Plans for success

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School District highlights five strategic goals at State of Education

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  • The Osceola County School District hosted its annual State of Education address in Reuniuon on Tuesday morning.
    The Osceola County School District hosted its annual State of Education address in Reuniuon on Tuesday morning.
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By Charlie Reed
For the News-Gazette

Osceola County School District leaders on Tuesday highlighted the district’s five strategic goals during the annual State of Education event. 

School District Superintendent Debra Pace and the five school board members delivered the presentation. Here are the goals. 

 1.  Academic Success

Academic success is the district’s main priority, Pace said. 
School Board Member Tim Weisheyer explained the details. 

“Over the last three years our social studies performance has increased by 6 percent, English-language arts learning gains for students in the lowest 25 percent has improved by 4 percent. Middle school acceleration; students taking high school courses have improved by 21 percent. The number of students completing their AA degrees while in high school rose dramatically from 10 students in 2016 to 77 students in 2018, doubling from 2017. And, the number of top 100 college or university acceptances for the class of 2019 reached an all-time high of 450. 
Let’s be real, as we continue to strive for academic excellence, we realize that we have room for improvement in several areas.

While the state average for science achievement is 55 percent, our district is at 54 percent...While the state average for math achievement is 60 percent; our district is at 50 percent. While the state average for college and career acceleration is 62 percent, our district is at 49 percent...Read, write, talk and solve have become a way of work in classrooms around the district...Also we are furthering academic success this school year by implementing new and improved math curriculum, providing professional development for our teachers on effective writing strategies, ensuring all teachers are using district-adopted curriculum resources and best practices, and conducting instructional observations in order to provide a culture of communication and coaching for our educators.”


2.   Talent Management 


“We know teacher quality is the most important determining factor in any child’s academic success,” Pace said.

School Board Member Terry Castillo explained the details.


”As the largest employer in Osceola County, with over 9,000 employees, the School District of Osceola has always been focused on fundamental talent management -- the recruiting, hiring and retaining of employees...Our district’s talent management focus is centered around attracting quality employees to decrease vacancies, providing high-quality, professional learning at all levels of the organization and reducing turnover of highly effective employees. When it comes to teacher retention, research shows that the highest percentages of educators leave the profession within the first five years of their career. 
The School District of Osceola has an overall teacher retention of 83 percent. When you look at all new hires throughout the district that rate is closer to 65 percent...Thirty six percent of our instructional new hires have a master’s degree in a chosen field, but they do not have a degree in education. Supporting our new teachers is a crucial priority. The district has entered into an important partnership with a new teacher center thereby providing 291 first- and second-year teachers with instructional mentors at 19 high-need schools. These mentors work side-by-side with our new teachers in the schools to refine use of teaching strategies and modeling of highly effective instructional practices. This year, we also added professional development training on high-leverage, research-based best practices and strategies for 35 instructional coaches at the schools so that they can best help and support 211 teachers at high-need schools who have been in the professional from three to five years. I’m proud to say that our efforts are paying off. Of those new first-year Osceola teachers who had a mentor last year, 91 percent were retained throughout last school year. This means that teachers, rather than subs, remained in front of our students.”

 

3.   Fiscal Responsibility


We are dedicated to utilizing all our district resources efficiently to enhance the learning environment and ensure financial sustainability, Pace said. 
School Board Member Clarence Thacker explained the details. 


“The Osceola School District continues to rank 67 out of 67 in per student funding, and we are 67 out of 67 counties in the amount we spend on administrative cost per student...We are continually looking for ways to reduce cost and find efficiencies.   Last year, we asked the superintendent to find $10 million in cost reductions that could be used to go back into salaries of our staff. We are again looking at ways to increase efficiencies. Energy is a major cost and we continue to look at ways to reduce our overall energy consumption. Just in the first quarter of this school year, the district recognized an electric utility cost avoidance of $343,000, which is equivalent to a 9 percent reduction. The district is also implementing LED lighting programs. Just to give you a sense that no stone is going unturned we are evaluating the size of our dumpsters to reduce the cost there where possible. Every little bit helps and matters. 
The final strategy in the fiscal responsibility goal is on developing a healthcare program focused on employee well-being and cost control. The district has contracted with Harris Rosen and RosenCare to manage the Center for Employee Health. 
The Osceola County School Board is extremely fortunate to have the support of Osceola County voters with the approval of the half-penny sales tax in 2016, of which the primary purpose is to renovate older schools to make them safer, healthier, and to provide all students the same high-quality learning environment. To date, the district has completed nearly $80 million in sales tax projects. The district has completed its first comprehensive renovation at Michigan Avenue Elementary, and the comprehensive renovation of Denn John Middle is scheduled to be completed this summer. We are looking at a January 2021 completion for the comprehensive renovation of St. Cloud Middle School. The next two projects up -- the comprehensive renovations for Gateway High School and the Osceola County School for the Arts – are both currently in the planning stages. In addition, over $28 million in sales tax projects have been expended to date on critical deferred maintenance projects...And I’m proud to say that over $1.4 million in sales tax revenue to date has been spent in upgrading our technology infrastructure throughout the district so our students can learn with 21st Century resources.”

