Public Workshop Planned for Port Orange, Volusia Schools

Port Orange, FL - Next month residents of Port Orange will have an opportunity to hear from, and be heard by, members of the Port Orange City Council and the Volusia County School Board in a special workshop designed to address topics of general concern.

The meeting was announced at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, where Councilman Scott Stiltner mentioned the meeting and asked City Manager Jake Johansson to comment on the proposed agenda.

“With ten schools in our city it’s a huge part of who we are,” Stiltner said. “The agenda includes a discussion on Port Orange school ratings, an update on child protection, and traffic concerns.”

“I expect this to be a well-attended meeting. We are hoping to have more workshops like this in the future,” said Johansson. “The School Board meets with other cities sometimes twice a year at the request of those cities.”

Stiltner asked that a discussion on the lack of textbook usage in Volusia County classrooms be added to the agenda. Stiltner believes residents would like to hear the reasoning behind the county public schools discontinuing use of hardcopy textbooks in elementary schools and wants to know if this is a larger trend in education countrywide.

Mayor Burnette added there is an Annual Oversight Committee meeting next week which will discuss space planning, overcrowding, school capacities and enrollment. The City will send a staff representative as well as Burnette to attend the meeting and report back at a future Council meeting.

The Special Workshop with Volusia County Schools will be held on Tuesday, February 19^th at 4:30, subject to all parties being available. This meeting will precede the Regular City Council Meeting.