NORTH PORT, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis announced more than $200 million in awards to schools demonstrating student growth and teaching excellence through the School Recognition Program today.
Over a thousand schools across the state that received a grade of "A" or improved at least one letter grade from the year prior will benefit.
“These awards can be used to give our hard-working teachers bonuses and are particularly important in Southwest Florida where they will go a long way toward helping our teachers in the area get back on their feet," Gov. DeSantis said.
Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Addison Davis said the money is the direct result of hard work in the schools.
"Historically, we've usually received around $9 million. So you know, moving from 35th in the state academically to 19th really shows the progression that we've had as a school district, all under some very difficult circumstances," he said.
It's money HCPS once thought wouldn't arrive.
"There was talk at one point in time of this money not being relinquished to Hillsborough County and some other districts. We definitely needed to be able to incentivize our staff just to show them their hard work is valued and is recognized throughout the state and locally," he added.
Leto High School is one of the more than 120 schools getting that recognition. The school is receiving over $340,000 from the funding. Principal Larissa McCoy said it's well-deserved recognition for her team.
"For Leto, this is only the second time in the school's 57-year history that we can see that the school learned to 'B,'" she said.
The last time Leto earned a "B" was in 2013. Principal McCoy, who moved to the school in 2017, said she's seen the hard work of the staff and the students.
"Our kids, so many of them are coming here from another country, mainly Cuba, and so many of our kids' parents have brought them to Tampa and then Leto because they want their kids to be able to have different opportunities," McCoy said. "And I think that a lot of our kids understand the sacrifice that so many of their families have made. I think that our kids really are thankful for that, and most of them rise to the occasion and really want to show their parents that they can be successful and that none of those decisions or choices were in vain."
Once the money is distributed to the schools, it can be used for a variety of reasons. Leto teachers will have the final say in what happens to their money.
"It gives our teachers a voice for how they're going to distribute this money, how they're going to spend this money, are we going to use it for educational materials, are we going to buy more technology to support the work we're doing in our classrooms? This is an opportunity for teachers and staff to get a one-time bonus if that's how they want to do that," McCoy said.
The process for how the funds are utilized is specified in Florida statute 1008.36(4)(b) as follows:
Funds must be distributed to the school’s fiscal agent and placed in the school’s account and must be used for purposes listed in subsection (5) as determined jointly by the school’s staff and school advisory council. If school staff and the school advisory council cannot reach agreement by February 1, the awards must be equally distributed to all classroom teachers currently teaching in the school. If a school selected to receive a school recognition award is no longer in existence at the time the award is paid, the district school superintendent shall distribute the funds to teachers who taught at the school in the previous year in the form of a bonus.
The allowable uses as specified in Florida statute 1008.36 (5) are:
School recognition awards must be used for the following:
- Nonrecurring bonuses to the faculty and staff;
- Nonrecurring expenditures for educational equipment or materials to assist in maintaining and improving student performance; or
- Temporary personnel for the school to assist in maintaining and improving student performance.
The local distribution includes:
- Hillsborough County - $17,180,792
- Pinellas County - $6,944,937
- Pasco County - $4,674,579
- Polk County - $3,833,963
- Sarasota County - $3,841,517
- Manatee County - $2,619,231
Click here to see the full list.
