- May 14, 2024
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Flagler Schools Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore at the Back To School Jam, Aug. 5 at Flagler Palm Coast High School. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Trista Rife paints a parking spot at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Aug. 3. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Belle Terre Elementary School PTO members Lauren Ramirez and Samantha Dawson pause from selling BTES T-shirts to pose at the Back to School Jam. The PTO raised over $15,000 for the school last year. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Rymfire Elementary School's Roadrunner greeted children and parents at the Back to School Jam on Aug. 5 at Flagler Palm Coast High. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Senior Mattox Pender paints a parking spot at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Aug. 3. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Costumers With a Cause were dressed up for the Back to School Jam. The volunteer organization raises money for non-profits and brings "joy and smiles to children of all ages," said the organization's Tracy Jones. From left: Jack Hill (Spider-Man), Scott Nance (Ghostbuster), Lisa Crosby (Supergirl) and Kal Petersen (Star-Lord). Photo by Brent Woronoff
Old Kings Elementary Assistant Principals Tara Ossler and Kim Scaccia and Principal Nicole Critcher. Photo by Brent Woronoff
August Jaussi, 1, with Jack Hill as Spider-Man. Hill is NE Florida Branch leader of Costumers With a Cause. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seniors Trista Rife, left, and Abigail Taylor paint a parking spot at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Aug. 3. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seniors Trista Rife and Abigail Taylor pull the tape off the edge of a border they painted on a parking spot at Flagler Palm Coast High School on Aug. 3. Photo by Brent Woronoff
SWAT — Students Working Against Tobacco — at the Back to School Jam: Seated: Karlie Page and Rochelle Stone. Standing: Emily Effert, Kylee Effert, Jacob Hald, Kayla Effert and Julie Hald. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas High School Principal Kristin Bozeman, right, with head football coach Matt Forrest at the Back to School Jam on Aug. 5 at FPC. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Indian Trails Middle School Principal Ryan Andrews at the Back to School Jam. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast High seniors Grayson Peugh and Amanda Taylor shared information at the Back to School Jam about SPARK — STEM Projects Advancing Real-World Knowledge — a club operated by high school students for third to fifth graders at Bunnell, Wadsworth and Rymfire elementary schools. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Buddy Taylor Middle School student Tymur Kuzmenko and his mom, Inna Kuzmenko, at the Back to School Jam. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Tom Wooleyhan, coordinator of district safety, and Matanzas football coach Matt Forrest at the Back to School Jam. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Vincent's Clubhouse table at the Back To School Jam: Erica Flores, Hector Flores, Chris Flores And Vincent Conce. The non-profit serves children and young adults with autism and special needs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Schools Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore, right, greets Matanzas Principal Kristin Bozeman, who is with a future Pirate. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jack Hill of Costumers with a Cause as Spider-Man poses with a Flagler Schools student at the Back To School Jam on Aug. 5. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The first day of school in Flagler County is Thursday, Aug. 10. It will look a little different this year. Students will have to have their ID cards handy and their cellphones turned off. But they won’t need to worry about paying for lunch: It will be free.
Here’s a look at what’s in store for students and families this school year.
Knowing math is an essential part of running Café EDU. Flagler Schools Food Services Director Angie Bush said that in using a formula from the Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch Program, Café EDU found it is able to offer free lunches for at least the next three years for all Flagler Schools students and staff members.
It is the first time since COVID that the district can offer free lunches for all students. The reason, Bush said, is there has been a significant increase in the number of Flagler students who are eligible for free meals, which allowed the district to provide free lunches for all students. Breakfast already had been free.
Bush said having free meals will reduce stress for students and their families as well as for Café EDU staff.
It’s so much fun when parents call and ask to fill out an application (for free or reduced lunch) to say there’s no need to fill one out. Lunch is free for everyone.” ANGIE BUSH, Flagler Schools Food Services director
“It’s so much fun when parents call and ask to fill out an application (for free or reduced lunch) to say there’s no need to fill one out. Lunch is free for everyone,” Bush said.
