I am pleased that FRS is healthy, but let us not forget that this was done on the backs of public education funding.
In 2011 the state of Florida changed in midstream retirement benefits for employees in FRS by then beginning having these employees contribute to the retirement plan. Common and expected in the private sector, where wages/salaries, pay scales and benefits are driven by profits and losses. This is not the case for those that chose noble professions in the public servant sector. Teachers, law enforcement officers, first responders, state and county workers in order to service where willing accept these lesser pay scale positions knowing that some of the offset of the retirement benefits. The public was told that FRS was in such bad financial shape that employees now had to contribute in order to keep FRS solvent.
Instead the state did not really add more to the coffers of FRS. They instead defunded areas like public education and then played a shell game with the funds and used the employee retirement contributes to supplant and fund back some of the losses.
Another better approach could have been to phase in a new contribution for new hires. This would have permitted those new employees to weight the pros and cons of public service over the private sector.
Now again this year district FRS contributes have been increased to further pad FRS. Citrus County’s FRS required contribution was increased by another $370,000. This means less to our students and schools so that the state can claim they saved taxpayers money. It is a shell game and is in the end costing taxpayers more.
Was FRS ever in the poor shape some claimed and said was necessary to make this change? Or was this further justification to reduce the value of those in these noble professions?
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STUFF THE BUS is now a CCEF project. Mark your calendar for July 29th, 2017 and bring your donated school supplies from 10:00am through 2:00pm. Let us thank CCEF’s STUFF THE BUS partners Winn-Dixie , Publix ,and Walmart!
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I was proud today, Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 during our School Board meeting to ask our board for support in removing VAM (Value added Model) from the teachers’ evaluation process in Citrus County. VAM was put into law under SB736 in 2011 by the then Florida Legislature and tied teachers’ pay to students’ grades. While we may not have desired everything in the controversial recent HB 7069 law that Gov. Scott signed. One part of HB 7069 was it made VAM optional.
I have opposed VAM and the use to students’ grade being tied to teachers’ salaries, bonuses and steps from the beginning. I was pleased at today’s school board meeting to ask my fellow board members to support the immediate process to remove VAM from Citrus County School Board policy. There was unanimous support of the entire board.
This will not be an overnight process as policy revisions never are, but the change has now begun. Superintendent Sandra “Sam” Himmel shared during the meeting that our Research and Accountability department would be developing and presenting at an upcoming meeting alternative replacements to VAM for teacher evaluations.
This I believe is a small, but good step in the correct direction. Many more steps are still needed.
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Chronicle Editorial Board gives kudos to Citrus Schools
This week the Citrus County Chronicle Editorial Board again give high marks for the recent reports of all three Citrus County public high schools included in the Washington Post’s 2017 America’s Most Challenging High Schools list, and Lecanto High School was named in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of Best High Schools in the U.S.
The Chronicle stated, “Another example of the excellent work being performed in our school district“. The Chronicle went on to say, “The take on this recognition is Citrus County students will be better prepared for college and success in their careers and lives after school.”
The Chronicle concluded with, “We appreciate the dedication to high standards by the district and individual schools; our community is made stronger because of your commitment to excellence.”
National Merit Finalists solves Rubik’s Cube in 15 seconds
Today at our School Board meeting we recognized Citrus’s National Merit Finalists (top 1% in nation). One of these young men, Sasank Desaraju (Lecanto High School), has a unique talent that I asked him to share. He can solve a “mixed up” Rubik’s Cube in less then 15 seconds!
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Citrus County School’s Food and Nutrition Services will again participate in the Summer Food Service Program during the months of June and July. The Summer Food Service Program, also called the ‘Summer Break Spot’ in Florida, is a federal nutrition program that nonprofit groups and schools use to make sure that children in their communities don’t go hungry during the summer when school is out.
Nutritionally balanced meals will be provided free to all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability during summer vacation when school breakfasts and lunches are not available. All children 18 years old and younger are eligible for meals at no charge at an open site and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service.
The upcoming Summer Break Spot schedule will be available soon on the Citrus County Schools Food and Nutrition Services website at cafe.citrusschools.org. The menus will be available to view on www.Citrus.Nutrislice.com. For more information, call Lora Fredrikson at 352-726-1931, ext. 2451.
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FRS Petition system up 14 percent 
