SWAT Photo by Yankeetown Principal Denee Hurst: Members of the Yankeetown School SWAT Team and their adult advisors are shown after the Levy County School Board meeting. From the left are Kristina Zachary of the Quit Doc Foundation, Julietta Mulligan, Caleb Black, Kaylee Seamen, Shannon Keim, Abagail McPeak, Sidney Mekelburg, CK Swinford, Bristol Dorminey and SWAT Team Advisor Raven Dorminey.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
The board signed off on a thick set of design plans for the $37 million CMHS project and immediately emailed the plans to Florida Department of Education following the meeting.
One of the final steps in a long process of applying for state funding to build the new Chiefland Middle High School was unanimously approved by the Levy County School Board Tuesday.
DOE acknowledged receiving the plans. The agency will schedule a meeting to hear a county presentation on the school project. DOE will rank the CMHS project along with school construction proposals from other counties.
The Florida Legislature will review all school projects statewide in its 2020 session and determine how many counties receive funding. The top ranked projects will get funding. If CMHS isn’t funded in 2020 it must wait another year.
Greg Kelly of Clemons Rutherford & Associates (CRA), the architectural firm that designed the school, presented the plans to the school board. He said an artist’s rendering of the new school will be produced at some point at no additional cost to the school district.
Assistant Superintendent John Lott and AIA Architect Greg Kelly present a stack of construction plans for Chiefland Middle High School (lower left) to the Levy County School Board. Also shown are School Board member Paige Brookins, Board Chairman Brad Etheridge and Superintendent Jeff Edison. Photo by Terry Witt
The county won’t go out for construction bids until it receives word from the state that Special Facilities Funding has been approved. State Special Facilities Funding will pay for all but a small amount of the construction costs.
Unlike Williston Middle High School, the county has decided to build the new CMHS at the site of the current school. The new school will be constructed in three phases to allow classes to continue on site. As each phase is completed students will be moved to accommodate construction activities.
Finance Director Kim Lake reported that the school Board audit for the year ending June 30, 2018 was a good one.
School Board Audit
She said no findings or deficiencies were found by the auditor indicating it was an excellent audit of the school board’s finances.
Master Board Re-certification
School board members wore smiles as they accepted a plaque from the Florida Association of School Boards for earning re-certification as a Master Board.
Levy County School Board members Cameron Asbell, Chris Cowart, Ashley Clemenzi, Paige Brookins and Brad Etheridge show off their Master Board recertification plaque, with Superintendent Jeff Edison and Florida Association of School Boards consultant April Griffin joining the group. Photo by Terry Witt
The school board is required to go through an additional eight hours of re certification training when one board position changes in an election. The eight hours of additional training re certified the board as a Master Board.
Levy County is one of 17 school boards in Florida out of 67 counties that has the Master Board certification.
“It’s a big thing,” said April Griffin, a consultant with the Florida Association of School Boards who was involved with the recertification process.
SWAT Anti-Tobacco Squad
Members of the Yankeetown School Students Working Against Tobacco gave a presentation to the school board.
“We are big tobacco’s nightmare. We know their ploys, their tricks, their deceit and we will not tolerate it,” the SWAT team said in unison.
The SWAT team asked the school board to consider adding a rule passed by the Florida Legislature allowing students caught with tobacco products or cigarettes to be given a citation rather than being suspended from school.
The citation would mean the parents of the students would deal with the citation at home rather than having the students go to the discipline office and perform community service.
The school board didn’t offer to let parents take over discipline of students caught with tobacco.
Superintendent Jeff Edison switched to a tobacco related subject – smoking vapor cigarettes or e-cigarettes.
“It’s an epidemic in our society today. Everybody thinks because it’s e-cigarettes and people are not smoking a cigarette, they think it’s okay; and there’s not much research out there on how bad it is. Anytime you’re putting a known carcinogen in your body it’s got to be bad. So that’s a fight you’re going to have to fight especially as you grow older,” Edison said.
One student responded they don’t have a big problem at Yankeetown School with e-cigarettes but she said she could understand how it might be a problem with high school age students starting to try it.
Edison said the estimated number of students using e-cigarettes in Florida public schools is 25 percent.
“That’s a bad number,” one student replied.
School Board of Levy County Regular Meeting May 28, 2019; Posted May 28, 2019
