BACK IN CLASS – Gadsden County School District sees increase of student population for 2022-23 school year; district leadership to discuss construction of new K-8 Quincy campus

Last week, school returned to Gadsden County.

As students returned to new or familiar school campuses, teachers returned to their classrooms, and administrators pulled together a smooth transition into the school year, the Gadsden County School District was behind the scenes, focusing on diverting state attention to pressing issues within the schools.

School started on August 10 with a visit from Florida State Senator Loranne Ausley, who toured Havana Magnet School to welcome teachers back to the school year.

Elsewhere in the county, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz visited Stewart Street Elementary School and James A. Shanks Middle School to pass out classroom supplies to teachers.

“We got a call that the commissioner wanted to deliver supplies to school, and he wanted Gadsden County,” said Superintendent Elijah Key.

While Commissioner Diaz visited to offer a warm back-to-school welcome to Gadsden County teachers, the visit was two-fold for the Gadsden County School District.

Both of the schools that Commissioner Diaz visited were two that had equipment issues at the start of the school year.

Both Stewart Street and James A. Shanks had multiple classrooms with air conditioning outages, roughly 60-80% of Stewart Street Elementary was without AC, and Shanks had a 10% outage.

“We were able to address those issues,” said Superintendent Key. “We were able to talk about the difficulties of those aging schools and some of the issues we are having.”

The outages are something that both campuses deal with frequently throughout the warmer school months, and Superintendent Key says it is due to the aging units serving both schools.

Recently, the school board approved paying an architecture firm to completely overhaul the AC system at Stewart Street - a costly and time-consuming process that should buy the school a bit more time with cool classrooms.

However, both Stewart Street Elementary and James A. Shanks are campuses that Superintendent Key is wanting to combine for a new, safer, and up-to-date Quincy K-8 school.

On Thursday of this week, Superintendent Key and other members of the school district will meet with the Department of Education to discuss potential funding for this dream of a new school.

Superintendent Key says he will give his pitch to the department, and even though Commissioner Diaz will not be a part of the committee that decides on the funding, the district hopes that Commissioner Diaz’ visit allowed the state to see the need for a new school for K-8 students in Quincy.

“We’ve got to get out of these old buildings,” said Superintendent Key.

Another need for a new school building is the growing student population in Gadsden County.

This year, the district saw over 300 new students enter the school system, bringing the student body from the 3,500s to the 3,900s.

“Our student numbers are up,” said Key.

Key said numbers weren’t the only thing on an upward scale during the August 10 morning back to school - morale was also running high amongst teachers and students, Key added.

“There was an energy of excitement,” said Key. “There was a lot of positive energy from our staff and students.”

While some of Gadsden County’s schools were returning to classrooms after receiving poor marks in the school grades, Superintendent Key said the staff - and students - expressed desires to overcome struggles experienced in the last few years.

“There were many conversations on ‘what can we do better?’” said Key.

Key said the district is still looking for teachers, but is in a less shaky position as of August 10.

While there are positions open within the district, Key said the search isn’t quite so pressing now.

“Everybody still has a role to play, and it’s going to be ‘all hands on deck’,” said Key. “But we aren’t where we were two weeks ago.”

Virtual learning has also come to an end for Gadsden County students - everyone is back in the classroom.

While COVID-19 pulled hard at school resources and forced the district to display flexibility in educating its students, Key says the district has resumed 100% in-person learning.

With MonkeyPox now on the district’s radar, Key said schools are continuing to ask students to bring water bottles instead of drinking from campus fountains, but masks are not required for students or teachers.

“You’ll still see some kids and adults in masks, but that’s their choice. We aren’t requiring it.”

Key said the district will continue to work towards making sure the campuses and classrooms are kept clean for students - not just for health reasons, but for the morale of returning to school in a clean, orderly environment.

“Hopefully, we will continue to get community support,” said Key. “We’re excited. I’m excited.”

Ashley Hunter - editor@gadsdencountytimes.com

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BACK IN CLASS – Gadsden County School District sees increase of student population for 2022-23 school year; district leadership to discuss construction of new K-8 Quincy campus

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