Below are our topics of interest for this edition of the School Talk news column:

1) Safe Schools

This has been an extremely difficult time as we continue to sympathize with and follow the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School last week. Child safety has been in the minds of our leadership teams, our school board members, and our community. On Wednesday, Dec. 19, we met with our principals, law enforcement officials, and others to discuss additional actions to enhance the safety and protection of our students and staff.

These recommendations are being reviewed, and we would encourage our community to communicate with us regarding concerns and suggestions. We are committed to continually reviewing and enhancing our efforts to maintain safety within our schools.

2) Reconfiguration

A task force consisting of our eight school principals and our administrative team will serve with a representative from each school board member district to prepare a plan of action to reconfigure our Live Oak elementary schools. Public meetings will be held at the schools listed below to discuss the reconfiguration plan:

Suwannee Primary School Jan. 24, 2013 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Suwannee Elementary School Jan. 31, 2013 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Suwannee Intermediate School Feb. 7, 2013 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

It is important that our community understand the need to reconfigure our Live Oak elementary schools into Pre-K through 5th grades. Please attend the above public meetings to obtain information regarding our reconfiguration plan. 


3) Potash Corporation-White Springs (PCS) donation

PCS made a donation of $45,000 to our school system recently. These funds are designated by PCS to be used for the following purposes:

$25,000 – Suwannee High School computer lab

$10,000 – Suwannee High School FFA program

$10,000 – Branford High School FFA program

The presentation was made by Mike Williams, Public Affairs Manager with PCS-White Springs, and Terry Baker, CEO of PCS-White Springs. We are very fortunate to have business partners such as PCS to provide funding to enhance our education system. 


4) Practical nursing program’s capping ceremony

The Practical Nursing Program’s capping ceremony was held recently at Suwannee-Hamilton Technical Center for 21 of our nursing students. We appreciate the efforts and support of Joanne Kietur, Director of the Practical Nursing Program, and June Guy, Practical Nursing Program Instructor. 


5) Common Core

During this school year and next, our teachers and staff are preparing to make the transition to the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core standards are a set of standards that have been adopted by most of the states in the U.S.

Common Core will be more rigorous and will require our teachers to assist our students in developing complex thinking skills. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) assessment will replace FCAT as the state assessment for students in grades 3 through 11 beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. 


6) Crossing guards

We have made significant improvements to our traffic challenges in the last several years, and the placement of crossing guards at various school intersections has contributed to better traffic flow. Recently, one of our crossing guards was hit by a parent who left the scene of the accident. Fortunately, the crossing guard did not require serious medical attention. We ask our parents and community to assist and cooperate with our crossing guards as they continue our efforts to ensure that traffic moves smoothly. 


Your comments and suggestions are needed on how we, as a school district, can better serve our parents and students. Please feel free to contact me. I can be reached at the following: 


Email: jascarborough@suwanneeschools.org

Home Phone: (386) 362-3463

Cell Phone: (386) 362-8037

Work Phone: (386) 647-4600

District Website: Superintendent Feedback Link