By ALICIA LEONARD
Walton County School Board (WCSB) members settled down in the media room of South Walton High School on July 21 for a long afternoon of workshops and meetings pertaining to varied topics concerning the district and students. All members were present.
Board members heard from staff on issues surrounding the passing of Florida House bill 7069 and some educational requirements and changes the district would have to implement before discussing the coming year’s student progression plan.
Bill 7069 reduced some types of “duplicate” testing for students and district monitoring testing for students in middle and high school classes. The bill signed into law on April 14, 2015, also prohibits high performing districts from starting the new school year before Aug. 10, as well as eliminating a requirement that middle and high school students that test poorly on state exams be automatically enrolled in remedial courses.
The reduction in testing also reduces the amount of data that counts in teacher performance reviews. Students can spend no more than 45 hours a year out of 900 on testing.
During the regularly scheduled meeting, the board held two public hearings on the student progression plan and student code of conduct. No members of the public commented on either.
The board formally signed off on the BP settlement for the district. The district was represented by the firm of Nix, Patterson and Roach.
The district is also facing an increase in insurance costs. Representatives for Blue Cross Blue Shield told the district they had seen a large increase in claims in the last year from prior year’s claims. Board Vice-chair Mark Davis questioned how much of those costs were actually being spent on patient care and not profit for the insurers. The discussion led to a workshop being scheduled on Aug. 4 to discuss possible alternatives to the increases.
A series of workshops will be held beginning at 3 p.m. on Aug. 4 before the regularly scheduled meeting at 5 p.m. at the district’s offices in DeFuniak Springs.
To see more about district meetings, meeting minutes and school news, go to www.walton.k12.fl.us.
