The Florida Policy Institute (FPI) recently published their 2023 Child Well-Being Index that measured and ranked all 67 Florida counties by the same criteria, and Hendry County was dead last in the overall child well-being domain and the education domain based on public information collected relating to local education, health, family and community, economic well-being, and childcare affordability data.  

The FPI report can be viewed in its entirety at:  https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/9e/87/3f96fea94d29ae56779f9b4847ff/65a01a072004370c44561c49-tables-final-cwbi2023-with-statewide-data.pdf.

The report released by FPI comes on the heels of being told, after several months of public requests, that District staff are too busy to report on the goals outlined in the $25,000 board approved strategic plan. The report is also in stark contrast to social media celebrations of cherry-picked local data that when presented in board meetings, discussion is shut down when I ask for clarification about how those outcomes compare to state averages.  

Florida has experienced explosive population and economic growth over the past few years and has been a magnet for individuals and employers across the nation looking to make the Sunshine State their home and headquarters. The FPI’s Child Well-Being Index is a prime example of the information that people seeking to relocate to one of Florida’s 67 counties are using to guide their business investments. Economic growth and opportunity will always follow the data and FPI’s report is a prime, albeit brutal, reminder that it’s Hendry County versus the 66 other counties in Florida and outcomes matter.

The views and opinions expressed in the article are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of other members of the Hendry County School Board.

Mrs. Penuel leads her first grade class through one of the literacy stations at CHS.

Members of the School Board were invited to attend Literacy Week celebrations in many of our schools last week and I made sure to RSVP to as many as I could. Choosing which events to attend was my biggest challenge as every school had an event, activity, or theme for each day of the week!

I kicked of my Literacy Week tour at Central Elementary. I got to be a Community Reader and choose two books, “The Old Woman and Her Pig” and “Three Billy Goats Gruff” to read to fourth grade classes. I was delighted to see other people in the community participating as community readers while I was there. I ran into Bubba Ramer from the City Recreation Dept, County Commissioner Karson Turner, as well as Superintendent Paul Puletti.

Eastside’s Multi-Cultural Literacy Night offered an opportunity to dance to German music.

Clewiston High School’s students and staff rolled out the red carpet for first grade students from Eastside, Westside and Central Elementary. CHS students decked the halls with Dr. Seuss decorations and guided the first graders through different literacy stations located throughout the campus. It was heartwarming to see the look of admiration in the eyes of the first graders and inspiring to see the leaders of tomorrow honing their leadership skills and nurturing a sense of community responsibility for literacy.

Eastside Elementary hosted an outstanding Multi-Cultural Literacy Night. Teachers and staff transformed the lunchroom into a multi-cultural party complete snacks, games, music, and engaging literacy stations highlighting different cultures. Ava Barrett from the Clewiston Public Library was in attendance getting families signed up up library cards and providing information on ways the public library supports community literacy.

County Commissioner Karson Turner took time out his schedule to be a Community Reader at Central Elementary.

Seeing a principal take a whipped cream pie in the face was all the reason I needed to load up and head over to LaBelle to Country Oaks Elementary! Mr. Sealey issued a challenge to students if they doubled their AR (Accelerated Reader) points goal, he would let them throw a pie at him. If they quadrupled their goal, they got to throw two pies. I’ll just say he had quite a group of motivated students with excellent aim and, since he was such a good sport, I couldn’t deny his request to throw a pie at me when students went back to class.

I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to the schools that invited me to participate in their Literacy Week celebrations. I’d also like to extend a very special THANK YOU to those who undoubtedly spent many hours outside of your contractual obligations to provide these wonderful experiences for our students. I appreciate those who go above and beyond for our students and make great things happen within our District.

A pie in the face courtesy of Mr. Sealey.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

~ Stephanie

A very heartfelt THANK YOU for taking time to read my blog.

Happy New Year, Hendry County! It’s been a whirlwind since being sworn into the Hendry County School Board, District 4 seat on November 18. I’ve participated in two official board meetings, one executive session, and a four day Florida School Board Association conference.

I’m new to being a school board member, and blogging, and what I’m absolutely confident about at this point is what I don’t know far outweighs what I do know.  I’ve always been told that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and as we enter 2015, I’m sitting at this proverbial table feeling hungry and determined.

My plan over the next couple of months is to spend time on each school campus in Hendry County. I’ve appreciated reading each school’s 2014-15 Continuous Improvement Model (formerly known as the School Improvement Plan) and feel like each one offered valuable insight into the instructional and extra-curricular priorities, as well as the culture of each campus. While the CIM’s are valuable tools that provide a great amount of insight, there is no greater teacher than experience. I’m looking forward to the experiences I will encounter and the education I will receive on Hendry County’s campuses in the coming months.

As a board, I feel we’re starting off 2015 on the right foot. A 2.19% raise for district HESPA employees was unanimously approved in the December 2014 meeting and the board unanimously voted to restructure meetings so that the first meeting of the month will be a workshop and the second meeting of the month will be our business meeting.  In my opinion, having a workshop each month is essential to having the knowledge, as a board, to build and manage the district’s budget.

I’d like to personally invite you to attend our next school board meeting on Tuesday, January 13, at the Clewiston Sub-Office Boardroom located at 475 E. Osceola Avenue at 5:30 pm for our first business meeting of 2015.

Thank you for the privilege of serving Hendry County. I am honored and humbled.

~Stephanie