 

4.   Governance and Community Engagement 


We are working hard to provide parents with the information, knowledge, and skills to support their children’s education at home and at school, Pace. 


School Board Chairman Kelvin Soto explained the details.

“In the Osceola School District, we are making sure parents are informed and engaged. We want them to have the information and the resources they need to be a partner with us and in their students’ learning, so we are continuing to find new ways to connect better with them, to put information out to them, and to take feedback from them. This year, we added to our communications toolbox by expanding our use of Remind text messaging to our parents. This school year, the district has also greatly expanded its offerings of important parent workshops, such as our Learn2Read, Mommy and Me, and Empowered Parents Literacy trainings at schools and at the Osceola County public libraries. We are also expanding our Homework Diner from two locations to 13 schools. This is where parents and their students are invited back to school for dinner and to work with certified teachers on skills and learning strategies that can assist with homework. The district will soon be rolling out a SMART bus to serve the neediest of our students and families living in hotels...And we can’t talk about parent engagement without mentioning that the Osceola School District is a leader when it comes to school choice. The School Board believes that parents are in the best position to decide what educational environment best suits the needs and interests of their student. Help spread the word that as a community, we are exceedingly proud of our students and the work our teachers and schools are doing.”

 

5. Safety and Security 


While our core business is educating young people, one of our highest priorities is keeping them and our staff safe, Pace said. 


School Board Ricky Booth explained the details.


“Comprehensive emergency plans, drills and exercises, security improvements, and visitor management are a few ways we ensure a safe experience for students, staff, and campus visitors. All children, parents, teachers, and staff members should feel safe from violence in their school. 
Every Osceola school has a School Resource Officer on campus, and the Osceola County School Board and our law enforcement partners have implemented zero tolerance policies for threats of violence, real or made in gest, as they cause disruption and concern for school communities...We aren’t stopping with just the physical safety of students. The Osceola School District is also focusing on the mental, social, emotional, and behavioral well being of our children. Every employee in the district has received mental health awareness training to identify and support students in need of mental health services...In addition, we are expanding the number of Osceola schools implementing the PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) program from 36 to 38 as we work to develop and communicate school-wide behavior expectations. We are living in the new reality of heightened school security. Effective school safety starts with prevention; provides for students’ mental health; integrates physical and psychological safety; and engages schools, families, and communities as participants. Our teachers, school staff, and administrators are now utilizing a mobile school safety app that enhances emergency response by communicating details of an onsite crisis to teachers, administrators, support staff, and school resource officers, while simultaneously notifying 9-1-1 officials. With a push of a button, a teacher can initiate a call to 9-1-1, displaying critical information such as where the call is coming from, who pushed the panic button, the type of emergency, and key facility information. Also this year, the Osceola School District has launched The Check-

In Project. As a mental health initiative of Wraparound Osceola, the project educates families, schools, and businesses in our community about the importance of mental health and checking in with one another. Our goal is to teach members of our community how to start conversations about mental health and to find the help they need from resources based right here in Osceola County.” Osceola County Commissioner Fred Hawkins, who is president of the Osceola Education Foundation, delivered remarks, as did Kathleen Plinske, Executive Vice President and Provost and Campus President at Valencia College. 

Concluding the event, Pace said: “With your help, with your continued support, and with your belief in this School Board, our teachers, and our students, we remain committed to providing quality educational opportunities for every child, every chance, every day.”