The Jan. 28 Monroe County School Board meeting was marked by careful studies of long-term plans and literally second-by-second changes to critical funding categories announced by the administration for President Donald Trump.
The long-term plans under consideration included the cost of insuring the buildings, activities and staff of the school system. The school buildings in the county, generally built to category 5 storm standards, are eligible for favorable insurance rates.
But what if, the question was raised, there is damage to some buildings that is not fully covered by insurance? Would the Federal Emergency Management Agency look favorably on the district’s insurance plan and provide supplemental disaster funding? And, it was asked, what if there was no FEMA? There was a lengthy but initial discussion of insurance alternatives.
The meeting convened at 5 p.m. That’s exactly the time that a funding freeze went into effect for a broad range of federal benefit programs. The school board staff reported that some salaries and other expenses were on the books by 5 p.m., but the status of federal funds for Head Start and School Lunch programs was unclear.
Then, cell phones started to go off. Government agencies were providing clarifications. The Federal Office of Management and Budget reported that Head Start funds would not be frozen. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which manages school lunch funding programs, wasn’t clear if school lunch funding would be limited.
Then, text messages delivered the news that a federal judge ordered a stay of the funding freeze.
As of press time on Wednesday, the judicial freeze on the presidential freeze was in effect until at least Monday, Feb. 3. But after presstime, Wednesday afternoon, the White House budget office rescinded the federal funding freeze. Karoline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman, told reporters the move was a recession of the memo and noted that the efforts to end the egregious waste of federal funding will continue.
Before the announcement rescinding the freeze, federal agencies were scrambling to assure the public that a large number of “direct benefit” programs, everything from social security to meals on wheels, Head Start, student loans, SNAP/EBT cards, VA benefits, and school lunch were not included in the freeze. It does not seem there will be any direct effect on the School District. Other organizations receiving federal money within the county might come under more scrutiny.
At a workshop earlier in the day, there was discussion about the search for a replacement for Superintendent Theresa Axford, who plans to retire on July 31.
The board has hired consultants to conduct a nationwide search for a replacement and to collect input from the public concerning the expectations for the position. Community forums inviting commentary on the search will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Coral Shores High School, on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at Marathon High School and on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Key West High School. All the forums will begin at 6 p.m.
