At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Monroe County School Board once again discussed millage rates, the upcoming funding referendums and the district budget process. They also heard presentations on athletic drug testing, the Student Progression Plan and changes to state requirements for the plan; as well as the Superintendent’s ongoing efforts to train and recruit quality teachers from within Monroe County.

Executive Director for Finance, Charlene White, spoke to the Board in a required public hearing on the School District budget. She discussed where the funding comes from and the crucial nature of the two funding referendums which will appear on November’s ballot. Board members stressed the importance of the two referendums passing and the damage that would be done to staffing and to the quality of education should these referendums be defeated in November.

“I have been appearing all over the county to talk to community groups about this funding issue,” said Board Member John Dick, who has taken the lead in the effort to educate people about the importance of voting for the crucial district funding.  The critical thing to note is that these referendums contain no tax increases, they simply duplicate what we are currently getting through the ½ mill and the ½ cent allocations.   “People need to know that the education of our students is in the balance. If we want to continue the exceptional quality of our local education, we must pass these referendums,” he said.

As part of the budget discussion, the board talked about the need to maintain competitive salary levels for teachers due to the extremely high cost of living in Monroe County. They also talked about new Safety and Security requirements imposed by the State of Florida, the continued added cost of having SROs required at all county schools public and charter as well as the new rules put in place this school year which increase the inspection and reporting requirements for safe schools, and which require the manning of unlocked ingress and egress points, as well as the locking of doors to all student-occupied rooms in all schools.

The board listened to a presentation on the Student Progression Plan by Melissa Alsobrooks, formerly, the Director of Assessment of Accountability and currently the Principal of Gerald Adams.  A student progression plan outlines what a student needs to know to get promoted and what the district will do to help the student meet those requirements. It is based on state statutes, school district policies, and administrative procedures and is updated every year.

The board and the Superintendent talked about changes to the plan in regard to retention of students and the notification to parents when a student is struggling. They also discussed the ongoing effort by the State and the District to offer and encourage career and technical training in schools in addition to preparing students for college. Subsequent to Covid-19, the Superintendent introduced the MOVE program, a partnership with local businesses to provide career training for high school students interested in entering the workforce after graduation. Anyone interested in more information about this program should go to the district’s website at www.keyschools.com/move. The District also offers a wide variety of industry certifications in their Career and Technical Education program. For more information, visit www.keyschools.com/CTE.  

The state is currently requiring districts to hold a career fair at each high school and offer apprenticeship programs for high school credit in an effort to help those students who may not be college bound to progress in their chosen careers. Board member Mindy Conn discussed the importance of giving students these different pathways to their desired careers. “We need to encourage all of our students, both those who are college bound and those who choose to start their careers right out of high school,” she said. 

In an effort to encourage students to become future Monroe County teachers, Superintendent Axford has encouraged the formation of Future Educators clubs at all the county high schools to help students interested in the teaching profession to achieve their goals.  At the board meeting she also spoke to board members about going into a partnership with Miami Dade College; she said Miami-Dade has a Teaching Academy and she wants to work with them to implement a similar program here in Monroe County. Beginning in September, she said 8-10 students at Key West High School will begin taking classes which will earn them both high school and college credit toward a teaching degree. The goal is to graduate the students at the end of their senior year with an AA degree and to move them into paraprofessional positions with the District; after that they would attend the College of the Florida Keys to finish their Bachelor’s Degree in Education to become full-fledged teachers.

Deputy Superintendent Amber Acevedo gave a report to the board on the issue of drug testing for athletes. She said she was interested in finding out how these students felt about the drug testing policy and how it is implemented. She said she anonymously surveyed the 59 students from the past school year who actually participated in the testing process. She said the majority of those surveyed found the process to be effective in deterring drug use by athletes. She said the simple, four question survey also found that students thought they had been well educated about the dangers of drug use, and they said they had no major concerns about the protocols used during the testing. Acevedo emphasized that the testing is not designed to be punitive but is rather designed to make sure athletes in the Keys are healthy and able to safely participate in their respective sports. She said only two students tested positive during the past school year. 

Board member Dr. Sue Woltanski asked what is being done to detect performance enhancing drugs. Acevedo acknowledged that the district does not test for them, but coaches and athletic directors are constantly on the lookout for signs of use in their athletes. She agreed it would be a good idea to look into what other districts do to detect these substances.

In her report to the board, in addition to speaking to them about the Miami-Dade College Teaching Academy, Superintendent Axford said she spoke to the Tourist Development Council (TDC) about funding for the concession stand at Tommy Roberts Stadium. The TDC confirmed they do offer funding for capital projects such as this but that the agency applying must first be a public agency, which the school district is, and secondly, because the money comes from the bed tax, the project must “significantly” contribute to bringing visitors into the area. Board members discussed the possibility of holding events such as concerts at the stadium to increase the draw of people to the stadium complex.