Ed Tierney, superintendent of schools with Monroe County School District, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this mornign to talk about what’s going on in the schools.
Tierney spent his first few months doing what was essentially a listening tour in the schools.
He said, “I spent a lot of time up and down the Keys and visited 32 schools, and had a lot of meetings outside of that. I’m going to present my formal report to the board on the 18th about my findings, so many great things, and then a couple of things that we’re going to work on. So I’ll present that to the board on the 18th, and then talk about that in detail once that’s complete. One of the things we are going to work on is graduation rate. I’m just really kind of proud and pleased with the team on pivoting so quickly to bring in different pathways and vehicles for the seniors and juniors to earn a score in order to help them graduate, and the schools pivoting to start tutoring and instructing students towards those tests in real time. So I saw that yesterday in Key West High School. I’m on my way to Marathon High School right now, where we’ll see it again. Coral Shores last year, they move so quickly and efficiently to support the seniors. It’s just really nice to see, and I’m so grateful they did it.”
Tierney has attended a whole lot of meetings.
He said, “I’m trying to earn a place in this community. My wife is as well. We’re so happy to be here and want to contribute beyond just being an employee.”
Morale seems to be high.
Tierney said, “There were instructional vacancies at .6%, remarkably low. I’m in a lot of classrooms, talking to a lot of teachers, and they are seemingly happy up and down the Keys. This is a very positive, supportive bunch of professionals here who love these students. The culture, to me, is stellar.”
The former Director of Food Services resigned from his position abruptly recently and wrote a letter that had some criticism of food services in the district.
Tierney said, “Those employee groups, the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, work so hard, such a difficult, challenging job. I appreciate them. We all do, and I try to make a point of seeing them when I visit schools and transportation depots, because they play such a critical role in the district, and the questions were really about the food service budget. A week or two in I was kind of briefed that the food service budget was going to be in a tough time this year. So that’s no surprise. I look back over the last six years, and that fund balance has been well into the double digits, sometimes as high as 40%, so it has traditionally been financially healthy, but we’ve known this year was going to be a difficult one, with a dip in enrollment, rising food costs, and we raised the school lunch prices and breakfasts in July. We didn’t want to do it, but we just had no choice. We’re getting an increased reimbursement from the federal government right now, so I know we’re watching expenses. We’re doing everything we can to get right on that budget. Traditionally, this is cyclical throughout the state, probably the country, this first semester is difficult. You have a week off for Thanksgiving. You’re not selling breakfast and lunch. You have two weeks over the Christmas holidays not selling breakfast and lunch. So generally, thin now and then the second semester gets healthier. So we’re doing a lot of advertising to our students about the quality of food, like I said, watching our expenses, and I think we’re going to be just fine on that budget.”
A community meeting is coming up, and it will discuss the proposed renovations at Reynolds school.
Tierney said, “It is happening this afternoon. I look forward to attending that when I get back from Marathon. This is a follow up meeting. We met with that neighborhood, and we briefed our plan, and we heard some of their feedback, and then we’ve made the adjustments that we can, and we’re going to go present the adjustments to them. I really look forward to it, because the team did a lot of work on hearing them and revising the plans to the way we could, and I saw some new mock ups of what it’s going to look like, and I think it looks great. So I look forward to this meeting this afternoon.”
A school board meeting is coming up as well.
Tierney said, “It’s going to be a big agenda, because we’ve had a large gap in our meetings. There is a lot on that the agenda that we’re going to have to get through as we go into a reorg and then just run the business of the school. So it’s going to be a busy evening coming up for sure.”
We’ve had a number of recognition for scholars recently, too.
Tierney said, “What we’re trying to do is focus on the very top scholars that go on to some of the top universities in the country, and then with equal focus, the students who are trying to finish up their last requirements in order to successfully complete high school and go on and live the lives that they want to live. So the team is really trying to focus on that whole spectrum and doing a nice job and I’m grateful for their efforts. They’re all they’re all valued, and we’re trying to help them all succeed and live the lives they want to live. This job is too big to do by myself, which is why I keep reaching out to the community and the school staff members as well as the staff members in our building. So I appreciate everybody’s work, and rest assured, we’re doing everything we can to help every student achieve the outcomes that they want.”