Latest news with #PinellasCountySchools
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Lakewood High grads celebrate commencement in Clearwater
After Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field, the traditional venue for Pinellas County Schools graduations, changes were necessary. This year's graduating classes will hold ceremonies at Clearwater's Baycare Sound and Ruth Eckerd Hall, and Tampa's Yuengling Center. Lakewood was one of four schools holding commencement ceremonies on Wednesday at the Sound.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
School lunch prices are going up around Tampa Bay. Here's why.
Students across Tampa Bay will face higher meal costs as school districts struggle to balance rising food prices and uncertainty from the federal government. In Pinellas County, elementary school lunch prices will rise by 50 cents to $2.75, by 40 cents to $3.15 in middle school and by $1 to $4.50 in high school. Pasco County elementary and middle school lunch prices will increase by 15 cents to $3.40 and by 20 cents to $3.95 in high school. The price increases don't apply to students who are part of schools that offer free breakfast and lunch to all students in low-income areas or those receiving free or reduced price meals through other programs. Schools qualify for free meals if more than a quarter of its population in the previous year accepted federal aid or were identified as homeless, foster children or Head Start enrollees. Hillsborough County students won't see a price change amid the district's budgetary uncertainty. Tanya Arja, a spokesperson for the district said Hillsborough was prepared for this. 'Our district is able to keep the cost of our school lunches the same next school year because we have been proactive in our planning to work through any financial constraints,' she said in an email. 'Also, as a large school district, we benefit from significant purchasing power, allowing us to secure a better value for our school lunches.' Pinellas and Pasco officials said finances have been difficult. Budgets for school breakfast and lunch programs that don't tap into general funds and are largely dependent on federal funds. Dustin Walker, director of food and nutrition for Pinellas County Schools, told school board members costs have skyrocketed since 2020 and haven't come back down. They initially received about $4 million in supply chain assistance funds, he said, but that expired in 2023. The Consumer Price Index, a tool used to measure how prices change over time, shows a 7% increase in costs, he said. The impacts of President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign goods and potential federal reimbursement rates remain unclear. Stephanie Spicknall, Pasco's director of food and nutrition services, said the district's meal program lost about $4.8 million last year. This year they're projected to lose another $5 million. The cost to produce one meal is $3.63, she said. They are reimbursed 53 cents per meal through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 'Our cost of food and supplies are at an all-time high and rising,' she said. 'We now are facing tariffs. So that's just lots of funding uncertainty and fiscal uncertainty in our program right now. 'Our main federal reimbursement is the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) reimbursement rate that is issued annually in July,' she added. 'So we don't even know what our main source of funding will be for next school year.' Both Pinellas and Pasco counties said they are exploring other ways to lower costs and offer different options. Walker said Pinellas schools would be piloting a 'scratch kitchen' program to offer more restaurant style or skillet cooking as opposed to 'heat and eat.' They would explore different distributors, he said. Still, Spicknall said, federal regulations make it difficult to go too outside the box. 'We have very strict nutrition parameters,' she said. 'They've already reduced salt down to a therapeutic diet, and they're going to target sugar next, but we try our best and work with manufacturers to create palatable items that students do still love to consume. 'So, yeah, I can't just go find a better price for macaroni and cheese or the pancakes, because they have to be whole-grain rich and meet certain parameters for sodium and fat and all other criteria.' When asked by Pasco's school board if the Trump administration had loosened any of those dietary requirements, Spicknall said that if anything, they had gotten more strict, with anticipated bans on food dyes coming next. Spicknall said there is also legislation to change what schools qualify for free meals. Additionally, federal aid cuts could shrink the number of students eligible for free meals. Walker said Pinellas County will be encouraging more eligible families to apply for free or reduced lunch. 'We've also had conversations about how we make sure that our cafeteria managers are ready if they're seeing the trend of a student who can't or isn't coming (for meals),' he said. 'We're making sure that we follow back up as a food nutrition department, not always just the principal or (assistant principal) having those kind of conversations.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pinellas won't enforce ICE agreement school police chief signed without authorization
