On Mother s Day, The Chop Shop in downtown Lakeland remained closed, unable to staff the restaurant and handle holiday crowds.
The decision to close for the day was just one of many owner Abby Starkey has had to make during the past few months to deal with severe understaffing at her burger joint.
Starkey said because one of her employees had to take the day off for a wedding, the restaurant would have been run by just her and the general manager, a mother of two. Starkey decided she and her staff deserved to enjoy a day off instead. [The staff] work too hard to not get to enjoy it when they do have a special day like Mother s Day, Starkey said. At some stage, you say you know what, screw that couple thousand dollars or whatever, it s not worth it. We re all going to take the day off.
Next fiscal year’s funding for budgeted expenses, which begins July 1, from the Florida Education Finance Program, along with transfers to this year’s general fund and a balance the district is required to carry, is $959.3 million. The 2020-2021 total budgeted expenses were $933 million.
For the first time in more than a decade and after several years of begging by School Board member Lynn Wilson and school district lobbyist Wendy Dodge the Florida Legislature did not roll back the millage tax rate amount Polk County Public Schools is required to contribute. This year, taxpayers will provide $166.2 million, compared to last year’s $158.5 million.
This story has been updated to correct Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd s salary, which is $238,000, not $237,000.
BARTOW – Incoming Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid said he wants to be treated like any other school administrator when it comes to salary and health insurance.
The Polk County School Board will vote on Heid’s contract at Tuesday night’s board meeting, which includes a salary of $255,000 and health insurance for Heid, but not his wife and son he will cover the cost for their insurance just like school employees do for spouses and children.
“I’ll pay for it – I pay for it now,” Heid said during a Monday morning phone call. “It’s something I’m accustomed to. It’s a fairness – you re modeling (behavior). I m not better than anyone else in the organization.”
Lakeland foodies, rejoice. After more than a year of waiting, the Lakeland Food Truck Rally is finally driving back to town next Thursday, May 13.
The popular monthly rally gathered last in February of 2020 before the March rally was canceled altogether because of COVID-19. And in the early months of the pandemic hopes of the rally continuing were dashed as local governments cracked down on any events that drew large crowds in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.
Last November, the rally was set for its grand return. But the fun was rained out by Tropical Storm Eta, which didn t hit Polk County particularly hard but still brought out the kind of wet weather even Florida natives would rather avoid.