A new member was sworn in and new challenges were discussed at the Nov. 19 meeting of the Monroe County School Board in Key West.
Yvette Talbott, winner of the election held during the August primaries, was sworn in to fill the seat vacated by Andy Griffiths, who retired in October. She joined all the school board members and Superintendent Theresa Axford, thanking the voters of Monroe County for overwhelmingly approving the two school funding items in the November ballot.
Member John Dick noted that the item with the word tax in it wasn’t as well favored by the voters, but it still easily passed. That tax is a sales tax paid with the help of visitors to the Keys.
Axford reported on the increase of students in the district who don’t have English as a first language. The district had been running at about 22% of first-time English learners. That percentage rose to a current level of 28%.
“The influx of Haitian Creole students was dramatic over the second semester of the last school year,” Axford said. “Approximately 600 students enrolled in our Monroe County schools with high numbers enrolling in Horace O’Bryant, Key West High School, Poinciana Elementary and Gerald Adams schools.
“To fully manage the increase, I convened a task force over the summer,” she continued. ”This team prepared orientation and registration videos with Haitian dialogue, streamlined the registration process and did training for school office personnel. The task force also prepared training for teachers to assist them with English learner students. To facilitate further, translation devices were purchased and additional staff was hired who are native Haitian speakers.”
Axford said the district also applied for and received a $1 million grant to assist with support for the new students.
Other items on the agenda included an appeal from the Southernmost Hockey Club for an agreement that would allow repairs and renovation of the hockey rink in Key West. The rink where the club plays and practices is on school district property. The hockey Club caters to players aged 4-18, with a season running from January through May. The agreement was approved during the meeting.
Pat Lefere, executive director of operations and planning for the school district, discussed an information technology refresh program that would replace over 5,000 student laptop devices at a cost of over $2 million. These devices have strict protections against hacking and intrusions and are centrally monitored, controlled and administered.
Marla Russell, head start director, reported that the county’s Head Start program had never had an audit exception — meaning no reported audit problems. This $8.1 million program is in Key Largo School, Stanley Switlik Elementary, Gerald Adams Elementary and Horace O’Bryant School.
Russell is retiring and will be replaced by Jennifer Walker, who has been the education manager in the district’s Head Start and VPK programs.
