It’s a great day to be an Otter! On Saturday, Lake Manatee K-8 families got a first look of the new campus in Lakewood Ranch. Principal Todd Richardson and team welcomed kindergarten through fifth grade students to this OTTER-LY amazing event! 🦦💚 #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews
Buffalo Creek Middle School Students Shine at FVA All-Star Treble Honors Chorus: Three students from Buffalo Creek Middle School represented Manatee County at the Florida Vocal Association (FVA) All-Star Treble Honors Chorus on July 23rd at the Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs. This selective choir, for outstanding 6th-grade singers from across Florida including Ava B., Madison C. and Kenslee C., involved a day of intensive rehearsal under conductor Evan Powers. The experience provided the students with exposure to high-level choral music and the opportunity to sing with peers from across the state. Thanks to proud music teacher Malissa Baker for sharing this #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews.
Please support the 12th Annual Books-A-Million Book Drive benefiting K-12 students in Manatee County. Stop by the Books-A-Million store at 4225 14th Street West, Bradenton and donate a book today!
Security Screening at Secondary Schools – Beginning Monday, August 11, 2025, all students and visitors at district middle and high schools will be screened each school day using a high-tech security scanner system.
For more information on this enhanced security screening procedure, visit https://www.manateeschools.net/securityscreening.
School Board Seeks Civic-Minded Citizens to Join Audit Committee –
The School Board of Manatee County is seeking civic-minded citizens to serve as members of the Audit Committee. The Committee, which meets six times a year, recommends the appointment of the internal and external auditors; reviews the scope, plan and reports of the internal and external auditors; and assists in maintaining open communications between the selected auditors, the School Board and the District’s financial management. The Committee also reviews the collection and proper use of the funds raised through the one-half cent sales surtax for school capital outlay expenditures. Membership on the Committee requires an average of five-to-eight hours per month, with meetings scheduled every other month for three hours. The term is approximately three years.
Those interested in serving must:
• Live in Manatee County.
• Be a CPA (active or retired) or had employment experience in school district financial operations.
• Submit a letter expressing interest, provide contact information and provide a brief summary of their work experience.
Responses must be sent to the Manatee County School District, Attention: School Board Agency Clerk, P.O. Box 9069, Bradenton, Florida 34206-9069.
Interested individuals may obtain additional information about the Committee by emailing the School Board Agency Administrative Associate at cox3l@manateeschools.net.
Family Empowerment Scholarship – Parents interested in applying for either FES-EO or FES-UA may review the eligibility requirements and application instructions at https://www.manateeschools.net/FES.
The Florida Department of Education released the Florida Value Added Model (VAM) Fiscal Transparency Tool, a web-based fiscal transparency tool that identifies public schools and districts with high academic achievement based on the ratio of classroom expenditures to total expenditures. VAM is intended to help taxpayers evaluate the financial efficiency of a school district with other similarly situated school districts. View the VAM for the School District of Manatee County at
https://floridavam.org/e/vamPublic.html?w4=54#/entityId=262385.