AVON PARK — The new year will bring a new safety procedure for dismissal time at Park Elementary School. Beginning in January, each vehicle will be required to have a card in the dashboard imprinted with the names of the children who will be picked up in that vehicle. "We just want to make sure that the children are as safe as we can possibly have them be," said Park Elementary Principal Brenda Longshore. Usually by this time of the year many schools take the approach that they know the parents by now, "but, we just wanted to implement it and give it a try and see if we just can't up our safety just a little bit." Paraprofessionals who work during dismissal suggested the dashboard cards, which could also speed up the dismissal process, she said. ...more

December 24, 2007

It's about thanks and giving for the Ferstl family. On Wednesday, in a courtroom filled with caregivers, caseworkers and family, three teenage siblings were adopted by Keith and Sherri Ferstl, who married in 2001 and already have seven children from previous marriages. ...more

November 22, 2007

I have a solution for the school district's problem with chronically deviant students whose parents do not respond to suspensions. As an assistant principal and principal, I employed a policy in the Buffalo, N.Y., public high schools that we developed because we could not contact parents or guardians for recalcitrant, deviant students. Also we used this procedure with students whose parents, once found, were worse than the students. ...more

November 3, 2007

Regarding 'Spending The Future' (front page, Oct. 12): Surprisingly, current and past county commission members have nearly spent all the projected tax revenue. These commissioners, like homeowners who irresponsibly borrowed (I mean gambled) on future home values, have put Hillsborough County taxpayers in jeopardy. ...more

October 14, 2007