- April 19, 2024
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Students work in a Lego lab at the Wadsworth Elementary School STEM Academy. Courtesy photo
One of many classroom to careers programs: The culinary program at Matanzas High School. Courtesy photo
The Fire Academy at Flagler Palm Coast High School. Courtesy photo
Collaborative spaces in classrooms and meeting areas are tailored to meet learning needs. Courtesy photo
A collaborative learning space. Courtesy photo
Flagler County Commissioners had a message to the school district: The ball is in your court.
The Commission approved the placement of the school district’s referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot asking citizens to extend the half-cent sales tax for another 10 years.
“I encourage you to get the word out, because this is important,” Commissioner Greg Hansen said.
The half-cent sales tax has been in effect for 20 years, providing $8 million a year for Flagler Schools, funding instructional technology, safety and security. Voters overwhelmingly approved it in 2002 and again in 2012.
But as Commissioner David Sullivan said, it’s hard to get people’s attention when it comes to voting for a tax.
Making people aware of what the half-cent sales tax has funded so far, and what’s planned for in the next 10 years, is the job of the Funding Flagler’s Educational Future PAC. Khanh-Lien Banko, the PAC’s chairperson, said the biggest hurdle this year is inflation.
“But over the last 20 years, the school district has proven to be a good steward (of the money),” Banko said. “The half-cent sales tax is a big reason why Flagler County is an innovative school district with individual laptops and iPads, safety and security and enhanced teaching and learning. The programs available for the size of the district is incredible.”
In a presentation to the County Commission, Flagler Schools Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt and instructional technology specialist Teresa Phillips traced what the half-cent sales tax has accomplished in each decade. In the first 10 years, the district was able to begin its vision creating smart classrooms, handing out devices with a 3 to 1 device to student ratio, installing wireless networks, creating an online parent gradebook and addressing safety measures.
In the past 10 years, the ratio of devices to students became 1 to 1 with students able to take their devices home and bring them back to school the next day. When COVID hit, Flagler’s teachers and students were already familiar with the online learning platform, Mittlestadt said.
Innovative learning spaces were created in all buildings. Wireless networking was enhanced, and facilities and athletic fields were upgraded, allowing the county to hold regional events.
Innovative learning environments include flexible classrooms, with movable furniture that encourage collaborative learning, said Flagler County Education Foundation Executive Director Teresa Rizzo, who is working to raise awareness of the half-cent sales tax’s value.
“A teacher can use an iPad to teach from any spot in a classroom, so students can group up and collaborate together,” Rizzo said. “Only a few classrooms per school have it, but we want to continue it.”
The county has also become a state model for its career technical education, Rizzo said. Safety and security advances have included sonar collision avoidance systems for buses, single-point entry at all schools and camera surveillance, hooked up to the Sheriff’s Office commander’s post. The district is in the process of hardening school lobbies, and plans to add more cameras.
“We’re starting to put in a keyless system for more controlled access,” Rizzo said.
In the next 10 years the district wants to enhance safety and security by hardening buildings and upgrading surveillance systems, upgrade district-wide technology and infrastructure, upgrade instructional technology, renovate smart classrooms and labs, continue to expand the classroom to careers programs, purchase new buses and maintain the fleet and upgrade electrical and HVAC systems. Schools are becoming more efficient with remote AC and light cutoffs, Banko said.
“With the last renewal, Flagler County became an A district. But not every school is an A school, so I think that’s our next goal,” Banko said.
