Chuck Licis Mason, executive director of the Monroe County Education Foundation, which oversees Take Stock in Children, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the program.
The consortium of Florida Education Foundations is meeting at Ocala, FL.
Mason said, “We are a group of almost 605 education foundations. There are 67 school districts in the state of Florida. That’s how we operate our educational system here in the state of Florida, it’s by county, and each county also has an Education Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization, and they fundraise and provide opportunities for students in their local school districts at their county. Some are direct support organizations. Other others are not there. Monroe County Education Foundation, we’re a non direct support organization, but we’re involved in the school district, and we receive matching grant funding from the consortium through the Florida Department of Education, which helps enhance programming for our deserving students in Monroe County. Other education foundations, what they do is they’ll provide, like teacher stores, teacher grants, other support supports for their teachers and their educational system, their students in the state. I’m here for a leadership conference with my other fellow executive directors from across the state of Florida. So it’s going to be a good couple of days.”
What is the feeling from other leaders about funding?
Mason said, “It puts, I think, a little bit of extra pressure on the education foundations, as I said, they support the local school district, and we often fill gaps, so where state funding falls and in terms of programming, for instance, you might have a reading program for elementary students, grades pre K through five, for example, and that reading program may be on the chopping block because of funding. That’s where the Education Foundation may step in, because what we do is we fundraise, we raise private funding to support these programs. So other education foundations, will go to larger entities like FPL or Duke Energy, or Helios Foundation, or some of the larger foundations, and write a grant for funding for those programs so we don’t lose those programs in our school districts. So that’s the talk here. How are we navigating the budget? One of the sessions actually is burnout, and how to recognize burnout, and how to stay motivated. Because it feels like sometimes you can say it’s a slow drip torture process in the state of Florida, in the country, with what’s going on, but at the same time, you feel like you’re in a deluge of all of these bad news and funding cuts and what’s going to happen, you don’t know. So we’re going to focus on how to stay motivated as well, and to avoid the burnout and to focus on our main purpose, and that is ensuring the best education possible for all students, most deserving all the way through the spectrum.”
A number of students graduated from Take Stock in Children in Monroe County this year.
Mason said, “We graduated 81, well, actually 82 because in early May, I had a junior who satisfied her graduation requirements early, so she was promoted within a month from junior status to senior to graduation. So we added her in. So we went from 81 to 82 and those students, they’re in the program from sixth grade on, some of them entered later on in ninth grade or 10th grade, and they are starting this summer or this fall at the college or university of their choice. The Take Stock in Children Program is a mentorship program first and foremost. So they met with the mentor each week during the school year for about 30 minutes to talk about self advocacy skills and how to navigate education, but also life. The mentor is really just a good listener in helping them just ask the right questions and discover the answers. We want our students to leave high school with some sense of independence and self advocacy so they can navigate post secondary education with ease. There are 28 state colleges or 12 State University state universities in the state of Florida. So many of our students are attending those schools, or they might be entering the military or going into a career technical education program in cosmetology, firefighting, electric linesman, a variety of different fields as well. That’s covered through the Florida Prepaid College Foundation. We also fundraise to purchase our Florida Prepaid scholarships, and our students receive that two plus two, which is 60 college hours, 60 University hours, and also a two year dormitory plan to help with housing costs for a basic dormitory room at a state university. They’re eager to go. We have several this summer, starting summer term, the majority of them starting in the fall, in August, which is right around the corner.”
Are the education foundations in the state also involved in Take Stock in Children?
Mason said, “Some of them are and some of them are not. So for Monroe County, for example, we do. We’re the umbrella organization for the Take Stock in Children program. So we help run the Take Stock program with the school district. Other education foundations, they may or may not have Take Stock in Children. Miami Dade, for example, their Take Stock in Children Program is run through the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization. In Jacksonville, in that county, they are run through the goodwill organization. So it depends. Some education foundations do have take stock. Others do not. But those who do not have other scholarship programs for their students, for low income students, they participate in the Florida Prepaid Stars program for the scholarships for deserving, low income students. In the middle of the state and up in the panhandle, where it’s a bit more rural, it tends to be a little bit more challenging because the of the population and looking for the funding resources as well in some of those smaller counties. So their programs may be a little bit smaller. Those programs may only offer a two year college plan, as opposed to a two plus two. So we are fortunate in Monroe County, where we have a fantastic community. In fact, we have five distinct wonderful communities, from Ocean Reef to Key West, and each community supports us in a unique way to be able to purchase our two plus twos and dormitory plans. So we we fundraise really well in Monroe County and some of the other counties, larger counties, Pinellas, Broward, Miami Dade and the like, they also are able to fundraise a lot. But some of the smaller counties, as I said, they do face some challenges, and their programs are quite a bit smaller than ours.”
