Witt Elementary

Drumroll, please! 🥁 The results are in for the 2025 Manatee County School Bus Rodeo, and the winning team is The Roadrunnerz (Beep Beep)! Led by longtime route supervisor Gina Miller, who has dedicated 26 years of service to transportation, this team proved that even our newest drivers can rise to the challenge. The four drivers who skillfully navigated the challenging obstacle course on Wednesday are all fairly new to our district: 🚌 Edinson and Nicholas – both joined in August 🚌 Don – celebrating one year of service 🚌 Zeke – proudly driving for five years on and off All the participating teams were celebrated by Director Jamie Warrington and Asst. Director Melanie Johnson. We’ve tagged the schools whose routes they drive — please join us in congratulating them and sharing this #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews! 🎉👏

HELLO 👋 Start with Hello Week kicked off today with the SAVE Club at Gene Witt Elementary School with students spreading kindness across campus. SAVE stands for Students Against Violence Everywhere. It’s a youth‑leadership initiative of Sandy Hook Promise, a national organization working to prevent violence in schools and communities. A simple hello can change someone’s day — you can change people’s lives with one small act of kindness. #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews

We have EXCITING news to share! Out of more than 37,000 nominations, a handful of teachers nationwide were awarded $5,000 for classroom supplies by iHeartRadio (powered by DonorsChoose) - including one of ours.
Congratulations to the amazing Catherine Burke, fifth grade math and science teacher, from Gene Witt Elementary School 🎉

A parent nominated Mrs. Burke saying: "Catherine is amazing. She is always willing to help anyone and teaches students at their pace to ensure they understand the lesson. She volunteers to tutor students after school who need additional help - free of charge. She also attends the monthly School Advisory Council and PTO meetings to stay involved and provide her opinion from the teacher point of view." #ManateeSchoolsGoodNews

Teachers and staff at Gene Witt Elementary School are kicking off the new school year with team spirit and a champion mindset! Inspired by The Infinite Game, this year’s goal is all about playing with purpose, lifting each other up, and building a future that lasts — both in the classroom and beyond. As you can see by their creative photo decor, staff is already bringing the energy, the laughs, and the message loud and clear: 👉 We’re here to BUILD CHAMPIONS — together. Let’s go, Witt Family! #GoodNewsBackToSchool #DiscoverExcellenceSDMC

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.

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.

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.