At a Dec. 9 meeting, Monroe County school board members briefly reviewed a project to improve the baseball field at Founders Park in Islamorada.
The board took no action on the draft baseball license agreement, since it was also on the agenda of the Islamorada Village Council meeting that same evening.
Board member Mindy Conn expressed concerns over some wording in the draft contract and the right of entry to the facilities. The board staff plans to present a final license agreement at the Jan. 27 meeting.
Board member Sue Woltanski related that members of the community asked her why the school board didn’t sit down with the village council to finalize the agreement. She said the boards and councils aren’t the people who negotiate and aren’t the people who make things work. Because of the operational, legal and engineering expertise required, she didn’t think the two boards together would create a good legal product.
Council members ultimately took no action on the agreement, due to a number of corrections and adjustments needed on the 18-page document. The property is owned by the village and has been leased for the past 20 years to the school district for use by Coral Shores’ varsity and jayvee baseball teams. The license agreement outlines the rights and obligations for the reconstruction and use of the baseball field and construction of related improvements.
Deputy Superintendent Amber Acevedo updated the board on the school district’s athletic program, which she said has 734 high school participants.
In Special Olympics, student athletes brought home gold medals from state championships. More than 40 district students participate in the program.
There are a number of middle school athletic programs ongoing with many activities centered on the field at Key Largo School.
Acevedo said there have been petitions, letters and requests to name the Marathon High School football field in honor of alumnus Michael H. Puto. Among the many positions and offices he has held, Puto has been Marathon city manager and county commissioner, including vice mayor and mayor. The formal request to dedicate the stadium will come to the board at the Jan. 27 meeting.
Key Largo School is one of 45 high-performing national demonstration schools in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). The college and career readiness program has been adopted by more than 7,500 schools in 47 U.S. states and 16 countries.
According to Sara Adams, district AVID director, more than 235 Keys teachers are trained in AVID how-to-teach techniques. Kisa Parmenter, Florida implementation strategist for AVID, awarded the KLS staff a plaque for 45 years of excellence in the program.
The school board recognized three Plantation Key teachers and five students.
PKS teachers Jeremy Nelson, Marla Koche and Timothy Conrad received Great Educational Moments awards for the high performance of their students on statewide standardized tests.
PKS student Jorge Vasquez and CSHS seniors Brock Bynum, Nathaniel Shugarman, Tristan Rios and Sophie Stevenson were recognized for their achievements. Bynum is a Presidential Scholar nominee while Shugarman, Rios and Stevenson received National Merit Commendations.
The board received a report on the actions taken to inform employees about open enrollment for health care and about other benefits. The staff is ready to provide counseling for employees in English, Spanish and Creole. The district has about 1,600 full-time and 400 part-time employees. During the health care open enrollment period, the staff visited district schools for in-person meetings. The efforts led to an 89% enrollment rate. The staff credited the in-person process as being much more effective than doing enrollment through email and online.
The district’s “grow our own” tuition reimbursement program encourages employees at all levels to go for a bachelor’s or graduate degree. Twenty-two employees have taken advantage of this program and the district has reimbursed over $40,000 in tuition.
Woltanski reported on the workshop she attended with the Florida School Board Association. The emphasis was on artificial intelligence and how it is used within a school system. There was emphasis on security, but also on the need to have an evolving policy that works.
