By ALICIA LEONARD
The Walton County School Board(WCSB) met on the evening of Nov. 18 to hear an update on facilities, install new officers and a regular meeting at the South Walton High School, before retiring to an executive session concerning collective bargaining for the 2014-15 school year.
Director of Facilities for the district, Mark Gardner, went over updates including the expansion of six classroom additions for Freeport Elementary School, the Fall 2016 expectations for the completion of Walton Middle School, secure lobby facilities for all schools, Paxton School track updates, and a 20-acre parcel the board is looking at north of Freeport High School for purchase for a secondary transportation barn purchase.
Gardner informed the board the district is still seeing the largest growth in the south end of the county, with Freeport being a “hotbed of activity” at the present.
Over half of all transport for the district is in the south end of the county, and buses must all be brought back to the DeFuniak Springs transportation facility every month for inspections and maintenance. Gardner told the board this alone costs the district in manpower, hours, gas and other expenses that the district can hope to recoup through the secondary facility in Freeport.
A 20-acre parcel north of the Freeport High School was being looked at for purchase at close to $200,000, half of the appraised value for the facility to be constructed upon. The board later, in their regular meeting, approved unanimously to move ahead with negations on the property, since trees on the property would provide a buffer between the high school and the facility, while maintaining the aesthetics of the school and improving safety for students.
Newly elected Board members, Jason Catalano, Kim Kirby, and William (Bill) Eddins, Jr. were welcomed by sitting board members. Board members Gail Smith was approved as the new chair for the board, with Mark D. Davis being approved as vice-chair unanimously during a later reorganization meeting.
During the regular meeting, Walton High School (WHS) student Wendy Duncan; WHS student Laura Hydle, as first place winner, Freeport High School student Madysen Jones, as second place winner; WHS student Kayla Jackson as third place winner, and FHS student Anna Sefo, were honored for the Voice of Democracy essay contest.
The members of the District’s Youth Leader classes recently participated in the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars’ (VFW) contest, held since 1947. The scholarship program has awarded over $2.1 million in incentives and scholarships since its inception. A recording or written essay, lasting three to five minutes are submitted with a patriotic theme. The theme for this year was “Why Veterans are Important to our Nation’s History and Future.”
Representatives from the VFW presented the winners with monetary awards during the meeting, and the top three chosen out of the 30 entries submitted will move forward to the district contest.
Other business approved by the board included personnel recommendations, fire alarm upgrades for the WISE Center, and travel for training for the three new board members.
All three new members said they were humbled and honored, and looking forward to the opportunity to serve the students, parents and staff in the district during closing remarks.
Smith told the board she had recently attended the Emerald Coast Middle School Science Fair and was duly impressed by all the projects by students.
The board approved a meeting for Dec. 8, starting with a workshop at 4 p.m., for the one meeting date in December due to holidays. The regular meeting will follow at 5 p.m. at the DeFuniak Springs Boardroom as well.
The board also approved a closed executive session to discuss school safety, citing the concern an open meeting might allow the press or public to unwittingly advertise any safety concerns on campuses before they could be addressed.
The board then closed the meeting to move into an executive session over collective bargaining for the 2014-15 school year.
