afternoon, making good on a pledge that by November she’d be gone from the seat she’s occupied less than two years. Hobbling with self-inflicted wounds from one of the most turbulent school board tenures in recent memory, Hunt claimed her “early departure from the Board was not an intended or desired outcome.” Many of her actions in her months on the board, and her frequent absence from it, from school functions and from contact with constituents, suggested otherwise.
Flagler School Board Makes ECGs Mandatory for Student Athletes as Sally Hunt, In Shift, Provides Swing Vote
The Flagler County School Board Tuesday became only the sixth or seventh district out of 67 in Florida to make ECG screenings for student athletes mandatory at least once in their four years of high school. The 3-2 vote followed 75 minutes of often heart-wrenching personal pleas from parents whose children suffered or died from heart defects, and the divided board’s at times contentious disagreements over whether to include an opt-out in the requirement, especially between Will Furry, the board chairman–and opponent of a mandate–and Colleen Conklin, its chief advocate.
Rightward Revamp of New College Costing 9 Times More Per Student Than State Average
Board of Governors member Eric Silagy calculated that New College spent nearly $91,000 per student based on a 2023-2024 enrollment of 732 students, while the average for the state university system is about $10,000 per student. Silagy also questioned plans to increase student-athlete enrollment at the Sarasota college to 36 percent of the student body over the next decade.
FPC’s Dylan Osborne, 17, Killed in Belle Terre Parkway Crash; Man, 60, Dies in Crash from Apparent Medical Episode
Dylan Osborne, a 17-year-old Flagler Palm Coast High School student on a bicycle, was killed in a collision with a dump truck and at a separate location in Palm Coast a 60-year-old man was died in an almost simultaneous three-vehicle crash in mid-afternoon Monday.