Post Election

Posted on November 15th, 2012 by

Post Election

Like many of you I am so glad November 6th is behind us.  This was my first local election as a sitting elected official and I learned a great deal both positive and negative.  Now it is time for us to come together and continue to do the work for the students, families and citizens of Citrus County.

I was most disappointed that the .25 millage rate school referendum did not pass.  This referendum was a continuance of revenue our students and schools were already receiving but that will now sunset this coming year.  Since this referendum did not pass our school budget will be impacted and reduced further by approximately $2.5 million dollars annually.  This, along with the anticipated Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the Florida Retirement System’s “3% contribution” law suit, which many believe will be held as unconstitutional, will further reduce our Citrus County School System’s budget by an additional $2.5 million dollars.  That is potentially $5 million in new lost funds to our school budget and that is before any new state or federal mandates or unanticipated new costs.  This will have a serious impacts as we begin the budget process in the next months.

I will miss working with School Board Member Bill Murray whose farewell meeting was November 13th, 2012 but I am very excited to begin working with newly elected School Board Member Susan Hale.  Ms. Hale brings a great deal of experience both from the private banking/human resources area, public school teaching and the Florida Department of Education where she has served as a dispensatory board member for teachers certifications.  I welcome Ms. Hale and wish her the very best as she begins to serve the students of Citrus County on the School Board.

Lastly, I am pleased to continue to work with Superintendent Sam Himmel. I cannot express well enough how much I appreciate the style and manner in which Ms. Himmel works with her board members.  She makes sure that her staff and executive team are always available to us for answering any questions or addressing any issues.  She goes out of her way to see that we are informed of daily happenings within our school system. She brings us in to ask our opinions on issues even when she does not have to.  We are a team at the School District and it is an honor to serve with them.  We are “Team Students”!!

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Recap of School Board Meeting

Posted on November 14th, 2012 by

Recap of School Board Meeting

Tuesday’s November 13th board meeting covered a wide range of items.  It was also our farewell meeting to board member Bill Murray.

Several citizens attended the board meeting to speak about whether the school board should or should not maintain Concurrency and School Residential Impact Fees.  See Mike Wright’s story in the November 14, 212 edition of the Citrus Chronicle, “School board: We want our impact fees”, to read more about that issue.

During the board meeting several items were approved.  Some of those items include revisions to policies 7.10, “School Budget Systems”, 7.20, “Accounting and Control Procedures” and also repeal and revisions policy 8.60, “Acceptable Use Policy” for computer and internet use by staff.  The board also approved the Superintendent’s recommendation for the new Assistant Principal at Citrus Springs Middle School, Deirdre Murray.  In addition, the board approved to advertise for a Public Hearing at the January 8, 2013 School Board Meeting to approve the revisions of Policy 7.33, “Petty Cash Funds/Change Funds”, Policy 6.18, “Contracts: Instructional and Administrative Personnel”, Policy 5.75, “Verification of High School Diploma for Admission to Withlacoochee Technical Institute Postsecondary Programs”, and Policy 2.70, “Prohibiting Discrimination, Including Sexual and Other Forms of Harassment”.

Assistant Superintendent of CC Schools, Ken Blocker, gave a budget update and shared that, as a school board, he believes we should begin formulating a budget plan now for the 2013-2014 budget.  Mr. Block explained that with the Florida Retirement System law suit still pending it could mean $7million retroactively and a $2.3million loss going forward. In addition, now that on November 6th the .25 millage rate referendums did not pass, there will be an additional $2.5 million in lost funding and as a result we may be in for some serious budget challenges.

November 13, 2012 was Board Member Bill Murray’s farewell meeting as a school board member.  When I first was sworn into the board as a member I knew Bill Murray best personally from conversations with him. What I knew about Bill was that he had strong opinions based on what was best for students, and how our district could better succeed.  Over the last two years I have depended on Bill to balance my own thoughts and opinions.  That is perhaps hard for those that haven’t sat in these positions to understand but each   board member bring something different to the table, such as a critical voice to our discussions and decisions. Bill was one whose opinion, even when it might differ from my own, was critical to my final vote. I valued that even if Bill and I voted differently we could go to lunch afterwards and talk about sports or family and the vote did not change how he felt about you.  It has been an honor to learn from you, and work alongside of you.  I will miss having my seat next to you but I won’t miss you altogether as I hope for us to have a regular lunch date.  Thank you, Mr. Bill!

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IMPORTANT:Get Out and Vote!!

Posted on October 29th, 2012 by

Get Out and Vote!!

Early Voting Begins!

Open from 7 am- 7 pm, Sat. Oct. 27th to Sat. Nov. 3rd including Sunday!

Four convenient locations: Inverness City Hall, Central Ridge Library, Homosassa Library and the Elections Office at the West Citrus Government Center at Meadowcrest.

I humbly ask you to vote “YES” on the ‘Citrus Schools Referendum on .25 Millage Rate’ and “NO”on Amendments 8!  For more information on these two issues please read my blog post, “Read Your Ballot Carefully“.

Remember, “Your vote is your voice!!”

