Sustaining Education

Current Needs Forecasting the Future

Superintendent Alexis Tibbets Superintendent Carlene Anderson

Okaloosa County School District Walton County School District

Affordable Housing Land Acquisition

Affordable housing for workforce in education

Funding for salaries to meet cost of living increases

South Walton challenges to acquire affordable school sites

Transportation Students attending schools out of zone

area/bus transportation zones-more parents transporting via roadways

Transportation infrastructure-the ability to move students-using school buses or through parents transporting

Critical roadways: Hwy 98, 331, 85, 87 and those additional ones in Escambia and Santa Rosa

Enrollment Instability

Military Instability-student enrollment spiking and declining – realigning schools are costly ventures (time + effort=$$$)

Migration to the north-relocation of students without relocation of schools

Strong Business Environment

Highly skilled employees in high wage jobs

Attract businesses for students entering work force

Technology Technological infrastructure – fiber

optic networks established while increasing bandwidth

Need for web-based learning to decrease drop-out rate and improve credit retrieval

Streaming distance learning- increase curricular offering remotely for rural areas.

Qualified Personnel

Highly qualified teachers (Class Size Reduction depletes applicant pool annually)

Administration (CEO’s), declining pool of applicants

Increased need for specialty certificationsELL, Math, Science, Technology, ESE

Professional development for teachers of subgroups

Closing the Gap

Disability population increasingNeed for highly skilled professionals (education v/s private sector)

Cost of serving disabled population (lower class ratio…support personnel)

Safety and Crime Sexual offenders in the communities-Need

strong law enforcement in the communities

School Resource Officers Additional costs of future unfunded

legislation (i.e., Jessica Lunsford Act) Influence on students from Internet DJJ schools Alternative schools

Property Acquisition (Walton)

Rising cost of construction Increased cost of acreage in areas

where growth is evident Protecting the environment while

building schools Protecting community relationships

while providing for children

Funding (cuts)

State education funding Resistance to increased tax

revenues Loss of flexibility in federal funding

(Title I)

Maintaining the Extras Culturally rich curriculum-art, music,

band Joint ventures with post secondary

education-OWCC symphony, NW FL Ballet, dual enrollment

Joint ventures with the private sector-Developing good stewards of the environment-(i.e., Nokuse)

Future initiatives

Consensus building Inter-county education pooling resources-districts/city/county

Marketing our product

Children are the Key to the Sustainable Emerald Coast

Planners of Transportation and Infrastructure

Future Educators

Environmental Protectors