Amber Acevedo, Deputy Superintendent of Monroe County Schools, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the schools.
Schools were closed today because of Hurricane Rafael and while it looks like it’s going to pass farther to the west, there is still a tropical storm warning in effect.
Acevedo said, “Those tropical storm conditions are what drove the decision to close schools today, of course, at the latest meeting with the EOC, with the possibility of those winds that could be 50 miles an hour. Those are conditions in which the busses cannot run, and we don’t want our students and staff being put in any kind of condition such as that. So the decision was made to close schools, and we will revisit. We know that the progress seems on the storm to change every so often, and so after the one o’clock EOC meeting today, there will be a determination as far as Thursday. We are certainly hoping to operate normally, because we want our kids in school, but we will wait until then, and parents should be expecting information to go out after that one o’clock call regarding school tomorrow.”
Both referendums for Monroe County Schools passed last night on the ballot.
Acevedo said, “The superintendent, the board and of course, all the staff members are so very grateful to the voters for passing those referendums by large margins. That is not only great news, of course, for our budgetary reasons and to enable us to continue doing the capital projects, and again, the support that it gives to assist in paying for SROs and allowing us to give teacher raises, but it also is so remarkable for us to have that vote of confidence from the voters that is the other plus to have the referendums pass by that large of a margin. It speaks to the fact that the voters trust the board and the district are using funds for the purposes intended, which is to enhance our instruction and our educational facilities, and the school district is in the right direction, and people have trust in that. So again, we are very grateful to the voters for giving us that vote of confidence and passing those referendums.”
An upcoming school board meeting will see the swearing in of new members.
Acevedo said, “On November 19 at City Hall, we will have our organizational meeting, and that meeting is when the new board member will be sworn in. Also board member Mindy Conn, who ran unopposed, will be sworn in because she will be getting her next term. At the organizational meeting, the Board selects their chair, several committee positions, and then there is business as usual, but the swearing in ceremony will start things off at five o’clock. Of course, all meetings are open to the public. We know that some people are interested in those special meetings where you have new members being sworn in, and where the board itself is doing some organizational decisions so that they can move forward in the ’24, ‘25 year.”
It looks like the school year has been going well.
Acevedo said, “We are excited because all of our high schools just completed their homecoming activities, and those are always exciting weeks, not only for the students, but for the communities, because there are parades and celebrations and just an excitement in the air. October was filled with so many things. We also celebrated Red Ribbon Week, where kids across the district were participating in special activities that focused on healthy lifestyles. So October was definitely a filled month with special celebrations and activities. Our sports programs, the fall ones are wrapping up, and so many of our programs have done well, and they are getting ready to move into postseason play. Our football teams are going into postseason play, so that’s an exciting time. Then we have winter sports springing up, so it’s a big crossover, but it gives students and parents in the community a lot of exciting things to attend and follow with the kids, and also academically, we are moving into progress reports as quickly as that seems, we are into about mid nine weeks of the second nine weeks, and so students are hard at work in the classrooms, preparing and making sure that their grades are up and that they’re learning all they can. Because before we know it, the semester end will be here and again, things are moving very quickly.”