OKEECHOBEE — At the Town Hall the Okeechobee Schools Superintendent Dylan Tedders held on Wednesday, Sept. 23, he addressed the community’s concerns about North Elementary School.

Earlier this year when the Florida Department of Education announced the overall grades of districts and schools statewide, North Elementary School received a “D” grade.

Tedders explained that a survey had been emailed to parents before the Town Hall meeting to get an idea of the questions and concerns they had and there were still a lot of questions about North Elementary.

“North Elementary fell to a D school and when that happens,” he said. “That triggers a whole line of supports from the state.”

He explained that the state has a Bureau of School Improvement (BSI) and that they come into the school and meet with educators and administrators. “They have a formulated method that they go through with schools that fall in this area and the system is proven,” he said. “They look at what the teachers are doing, what are the students doing and what can they do to make that school successful by the end of the year.”

According to Tedders the BSI has already begun the process at North Elementary and because of that teachers may have to adjust lesson plans and stay later to adjust those plans. “Any time you do that, there’s change,” Tedders explained. “Call it growing pains.”

He’s confident that the teachers and staff at North Elementary can handle the change and hopeful that it will result in success for the school by the time they are graded again at the end of this school year.