Last weeks program was provided by Rotarian Billy Riddle. Billy’s guest speaker was Hillsborough County School Superintendent, Jeff Eakins. Jeff Eakins has served as superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools since July 1, 2015. He has devoted his entire career to the education of children. He works tirelessly to improve the quality of education because he believes that when the right learning conditions are in place, all children can grow to be successful and responsible citizens. He and the School Board of Hillsborough County led the school district into creating a five-year strategic plan that seeks to increase high school graduation rates to 90% by 2020. The plan also seeks to create a strong foundation of financial stewardship and to build a culture where children are the top priority and healthy relationships create strong bonds that bring diverse groups together for a common goal: the success of our students! Jeff Eakins spoke to the club about the upcoming vote for the education referendum. Voters going to the polls in Hillsborough County between now and November 6 face the opportunity to vote yay or nay on a referendum calling for a half-cent sales tax increase to benefit public school education. The referendum, No. 3, can be found at the bottom of the two-page ballot. The increased sales tax would generate about $1.3 billion over 10 years, with at least $500,000 invested in each of the district's 230 schools. A typical family would pay $63 a year, with a portion paid by tourists and other visitors making purchases. The half-penny sales tax to benefit schools would fund: 1. 1,785 specific projects designed to improve learning conditions in public schools including 203 A/C replacements, 63 aging roof replacements, $23 million in safety and security improvements, $25 million in classroom technology upgrades, and build four new schools to relieve overcrowding. "The state does not fund school buildings based on age or need, so as our schools age, the need increases but the funding does not,'' Eakins says. "Because of this, with our average school’s age of 50 years old, students and teachers are struggling in hot classrooms with inadequate equipment.'' 2. An unpaid independent Citizen Oversight Committee will watch all spending. Members cannot work for the school district or profit from referendum projects. If the referendum passes, the initial oversight committee would be headed by former Florida Education Commissioner Betty Castor, and include as members Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, former Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Earl Leonard, former Hillsborough Community College CFO Bonnie Carr, former Florida Legislator Ed Narain, and local business leader Jose Valiente.
3. Studies show that investing in schools increases property values, attracts high-quality businesses, ensures safe shelters during hurricanes, and improves students’ performance. 4. Voters in every neighboring county -- Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Manatee -- have already approved significant local tax referendums to support their public schools. 5. While it was promised as an extra boost for schools 30 years ago, local school districts are getting a decreasing portion of funding from the Florida Lottery as the state Legislature shifts priorities. This year Hillsborough County receives $9.1 million in Lottery dollars, about 0.3 percent of Hillsborough's $3.014 billion school district budget.
6. The school sales tax increase would last 10 years before a decision would be made about whether to renew. 7. The half-penny sales tax increase would cost a typical family in Hillsborough County $63 a year, based on IRS tax tables and Hillsborough’s median household income of $51,681. 8. The Education Referendum is the final item on most voters' ballots. For more information, visit the Hillsborough County Public Schools website and the Strengthen Our Schools website. - provided by Mike Arndt
Preparations are underway for the our club's second biggest fundraiser of the year. We need everyone to pitch in for this great event. Sponsorship opportunities are available and needed.
Please see President Jodi and Doug Watson for more information.
Kayla Drawdy is the new Program Chair! Please notify Kayla of you upcoming speakers at 763-1821 or kayla@htitle.com
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The Object of Rotary
THE OBJECT of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying or each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business and community life;
FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
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From Our Members
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Have any news you would like to share? Do you have a new position at work? Family news? Any news you would like to share with club members and bulletin subscribers? E-mail to Bill Wicker
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website www.PlantCityRotary.org . They just need to go to
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can also forward them this newsletter and they can use the
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We Still Need Your Help! It is our goal to have enough sponsorship from members
of the club to make our website and these e-bulletins
self-supporting. If you enjoy these electronic updates and
appreciate our club having a presence on the website
it's time to step up. For the low fee of $50, your business
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the website pages, these ads are active links that take you
to your business's website. Don't have a business and
still want to help, we can include an ad thanking you for
your sponsorship. For more informationemailBill Wicker.
I’M GLAD I’M NOT___________
For almost a decade, my family and several friends
embarked on the same miserable vacation for almost a
decade. We set out in July and always to a different small town on the western border of Iowa. We had no friends in Iowa, nor any special places we wanted to see. Indeed, if the truth be known, we didn’t really care for the state with its endless cornfields and stench of hog and chicken farms! But we didn’t mind because we went for the challenge as did most of the other 15,000 like-minded cyclists who had come from around the globe to participate in the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). For the
next week, we would pedal 500 miles across the scenic
countryside until we reached the banks of the mighty
Mississippi. (Iowa is actually a beautiful state with
wonderful people once you turn off the interstates). But
the journey was far from luxurious. The ladies restroom
was the cornfield on the right, as was the gent’s. At the
end of each day, we’d pitch our tents wherever we could
find space, often an open-field or someone’s front yard.
The not so private and cold showers were sometimes
nothing more than hoses attached to a cattle washing
stall, or sheets of neoprene suspended inside a car wash. That was after spending the day dealing with heat and hills while perched on a bicycle seat. There was also the time we were forced to seek refuge from a tornado, and another when huddled against the hail during a severe storm. Yet despite the hardships, we started planning the next year’s ride even before arriving home. The experience taught us to be optimistic and more appreciative of the things we took for granted. It was always a long time before anyone complained when the power went off. Stuck in traffic? No problem after being on a saddle for a week. When stranded in an airport due to a flight cancellation, I could think with conviction, “I’m glad I’m not stuck on the side of the road with a broken axle on my bike.” Or when annoyed by the sound of the hotel ice machine, I was able to think, “I’m glad I’m not sleeping in a field listening to freight trains at all hours of the night.” It’s
called re-framing and is one of many rewards of roughing it. You, too, can have this type of experience along with the deep satisfaction of making a difference in someone’s life. Please organize your family, friends, and fellow Rotarians for an adventure to the Panhandle. Teams of 3 to 5 are needed between November 5th and the end of the year to place tarps on any and all homes that have sustained roof damage. There are a lot. Rotarians in D6940 are hosting the effort and have arranged lodging for volunteers. Camping is another option, which will free-up space in homes for others who may need it. That’s what I’m planning to do over the Thanksgiving period, and you’re welcome to join me and whomever else I can entice to forego the traditional holiday routine. If there’s still a need, then join me for another visit during the December holidays. There are several state parks in the region and if they have not re-opened, there are lots of open spaces, including vast stretches of beach. It’s called primitive camping and after working all day, it will be a real treat. Just think of all the possible ways you’ll be able to finish, I’m glad I’m Not_____ and thereby cope more effectively
the rest of the year! Between now and November 19th, I’ll find out where we can be of most use, and the status of nearby state parks. But feel free to organize your own team and trip.
The Rotary Foundation inducted into University of Oxford’s Chancellor’s Court of BenefactorsThe Rotary Foundation has been welcomed into the University of Oxford’s Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors for its continuous support of the