Take Stock in Monroe County was recently able to raise the minimum income needed for the participants.
Mason said, “We worked with Florida Prepaid. The model before was on free and reduced lunch. It’s a federal broad brush. The federal government determines what is the the poverty level, and then free and reduced lunch is 185% of that poverty level, and it meant in Monroe County, a family of four could not earn more than around $45,000 and you and I both know and those listening who live in Monroe County, $45,000 for two parents and two children, or one parent and three children living in the Florida Keys, is not an option. It’s an impossibility. So we went to Florida Prepaid and said, this is our cost of living. I even took the ALICE report from the United Way, which is basically, what is your living wage? How much money would you need to make to live in that community, in that area, to basically break even? So we brought that report, because it pulls from a variety of data sources, and they said, no, we’re not going to use the ALICE, but we’ll use HUD, Housing and Urban Development, levels. So we worked with them, and now it’s county by county, which is very good. It’s better than than free reduced lunch. So you can go county by county now, and it has increased our maximum amount. It has increased the maximum amount that cannot exceed. So a family for now is up around 72,000 which is more realistic for our county. It’s still low income for a family of four, at $72,000 is still a tight, tight budget with rents and food and fuel and the cost of living, but that’s what we’re able to do, which has helped more of our families. People were worried, well, you’re going to swing that barn door wide open. But honestly, we didn’t see a huge influx. It just allowed us to give us a little bit more elbow room, if you will, and allow some of those students who were on that cusp, to be able to come into our program and benefit from our our services and have that opportunity for a college scholarship.”
What kind of federal impacts are we seeing?
Mason said, “Statewide, we’re not too concerned, because the funding for the consortium of Florida Education Foundations, the organization which I’m on the executive committee and the governance chair of the board, we have a line item in the budget that is recurring, so it’s not at risk, as we know it, of being stricken from the budget. Same with Take Stock in Children, that’s a recurring line item as well. Honestly, when you walk the halls of the Capitol, the Senators and the Congressmen on both sides, they love Take Stock in Children. They support the consortium and what we do, so that’s not at risk. What we’re worried about, what I’m looking at, is the additional funds that our students receive through the federal government, through the Pell Grant program, for example, that is in question. So what it may mean is for our students in Take Stock in Children, they won’t have that extra funding that helps offset the other costs of college. We cover tuition and local fees, but as we know, there are other costs involved with going to college and we try to minimize the debt of our students as as much as possible. So we’re looking at, what are going to do with with the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the Pell Grant? Will that diminish in any way? Will it trickle down to the state? Our Florida Bright Futures Program is through the Florida Lottery, so I don’t think that’s going to be in question. So they’ll still have access, if they earn a certain level on their ACT and SAT scores, and have a 3.5 grade point average and academically strong, they can still be eligible for Florida Bright Futures, which will help offset some of those costs. But from the federal level, it’s a waiting game as to what’s going to happen.”
Scholarships are astounding in Monroe County.
Mason said, “Each high school has a class night for their seniors, and the amount of money, I’m sure you’ve heard from superintendent Axford, for the amount of money that was distributed to our seniors from the local communities was astounding. I mean, the millions and millions of dollars these kids earn within the communities, beyond their scholarships from their schools and other sources. So we’re so fortunate to live in a community where it’s so giving, and we support the education of our deserving students and help them create better lives and because it’s good for us. Because if they come back to Monroe County, we don’t have that brain drain. We have those kids coming back and working in our communities and contributing to our community.”
For more information, click here: https://monroecountyedfound.com/about-take-stock