The Monroe County School Board passed its final budget as well as the millage rate of 2.8640 for the fiscal year at its regular meeting Tuesday, held at Marathon High School.

The meeting began with the third and final public hearing on the budget.  Charlene White, the Executive Director of Finance, gave an overview to board members, talking about the safety and security millage rate of .05, which she said should cover all required costs in that area, most of which are mandated by the state of Florida. After her budget presentation, school board members weighed in, discussing the funding levels for Monroe County compared to other Florida counties.

Board member John Dick said he had compared Monroe County School’s millage and sales tax rates to other counties in Florida. “Even though we have the highest cost of living in the state and one of the highest rates of pay for our employees due to that high cost of living, we have one of the lowest millage and sales tax rates for school funding,” he said. “Some counties with a much lower cost of living ask for the maximum amount of funding from millage and sales tax. We don’t do that. We only ask for what we really need to fund our schools,” he said. “People in Monroe County need to know that.” All the board members emphasized the critical nature of the millage and sales tax when it comes to the district’s budget. 

“It is crucial for our citizens to vote yes in November for the two funding referendums on the ballot,” said long-time board member Andy Griffiths, who is retiring from his position October 8th.

Note: More information about the millage rate and sales tax referendums can be found at the district’s website at www.keysschools.com.

In addition to passing a final budget, the board recognized the Monroe County Area Health Education Center (AHEC) for their contributions to the school district, its families and its students in the areas of dental and health services. Superintendent Theresa Axford awarded them the Community Great Educational Moments (GEM) Award, recognizing them for providing so many important services free of charge, including physical exams for students and dental services as well.

The board also recognized Marathon High School Art Teacher Shannon Wiley with a GEM award for painting the new Dolphin mural at the school. Wiley painted the mural free of charge, asking only for a donation to his Wiley Art Foundation, which funds scholarships for students who wish to pursue a degree in Fine Arts or Graphic Arts.

The school board heard a report from Marathon Middle / High School Principal Christine Paul on her school improvement plan for the coming school year. All principals must develop a yearly plan addressing what they need to do to improve their schools in various areas, including academically and in their school’s environment and culture. Paul, for instance, talked about her school’s desire to improve in the area of instruction of students with disabilities; she also said the plan talks about improvement in the area of attendance by providing an atmosphere and culture at the school which will make students want to be there every day. The overall goal for the school: to improve from a B school to an A school this year. All School Improvement Plans not only set general goals, they also detail strategies the schools plan to use to achieve their goals.

The board also heard a report from Lori Reid, Instructional Materials and Technology Coordinator for the district, on Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment courses in the district. These are courses offered by the schools and by the College of the Florida Keys which award both high school and college credits to students. Reid discussed the number of students taking these courses and how many succeed in passing them with grades sufficient to earn college credit. Board member Mindy Conn asked her to research and bring back to the board information about how much AP classes cost the district as compared to DE classes. Board Chair Dr. Sue Woltanski, attending virtually, gave a “shout-out” to Coral Shores High School for their exceptional performance in math related AP classes; they out-performed the State of Florida average in this area by large margins across the board.

Melissa Alsobrooks, the Director of Assessment and Accountability, gave a short report to the board about the testing calendar for the current school year. She said this year, the American College Testing (ACT) test would be offered to students in the Spring. The ACT test is a standardized test given for college admissions, similar to the SAT test. Dr. Woltanski commented that she is glad to see the district is reducing the time it takes out of the school year for testing overall, particularly for younger students. She said she would like to see a detailed examination to determine if all the tests are necessary and productive in the hopes that testing time can be further reduced.

Superintendent Axford gave her report to the board, first talking about her completion of A.L.I.C.E. training, which all employees are required to participate in. The acronym stands for “Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate”. Florida statute 1006.07 requires school boards to offer such active shooter training for both staff and students at all schools in Florida. She also asked Harry Russell, the Executive Director of Personnel Support and Instructional Leadership, to talk to the board about the open Athletic Trainer position at Key West High School. The school has been trying to fill this position for some time, but there has been a lack of interested applicants to the position. Russell said the district has worked hard to make the position attractive, increasing the salary offered and offering a substantial supplement as well. He speculated that one issue is, perhaps, the number of hours athletic trainers work as they cover sports events like football, wrestling, lacrosse, and other contact sports. He said he and his department will continue to work to fill the position. Board member Conn suggested “thinking outside the box” including considering filling it with more than one part-time person; Board Member Darren Horan suggested a survey to find out what would make the position more attractive to college graduates and others who have expressed interest in the job but, in the end, have not accepted it.

During board member reports, all members reiterated the need to pass the two referendums on the ballot in November. They asked the public to keep in mind how crucial this funding is to schools and repeated the fact that they are not asking for the entire amount they could ask for - like many other Florida Counties do - but are only asking for the amount necessary to operate at current levels.

Note: All referenced reports are available as attachments to the meeting agenda, which can be found at www.keysschools.com/schoolboardmeetings