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Lake County School Board to decide fate of coach at East Ridge H.S.
Lake County School Board to meet about coach s future
The Lake County School Board is meeting this week to discuss the future of one of its coaches.
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. - The Lake County School District is expected to decide whether to fire a high school football coach.
They are expected to meet Monday at 6 p.m.
At the district’s last school board meeting, Superintendent Diane Kornegay recommended termination of employment for Martez Edwards, a P.E. teacher and football coach at East Ridge High School, after reviewing documents that suggest he falsified his employment application.
But it left many parents wondering what this meant for their children and local schools.
The Florida Department of Education advised that the executive order only impacts city and county governments, and does NOT impact school districts and individual schools.
In her letter, Kornegay explained the policy shift. We made a commitment to our over 40,000 students, parents and our 5,500 employees that we would keep our safety protocols in place for this year, she wrote. We are going to honor that commitment and stay the course for just 19 more days.
Masks in schools has been a hot-button issue.
A Lake County legislator sent a letter to DeSantis last week, asking him to suspend the school board s power to mandate the masking of children.
The Lake County School District currently mandates face masks on their campuses, along with many school districts across the state. The final decision on mask mandates for the following school year will likely be made by individual school boards.
On April 14, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a memo to district superintendents, saying that face masks should be voluntary for the 2021-22 school year, not required.
But for now, masks are still required in schools. Based on the guidance of the Department of Health (DOH), Lake County Schools will not be changing its safety protocols for the last month of this school year, Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay wrote in a letter to parents on April 8. However, the DOH is very hopeful that masks will be optional for the 2021-2022 school year.
In the academy, students complete an advanced, hands-on curriculum in preparation for a career in teaching. After high school, they may continue with their post-secondary education at UCF, complete internships in Lake schools and are guaranteed a job interview with the district, where they can start their career in education.
Tavares High teacher Bonnie Watkins leads the program, with over 40 students enrolled.
“This is an exciting moment for Ashley and for our program,” Watkins said. “We developed the program from an idea and a dream. Now, we are seeing that dream being fulfilled through Ashley. We are going to support her every step of the way, and we look forward to the day when she returns to us to interview for a full-time position. We hope many more will follow in her footsteps.”