By Elise Fisch
The Florida Union Free School District Board of Education held their regular meeting on Thurs., Feb. 25 to hear student activity updates from the school principals and approve sports for the upcoming athletic season.
Athletics have been different this year due to COVID-19 regulations, and the usual sports seasons have been combined into hybrid seasons. The Fall 2 sports season is about to begin in March as winter sports have just wrapped up in the last weekend of February.
The Board made a motion to approve the participation of high school grades nine through 12 (and seventh and eighth graders who qualify through the athletic placement process) in both modified junior varsity and varsity volleyball and modified junior varsity and varsity football.
The “modified” qualifier refers to the modifications that were necessary under coronavirus health guidelines in order for the sport to be approved for student participation. Students and their parents or guardians are still required to sign and submit a waiver or consent form if the student wishes to participate in what’s considered a “higher risk” sport or activity. This form is available at the Florida School district’s website at www.floridaufsd.org.
Attendance Issue at the High School
Principal of S.S. Seward Institute, Michael Rheaume, brought to the attention of the Board a severe attendance issue that has been affecting several of the students in the high school. Certain students have consistently been absent from classes, to the point where the teachers feel that those students’ education has been noticeably impacted.
Educators are working on solutions to the problem that go beyond simply notifying the parents, which they have already done. Alternatively, Rheaume reports that the students who are regularly attending school seem to be happy to be there, and are said to be voicing their appreciation to their teachers recently, creating a better environment for students and teachers alike.
Seward Institute currently has 180 students attending classes remotely, with about 60% of the student population going to the school building each day to attend class. A fourth and final marking period is about to begin in April, and students will have another opportunity to select to switch between in-person and remote learning styles.
Kindness Theme at Golden Hill Elem.
Debbi Lisack, the principal of Golden Hill Elementary, spoke next, delivering news of ongoing “kindness” themed projects around the school and among the student body. The intention of the theme is to inspire kids to keep kindness in mind and to try to create a more nurturing environment with everyone’s help and participation.
One of the exercises involved with this project was to ask the students to use only one word to describe their teacher, and students were welcome to submit those responses online. Lisack was pleased to report that she received over 350 responses from students who all used positive, admiring adjectives to describe their teachers.
Lisack was so impressed with some of the students’ specific replies, that she decided to reach out to their parents to inform them of how their child had embraced the theme of “kindness.”
Next Meeting
The School Board will hold a work session on Thurs., Mar. 4. And their regular meeting on Thurs., Mar. 18. Both meetings will be held at 7 p.m. in S.S. Seward Institute, located at 53 N. Main St. in Florida.
