The school year is coming to a close.
With that in mind, Santa Rosa Press Gazette sat down with Santa Rosa District Schools’ superintendent Dr. Karen Barber to talk about the school year’s biggest successes, challenges and the new things coming to county schools in fall 2023.
There are 13,600 children who face food insecurity in the county, according to Santa Rosa County District Schools. That doesn’t include those whose families struggle to afford necessities like clothing.
Rather than sitting by and saying too bad, school board member Linda Sanborn has started a new program to address the needs of those students who may not have what they need to be successful in the classroom and in life.
For nearly an hour of the more than three and half-hour school board meeting earlier this month, concerned citizens, most of which were with Moms For Liberty members, spoke on the appropriateness of certain books in Santa Rosa District Schools and questioned the process by which parents can make decisions about the reading material available to their children.
Moms for Liberty claims that there at least 28 books found on the Santa Rosa District Schools website that had sexually explicit or culturally indoctrinating language in them. The group provided three examples including “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas and “Triangles” by Ellen Hopkins, both of which have been targeted by other Moms for Liberty chapters.
At the May 4 Santa Rosa County School Board meeting, students who participated in the 2023 Commissioner’s Academic Challenge state tournament were recognized.
The teenage son of Rebekah Jones, a data analyst and former Democratic Party candidate for U.S. House, has been charged with intimidation, a second-degree felony.
Jackson Jones, 13, was arrested for allegedly threatening to conduct a mass shooting at Holley Navarre Middle School, where he was previously a student. The threats first came to the attention of Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office March 20, when an East Bay K8 student told school officials about a school shooting threat she saw on social media.
Braxton Parker always knew he wanted to be a chef; he just didn’t know he would be recognized for it at such an early age.
Parker, a third-grade student at Rhodes Elementary School, won Santa Rosa County District Schools’ 2023 Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge. His official title after winning the competition is Santa Rosa County Future Chef Grand Champion.
Braxton Parker always knew he wanted to be a chef; he just didn’t know he would be recognized for it at such an early age.
Parker, a third-grade student at Rhodes Elementary School, won Santa Rosa County District Schools’ 2023 Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge. His official title after winning the competition is Santa Rosa County Future Chef Grand Champion.
Parental rights in education have become a massive issue politically, not just in Florida, but across the country. One group is helping lead that charge.
Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Melbourne, Florida, has campaigned against COVID-19 restrictions in schools, school curriculums that mention critical race theory or gender ideology and some chapters have campaigned to remove certain books that address gender or sexuality from school libraries.
Pace High School NJROTC program is proud to announce that it has won the Navy National Academic Athletic & Drill Championship for the third time.
This prestigious championship is a test of academic, athletic and drill skills of Navy Junior ROTC cadets from around the nation. The competition was held in Pensacola and teams from all over the nation competed in the event.
Families of East Milton Elementary School students got a taste of what their children have been learning in school when they came to the March 23 STEAM night event.
STEAM is short for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. According to East Milton Elementary principal Nadia Colin, they hold a STEAM night for families once a year in spring. Throughout the rest of the year, they host quarterly parent involvement events focusing on literacy, math and other topics.