Only a la carte items — which include snacks like baked chips, fruit snacks, breakfast bars and sports drinks — will be available for sale.
Expecting at least 5% more students to choose school lunches this year, Bush said the district has ordered more heavily. The district has a new food product distributor — Ben E. Keith Company, out of Fort Worth, Texas.
“That partnership will help stabilize our supply chain impacts that we felt from COVID and are not completely gone,” Bush said.
Because of the transition, there may be some menu changes during the first three or four weeks of school, she said.
Café EDU keeps up with what’s popular, Bush said. Pizza is always popular, she said. The Asian cuisine line and the taco line in the high schools are very popular. And taco day is very popular in the elementary and middle schools, Bush said.
The district utilized the “Here Comes the Bus” tracking app last year, but Flagler Schools wants its families to be more engaged with the app this school year, Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore said.
All students will receive an ID card. For bus riders, the cards will be used to scan students when they go on and off the bus, so parents will know exactly when their children get on the bus and when they get off. With the app, parents will also be able to track when their bus is within a mile of the bus stop.
Instructions for accessing the app are at Flaglerschools.com. Go to Students and Families and click on Bus Transportation.
There are also changes within some of the buses, Moore said.
“Our buses, of course, have video inside. We also have 10 brand new buses where you can see the entire 360 of the bus on the outside,” Moore said. “We have predictive stops where if a car is approaching, the bus will realize that the car isn't going to stop in time, and it will begin to speak to the students automatically to tell them not to cross, that there is danger in the area.”
Beginning Aug. 7, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office increased patrols around school zones and residential bus stops. Members of the FCSO command staff, patrol deputies and Citizen Observer Patrol units were scheduled to join School Resource Deputies at every public school on the first day of school on Aug. 10.
“The first day of school is always exciting for our kids,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in an FCSO press release. “That’s why drivers should be extra careful while traveling through school zones and residential areas, especially near school bus stops. Be especially mindful of crosswalks.”
Moore said the School Board will decide in the coming weeks if it wants to take advantage of new legislation that will allow the district to collaborate with the FCSO in ticketing drivers who do not stop for school buses. Cars that are behind a school bus or coming from the opposite direction are required to stop when a school bus stop sign arm is extended while it is picking up or dropping off students.
New legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis prohibits students from using their cellphones during instructional time unless directed by a teacher for educational purposes.
The district provides a device for all students to access the internet, so unless students have a written medical or safety plan they are not allowed to have cellphones out during classes, Moore said. Students are no longer allowed to access social media platforms using school internet. School districts are also prohibited from using the TikTok platform.
The expansion project at Matanzas High School is underway, while work on Flagler Palm Coast High School’s front parking lots is set to begin on March 1, 2024, Plant Services Director Kory Bush said.
“Our theme for this year is Flagler Forward, and it's really about improving student achievement, of course, but also working collectively with our community in order to advance our district as a whole.” — LASHAKIA MOORE, Flagler Schools Interim Superintendent
The FPC project will alleviate drainage problems in the parking lots in front of the school and the auditorium. The Matanzas construction will affect bus parking at the school.
“The buses utilized only half of the spots in the bus parking lot,” Kory Bush said. “We shifted the buses to the east part of the lot which was not being used. We won’t be using the spots in front of the construction.”
Wadsworth and Bunnell elementary schools have new principals. Amy Neuenfeldt is Wadsworth’s new principal, while Donelle Evensen has been promoted from assistant principal to take over for Principal Marcus Sanfilippo, who is moving to the district office.
“I’m very excited about our two new principals,” Moore said. “Donelle’s been serving at Bunnell for a number of years now, and Ms. Amy Neuenfeldt is going back to Wadsworth Elementary, where she was a teacher and an academic coach and did great things there.”
Moore said the most accurate and updated information about Flagler Schools is on the district’s and individual schools’ websites. She said families can reach out to the district directly or through the “Let’s Talk” page on flaglerschools.com.
“Our theme for this year is Flagler Forward, and it's really about improving student achievement, of course, but also working collectively with our community in order to advance our district as a whole,” she said.