Pinellas County schools won't enforce agreement with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. () Pinellas County Schools are backing off from an agreement with the federal government to deputize school police for immigration enforcement efforts. Luke Williams, chief of Pinellas County Schools Police, signed the agreement authorizing officers to question people's immigration status and detain them for turnover to immigration enforcement officials, according to a statement a district spokesperson sent to Florida Phoenix Thursday morning. However, the school board and superintendent didn't authorize Williams to sign that agreement and didn't know he had. 'The agreement is administrative in nature as it does not obligate the district to participate in training,' wrote Isabel Mascareñas, the school district's public information officer. 'Pinellas County Schools does not intend to nominate any member of the Schools Police department to attend the training program to perform the functions of an immigration officer through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).' ICE took the Pinellas school police off its list of agencies with a pending task force agreement on Thursday morning, a day after the Phoenix reported that the district would have been the first in the country to enact such an agreement. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education directed questions to the county but confirmed the department has encouraged districts to enact task force model agreements with ICE if they believe it would benefit safety. All the sheriffs in the state and several municipalities and state agencies have entered task force model agreements with ICE, which Gov. Ron DeSantis has described as the maximum level of collaboration with the federal government. Guidance the district issued following the Trump administration's reversal of a policy restricting immigration arrests at schools remains in place, Mascareñas said. 'As always, the goal is to maintain a safe learning environment for our students. Ultimately, law enforcement is the function of law enforcement agencies, and not of the schools or the District,' the Jan. 27 guidance from the district to school principals states. The district recommended that principals contact the legal department if ICE or other immigration officials contact them and emphasized that schools can't inquire about students' immigration status. However, the guidance also instructs schools to cooperate with officials seeking access to students and contact the parents only if the officials allow it. Jared Nordlund, Florida director for Latino civil rights group UnidosUS, found it concerning that the school board and superintendent hadn't been informed that the police chief had signed the agreement with ICE. 'I'm now wondering if that's going to happen across the state, I mean, that shouldn't be happening at all. … All people involved in the school district, from managing down to teaching, should be involved in a plan,' he said in a phone interview with the Phoenix. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pinellas students find inspiration during annual STEM Day field trip to Grand Prix
The Brief Almost 100 Pinellas County students went on a field trip to the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg's racetrack on Friday to learn about possible STEM careers. The field trip saw students get a behind-the-scenes look at race day operations, tour the paddocks, meet drivers and see STEM skills. Officials say the point of the field trip is meant to show students interesting STEM career opportunities outside a classroom. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay area students had a pretty cool field trip Friday at the Grand Prix. Pinellas County Schools, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch, and the city hosted 75 students at the third annual Team Accelerate STEM Day. They got a behind-the-scenes look at race day operations, toured the paddocks, met drivers, and saw STEM skills in the field. Dig deeper Friday morning, students from three local schools also visited three stations at the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub. READ: Grand Prix kicks off with Party in the Park showcasing race cars, drivers They visited Saildrone's Ocean Mapping headquarters, where they monitor hurricanes and other activity. They also visited the Coast Guard, toured their ships, and participated in a Lego-building activity. Why you should care Pinellas County Schools says a day like Friday allows students to see various STEM skills and dream of their future in the field. "This is so important because we can talk about things like this, and students will be listening and interested, but we can't show them things like this," said Cathie Mullins, the Secondary STEM staff Developer for PCS. "So, when we bring them out into the field for these experiences, that's where students really start to say, 'oh, well, maybe this is something I could do,'" she said. READ: Firestone Grand Prix expected to bring more than 100K fans to St. Pete this weekend "They start to see that there's more to STEM. There's more to learning than just what they get sitting in the classroom," she said. "Overall, it's a really good day for our students, all-encompassing of a wide variety of STEM skills, and they get the opportunity to kind of dream a little bit and maybe see something that they never thought of," Mullins said. The students also got to watch some of the races from the stands. The Source FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
