A full slate of activities for the upcoming year and the election of new officers were highest on the agenda Monday for The Villages/Tri-County Area Chapter of the League of Women Voters during its 11th Annual Meeting.
In addition, members heard presentations from three senior officials of the Sumter County School District about the schools’ educational programs, legislative priorities and safety initiatives.
President Beth Hicks presented some of new imperatives.
Following a year-long study, the League will support legislation designed to improve Florida’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten Program.
“The free educational program for all four-year-olds is not meeting parameters set by National Institute for Early Education Research. In fact, the State decreased its funding from $2,925 in 2007 to $2,437 in 2014 and has remained at that lower level,” Hicks stated. “Therefore, we are launching a public education program and will lobby local officials. This, we hope, will result in an increase of the per-child allocation, by $777, to the recommended minimum that will improve teacher training and planning.
The new chapter officers, unanimously approved, were Beth Hicks, for her second term; Joanne Coen, vice president; Kathy Hansen, secretary; and Karen West and Bernadette Aley, co-treasurers.
The attendees then were briefed by the School District’s Deborah Smith, senior director of business; Debbie Moffitt, senior director of curriculum; and Lisa Whitman, senior director of human resources.
Of particular interest was the discussion about the district’s safety and security preparations especially in light of the Parkland shooting.
“Now, all of our schools have a single-point entry and are surrounded by a six-foot fence. All contractors are finger-printed and cleared. We also completed an internal security evaluation,” explained Smith. “We soon will have resource officers, co-sponsored by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, at all schools throughout the day, and the sheriff’s office will undertake its own ‘vulnerability’ assessment.”
The district has not determined if or when teachers and staff members will be armed under the recently-enacted legislation.
