Hardee County School District, Florida
From Sunshine Review
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Contents |
[edit] Website evaluation
- Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites
[edit] The good
- School board members listed but contact information not provided. Most minutes and agendas posted.[1]
- Teacher contract is posted.[2]
- Administrative officials are listed with contact information under respective departments.[3]
- School accountability reports posted.[4]
[edit] The bad
- Site does not have a search function.
- Does not provide information on vendor contracts, taxes, budget, audits, academic performance, background checks, and how to make public record requests.
[edit] School board
The school board controls school property, establishes, organizes, and operates the schools of the district, including: establishing schools, adopting enrollment plans, providing for school elimination and consolidation, cooperating with school boards of adjoining districts in maintaining schools, maintaining the school year schedule and other more specific duties as outlined in the Florida statute. [5]
It operates, controls and supervises the district's public schools as well as determines the rate of school district taxes, with the option of two or more school districts operating and financing educational programs together.
Below is a list of the school board members for 2009-2010:[6]
| School board member | District | Term expires |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Jones | District 1 | 2010 |
| Mildred Smith | District 2 | 2012 |
| Teresa Crawford | District 3 | 2010 |
| Wendell Cotton, Chair | District 5 | 2010 |
| Jan Platt, Vice-Chair | District 4 | 2010 |
The superintendent of the district is Mr. David D. Durastanti, who retains all administrative and financial oversight over the Board, as well as general organizational responsibilities. Mr. Woody Caligan serves as Deputy Superintendent and Mr. Gavin O’Brien serves as the Board Attorney.
The School Board created and signed a Cooperative Agreement for 2008-2011.
[edit] Teacher Contracts
The most recent teacher contract posted is from 2005-2008 between the Hardee County School Board and the Hardee Education Association/United. The contract defines the terms and conditions of employment reached through collective bargaining between the school district and the HEA/U which represents the teachers employed there.[7]
[edit] School budget
As of the 2007-2008 academic year, the district's annual budget was $44,154,488.
The Hardee School District spends $8,375 per pupil in current expenditures. The district spends 56% on instruction, 38% on support services, and 6% on other elementary and secondary expenditures.[8]
The Hardee County School District is slated to receive $1,051,408 in Title I Grant allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.[9]
[edit] Academic Performance
[edit] 2007-2009
Below is a chart of the school's grade based on the student's performance of the statewide test called the FCAT.[10]
| School | Level | Grade: 2007-08 | Grade: 2008-09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Hardee Junior High School | Combination | B | C |
| Hardee Senior High School | High | D | D |
| Hilltop Elementary School | Elementary | B | A |
| North Wauchula Elementary School | Elementary | A | A |
| Wauchula Elementary School | Elementary | B | A |
| Zolfo Springs Elementary School | Elementary | B | A |
[edit] Unions
Hardee County is part of the statewide union Florida Education Association, which has as one of its main advantages a swift track to tenure. Under agreements between the union and state, public school teachers receive tenure after only three years of teaching, after which they become almost impossible to fire. The firing rate for tenured or post-probationary teachers was only .03%, expanding to 2.64% when looking at probationary teachers. At the same time, the national firing rate for private school teachers is 9.8%. The budges of the FEA in 2008 was as follows[11]:
- Total Revenue: $ 20,133,842
- Total Expenses: $ 19,978,236
- Total Assets: $ 9,177,174
[edit] School Choice
- See also: Florida school choice
According to a recent survey, Hardee County currently has no charter school opportunities, even though Florida has 378 charter schools statewide.[12] And while there are school voucher programs established in the county so that public school students have the opportunity to attend a better-funded or more updated private school, studies have shown to a reasonable degree of certainty that on average, students using vouchers are doing no better and no worse than those who chose not to participate. David Figlio, a Northwestern University economist who conducted one study, said outright, "My hunch is, when all is said and done, it's going to be a wash in terms of test scores."[13]
[edit] External links
- Hardee County School District official website
- School Finder - Hardee County
- School Matters - Hardee County
- Public School Review - Hardee County
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
[edit] References
- ↑ School Board
- ↑ Employment
- ↑ Departments
- ↑ Accountability reports
- ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
- ↑ School board members
- ↑ Hardee County Master Teachers Contract 2005-2008
- ↑ Hardee School District Stats
- ↑ Grants to Local Educational Agencies - FLORIDA
- ↑ Florida School Accountability Reports
- ↑ Teachers Union Facts, Florida
- ↑ [http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/Information/Charter_Schools/Directory/Default.aspx Florida Charter School List by District
- ↑ St. Petersburg Times, "School vouchers study finds little difference between public schools, private schools", June 30, 2009
| |||||
