OKEECHOBEE — Okeechobee Schools Superintendent Dylan Tedders held a Town Hall meeting at the Okeechobee Public Library on Wednesday, July 15, to give the community the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts.

A few parents showed up to ask questions specific to their children and several teachers and administrators from Okeechobee schools were in attendance to ask questions regarding the upcoming school year.

Tedders was asked by one individual when the staff would be allowed inside the new high school because they had not been able to set up their classrooms and offices. While an exact date wasn’t given, the individual was told it would be soon. Tedders explained that there would be a private ribbon cutting within the next couple of weeks and that the staff should be able to begin getting set up after that.

The reason that the ribbon cutting for the new Okeechobee High School will be private is due to the parking situation. The parking lot is not complete and there isn’t enough parking space for the public to attend. When asked when the parking lot would be completed, Tedders said that its expected completion is in November of this year.

Tedders stated that the high school itself will be ready in time for the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

Mayor Dowling Watford asked  if they expected student numbers to be down this year.  Tedders explained that they were predicting that enrollment will be down 73 students this coming school year. That is just a prediction at this point and adjustments to staffing, and the budget will be adjusted accordingly once the number is certain.

Another topic of discussion was the removal of five teachers from North Elementary School. Some teachers from other schools were concerned that teachers from their school may be pulled to fill the vacancies at North Elementary.

The district grades were recently released, and North Elementary School received a "D" grade for the 2025-2026 school year. Because of this, the Bureau of School Improvement (BSI) will be working with the Okeechobee County Education Association (OCEA) and the Okeechobee County School Board to make improvements at North Elementary. The BSI requires that five teachers be removed from North Elementary.

When asked if “removed” meant that their employment would be terminated, Tedders explained that they will all still be employed but where they will teach is yet to be determined.

It is possible that teachers may be moved from other schools to fill the vacancies, but the district will be looking to hire new teachers.

Okeechobee County received a “C” grade for the whole district for the 2025-2026 school year and when asked how far Okeechobee is from bringing that up to a “B” and if he thought it can be brought up by next year,  Tedders said, “We were 4 percentage points from a "B" as a District.  Yes. I believe a B is attainable next year.”

Another individual simply asked that the next time a Town Hall take place, perhaps allow questions to be submitted online for those unable to attend the meeting because it was held in the middle of the day when most are at work.

Tedders seemed to think that was a good idea, but explained that the reason they held the meeting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is because those are lunch hours and they hoped that allowing two hours would give people room in their day to pop in.

This was the first time the superintendent has held a Town Hall meeting and hopes to continue doing so in the future.