Thursday, August 30, 2012
Sarasota County School Board and County Commission members are discussing the possibility of allowing access to school playgrounds and fields to neighborhoods after school hours and on the weekends.
Taking the kids to the playground at your neighborhood school might become possible if the Sarasota County School Board and County Commission come to an agreement. The two boards discussed Wednesday morning at a joint session inside the County Administration Building about opening up schools for community use after hours and on the weekends — especially ball fields and playgrounds. County Administrator Randall Reid said he will work with Schools Superintendent Lori White and city managers to discuss shared resources and how and when the schools can open up their resources. School board member Frank Kovach became nostalgic recalling that in his day, kids could easily walk over to Gulf Gate Elementary and play. "We have concerns with …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Teachers and staff are permitted to smoke outside at most schools in Sarasota in a smoking designated area out of view of students.
Some Sarasota schools are technically not tobacco-free, though campuses are trying to take that step. Many Sarasota schools and school district-owned properties give teachers and staff special treatment to smoke because of a union contract stipulation. They're called "smoking designated areas" that allow teachers and staff to light one up or take a dip of Skoal during a break. Three schools have voted to make their campus tobacco-free so far, said School Board Member Shirley Brown during a Tuesday work session, and the School Board of Sarasota County central office at The Landings is going to consider the move. Sarasota County Technical Institute, Pine View School in Osprey and Toledo Blade Elementary in North Port decided to become …
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The district is already exploring budget options for next year as it faces more than $14 million in cuts.
Just one week after approving the 2011-2012 budget, the Sarasota County School Board is beginning to tackle the potential $14 million budget shortfall it faces next year. On Tuesday at the monthly school board work session deputy chief financial officer, Al Weidner, said the two biggest contributors to budget problems are the loss of the federal stimulus jobs fund ($7.8 million) and a continued decline of local property taxes ($4.8 million). Part of the jobs bill proposed by President Barack Obama earlier this month has education funding attached to it, but Weidner said the district is planning conservatively and is not banking on that money. Weidner added the district could see a $1.2 million cut in state funding because of an increase of…
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Sarasota County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass the 2011-12 budget.
There was relief on the faces of school board members Tuesday night as they unanimously passed the $372 million 2011-12 budget. For the last 12 months the board has been holding monthly budget workshops to get continued updates on the budget. "Even though this [meeting] went really fast, it feels like we have been working on this forever," said board chair Frank Kovach. "It has been a difficult year, and I would like to thank the superintendent for leading us through this process," said board member Carol Todd. The relief may be short lived, though, as the district is already working on next year's budget. Despite the $13 million the district cut from this year's budget, it could be facing an even greater budget shortfall next year. …
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Sarasota County School Board unanimously gave superintendent Lori White the top ranking possible.
On Tuesday the Sarasota County School Board gave superintendent Lori White top marks across the board in her annual evaluation of her performance during the past school year. "I think that [your success] has a lot to do with your ego with the fact that you don’t have any," said board chair Frank Kovach. "You want to do the job, you’re not worried about the glamour and publicity ... I’ve never known you to be about yourself. I think this board is very well served [by you] and is in very good hands." White and the rest of the school board recently celebrated the passing of the new collective bargaining agreement with instructional and classified staff. The school board said the smoothness of that negotiation process is just one reason to …
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Each weekday, Sarasota Patch will give you a brief rundown of need-to-know information and events for the day.
1. Former Sarasota Mayor Richard Martin was escorted out of City Hall last night after he refused to adhere to speaking time limits during the hearing of citizens. Martin was protesting what he thought were unjust policies in Sarasota that he thought targeted the homeless. 2. Commissioners unaimously approved a tobacco ban in all city parks Monday night. "This ordinance does apply to all city parks, not one particular park," said Commissioner Shannon Snyder. "If New York can ban smoking in their public parks, I think Sarasota can catch up." 3. While the parking meters are causing headaches for many downtown business owners, they are also causing safety concerns for some downtown patrons. To combat this, the city passed an ordinance Monday…
Thursday, May 19, 2011
At Tuesday's monthly work session the board approved district staff to come up with a master plan for the renovation.
The project is in its infancy but Sarasota County School officials are planning on a multi-million dollar renovation to multiple buildings at Sarasota High. At Tuesday's monthly work session, the school board unanimously approved staff to internally come up with a master plan for the school's renovation. Approval came after a lengthy presentation and discussion about the district's construction priorities. According to a capital project matrix the schools that have the most renovation needs, along with Sarasota High, are Bay Haven Elementary, Gocio Elementary and Pine View School. "Based on a whole lot of analysis, we focused on Sarasota High School," said district chief operating officer Scott Lempe. "If you’ve been on that campus, …
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Three Sarasota County School Board members traveled to the state capital last week to inform legislators of how education cuts will hurt the local community.
Last week three Sarasota County School Board members, Jane Goodwin, Caroline Zucker and Shirley Brown, headed to Tallahassee to speak with state legislators about pending education cuts and to attend a Florida School Board Association gathering. Zucker said the trip was critical because legislators need to know the local effects of their statewide decisions at the capital. “We needed to explain to them what was happening locally,” Zucker said in an interview with Sarasota Patch. “You need be careful when you cut [any part of] education. You do not take an ax and cut strait through without looking.” The group attended a legislative session when the senate was debating the education cuts. Rick Scott originally proposed cutting education …
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Budget numbers cannot be finalized until the state legislature approves a budget for public education. The current legislative session ends May 6.
As Sarasota County School Board chair Frank Kovach sat through the budget workshop on Tuesday afternoon he heard the minimum and maximum reductions the school district could have for the 2011-2012 general fund. The minimum reduction the district could have during the next fiscal year is $44.9 million. The maximum is $53.9 million. “I don’t see a best-case, worst-case scenario,” Kovach said. “It’s more like a worse and worser.” Massive cuts looming over the district are on top of the $104 million that has already been cut from its budget since 2007. While he has voted for the budgets in the past that he said “put off” the problem until next year, Kovach said the district cannot do that anymore. “We have a 45 million dollar problem and are …
Thursday, February 17, 2011
At Tuesdays monthly work session, the Sarasota County School Board examined the budget implications if Governor Rick Scott's proposed education cuts pass.
It was a long day for Superintendent Lori White and the Sarasota County School Board on Tuesday. The board listened to a presentation about potential millions the district will lose if the budget Florida Governor Rick Scott presented last week passes. On Feb. 7, Scott announced his plan to cut nearly 10 percent of the education dollars to public schools. Al Weidner, deputy chief financial officer for the district, told the board that if approved education cuts are anywhere near that number, it could be "devastating" for the district. According to Weidner, if Scott's plan passes, the district will have to cut $37 million from the 2011-12 budget and almost $24 million from the 2012-13 budget to maintain a fund balance of 7.5% per school …
AL Powers
8:25 pm on Friday, August 31, 2012
Schools all over the USA are open for after hours and weekend use. Take a look at your annual Property Tax Bill and tell me where the biggest chunk goes... to the Schools! Now why can't we the Tax Payers use this Resource? We pay for it, over and over again. And we allow paranoid namby-pamby administrators to steal this right away from us, with lame excuses. ( Dog poo, ever since 9/11, etc.) … more ›