7 OCPS Schools Closing
Seven Orange County schools will close following the school board’s final decision on Tuesday night. With fewer students and declining enrollment, public school leaders say they just don’t have the money to keep under enrolled schools open.
In Florida, funding for schools is tied to enrollment. It’s allocated per student. A decrease in enrollment means less funding. According to the district’s data, enrollment dropped by about 5,600 students, costing Orange County Public Schools more than $41 million in state funding this year.
Each of the schools on the chopping block was voted on individually after a short staff presentation on enrollment numbers and how students could be rezoned. Board members were visibly struggling through each motion. Some wiped away tears. Voices cracked. One by one, the board voted to consolidate and close. The vote means six elementary schools, McCoy, Bonneville, Orlo Vista, Chickasaw, Eccleston, and Meadow Woods, along with Union Park Middle School will close this summer. Their students will be rezoned and sent to 17 other schools. The Superintendent says affected families and staff will receive more information soon about the next steps. Engage takes you inside the meeting as the decision was made. Engage also speaks to parents deeply disappointed by the decision at the meeting including Michelle Harris who has two students at Eccleston Elementary and Tiffany Marable who also has two children at the school.
Superintendent Maria Vazquez cautioned that if enrollment doesn’t rebound, more school closures could be coming in the years ahead. Orange County Public Schools Chief Communications Officer Scott Howat discusses some of the next steps as their enrollment challenges continue.
Pulse Sign Removed
This week demolition crews took down the iconic Pulse sign at the site of the former nightclub nearly 10 years after the 2016 mass shooting that took the lives of 49 people and injured dozens more. The sign removal is part of the process of clearing the site to make way for a permanent memorial commemorating the people who died there. Central Florida Public Media’s Joe Mario Pedersen was at the Pulse site this week as the sign was taken down and joins Engage to talk about it.
Allergy Season Lasts
If it feels like allergy season never really ends here, there’s actually a reason for that. Different plants release pollen at different times of the year. For many people that means months of sneezing, congestion, and itchy eyes. AdventHealth family medicine physician Dr. Arianna Becker says she sees it frequently in her practice. She joins Engage to talk about allergies in Central Florida and what can be done to manage them.
Prison Populations Counted in Census, Can't Vote
When congressional districts are divided by population, people incarcerated in prisons within those districts are counted as residents, even though they cannot vote. This paradigm is used to weigh districts towards a favorable party. It is one of the reasons politicians often seek prison placement in their districts. In addition to providing jobs, it can also influence elections.
Michael Wessler is the Communications Director with the Prison Policy Initiative, a non-profit with a mission of conducting research on inconsistencies in the American penal system. He joins Engage to talk with producer Richard Copeland about the impact of prisoner gerrymandering on Florida communities as outlined in a PPI report released last fall.
Florida Lineman’s Rodeo
This past Saturday, hundreds of electrical line workers gathered in Winter Garden with friends, family and curious onlookers. Hosted by Duke Energy, the Florida Lineman’s Rodeo attracts workers from around the state to compete against each other in performing various tasks routine to the job. Engage producer Richard Copeland was on site. He speaks to Brian Edling, a supervisor with Duke Energy, Aly Coleman Raschid and Ana Gibbs of Duke's communications team and competitors including Tanner O'Shea and Richard Lee.
