The Florida Standards Assessment scores are out for County school systems in our neck of the woods, and Highlands County students’ performance in the annual standardized tests were flat year over year comparing this last academic year to 2017-2018, with 48% of our kids performing at or above Level 3 in English language skills and 53% at or above the benchmark in math skills. Highlands County generally rated above other area districts in language skills, but most other districts recorded improving scores year over year; local kids werea couple percentage points behind Glades, Hardee and Okeechobee County students in math skills.
The Highlands County Commission will have a full agenda today, led by a request from the Champion For Children Foundation’s request to remove the Foundation’s name from the County-run Childens’ Advocacy Center on the Sebring Parkway. The Foundation cites shifts in focus at the Center as its motive and wants to County to help fund a separate walk-in center for the Foundation elsewhere.
The Board is also entering the budgeting process and wants the public involved. Informational meetings are slated for next Monday in Sebring, next Tuesday at SFSC in Avon Park and next Wednesday in Lake Placid, followed by a Workshop session next Thursday morning.
Your Sheriff’s Departments wants you to know – they’ll be watching you this weekend. The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office will be taking part in the Florida Sheriff’s Task Force ‘“Operation Knot Lit” over the Fourth of July holiday week. The department will have extra deputies out on the county’s roads and lakes during the holiday week. The official start of Operations Knot Lit is tomorrow, and it’ll continue through Sunday. Deputies will keep special watch over the holiday for driving or operating a vessel under the influence or operating a vehicle or a vessel in a reckless or unsafe manner.