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CREST’s New “Four legged” Staff Member

Posted on October 17th, 2012 by

CREST’s Newest “Four legged” Staff Member

Today while on my visit to CREST school I had the opportunity to meet CREST’s newest four legged staff member, Tommy Lee.  Tommy Lee is a Facility Canine who was trained by the Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), Southeast Region in Orlando.  He works everyday with students at CREST and helps engage students in their classes.

Tommy Lee’s colleague and handler is Callie Haynes, Teacher On Special Assignment at CREST.  Ms. Haynes shared how students will often work hard all day just to spend a few minutes with Mr. Lee.

CCI Facility Canines are expertly trained dogs who partner with a facilitator working in health care.  Facility Canines are trustworthy in professional environments and can perform over 40 commands designed to motivate and inspire students with special needs.

Tommy Lee along with his colleague will be presenting at our October 23rd board workshop meeting.  Tune into the meeting to meet Tommy Lee and learn more about how he is assisting to help our students.

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Read Your Ballot Carefully

Posted on October 17th, 2012 by

Read Your Ballot Carefully

As many of us fill out our absentee, early voting or Election Day ballots I cannot stress enough the importance this year of carefully reading through your ballot.  After you have made your candidate choices next on your ballot will be the amendments and then the Citrus Schools Referendum.

While all the candidates, amendments and referendum are important the two I want to again make you aware of that will have a profound effect on our students and schools are Amendments 8 and the Citrus Schools Referendum on .25 Millage Rate.

The Citrus Schools Referendum is for many voters the last box and is NOT one of the amendments so if you are someone against all the amendment please slow down when you come to the Citrus Schools Referendum.

I encourage you to consider voting “NO” on Amendments 8 and “YES” on the Citrus Schools Referendum.

Amendments 8 – NO!

Amendment 8, “Religious Freedom”, perhaps wrongfully named, this proposed amendment would repeal the Florida Constitution’s prohibition on state funding of religious organizations, thus if it passed it could provide or even require in some cases that public funds be used for operating of religion institutions and schools whether they are Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Wiccan, etc.  This has many obvious concerns.

Amendment 8

There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace, or safety. No individual or entity may be discriminated against or barred from receiving funding on the basis of religious identity or belief. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.

Maintaining the Citrus Schools Referendum on .25 Millage Rate – YES!!

Prior to 2008 and for decades before the local required school district millage rates was by the Florida State Legislator at 2 mills and restricted to capital outlays only. (One mill is 1/10 of a cent and 1/$1,000 of a dollar) Since 2008 the Florida Legislature has played a political shell game, passed the responsibly for adequately funding school construction and maintenance to local school boards and thus then to the local ad valorem tax payer.  The State in 2008 reduced the local required school district millage rate to 1.5 mills with the option for local school boards to restore it to 1.75 mills with voter approval.  As you can see this is still .25 mills less than it was in 2008 even with voter approval.

District has seen a reduction of approximately $16 million since the 2007-2008 fiscal year, with annual facilities maintenance costs of $10 million and a $47 million renovation project for its very aged Crystal River Primary and Crystal River High School, the Citrus County School Board placed students first calling for voters to restore the millage rate to 1.75 in 2010.  I supported that decision during my campaign in 2010.

The voters in 2010 choose by over 65% to improve our schools and approved the referendum it is my hope that the voters again approve to continue this funding.

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Junior Achievement Celebration

Posted on October 17th, 2012 by

Junior Achievement Celebration

On October 4th I had the great privilege of attending the 2012 Celebrate Junior Achievement event.   Junior Achievement Citrus is the local branch of Junior Achievement USA.

Dennis Miller, General Manager of WYKE, was the Master of Ceremonies and speakers included; Frank DiGiovanni, City Manager of Inverness; Diane Smith, Junior Achievement; Superintendent Sandra “Sam” Himmel, Citrus County School District and Inverness Middle School teacher, Fariella Cook.  These speakers spoke of the mission and successes of the JA program in our community and our schools.  While these speakers did an excellent job conveying the mission of JA it was truly the next group of student presenters and speakers that had the greatest impact on the audience.  Brenden Bonomo, Assistant Principal of Forest Ridge Elementary School brought a group of student performers that included Andrew Cartwright, Alden Hudak, Frederick Jewell, Tristen King, Emily Pace, and Ashlynn Pozzi.  The FRE students did a powerful skit based on the television program, “Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader”  The answer was NO.  Fifth graders had JA members to assist them in learning about becoming enterprisers.   The most powerful message of the morning was given by a Citrus High School student and JA participant, Kelly Bradford.  Miss Bradford shared how much of an influential encouragement and impact JA has played on her life in teaching, her personal choices and economic management skills.  Her personal story was uplifting and inspirational.

JA is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experimental hands-on programs.  Junior Achievement is a volunteer driven, non-profit organization. This year more than 2,000 business professionals, parents, retirees and college students will enter our schools to teach Junior Achievement Programs. These volunteers use their personal experiences to make the Junior Achievement Curriculum both practical and realistic. Providing children with positive adult role models who illustrate ways to build self-confidence, develop skills and find avenues of success in our free enterprise system, is a hallmark of Junior Achievement.

If you are a teacher in Citrus County, I encourage you to learn more about JA and how they can be incorporated into your classroom and studies.

If you are interested in learning more about JA in Citrus County, or would like to volunteer or donate to JA, visit their web site at: www.jacitrus.org

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