School District of Manatee County adds early literacy funds to referendum

Once a month, families from across Manatee County head to The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature for a "Soar in 4" event.

At Soar in 4, which is in partnership with the School District of Manatee County, families learn to use free materials and books that are distributed with the hope of being the children's first educators at home through exploration and play. 

But the School District of Manatee County wants to do more to improve early literacy. 

If approved at the polls Nov. 5, the school district's 1-mill property tax referendum will begin to use a percentage of the funds to support expanding early literacy programs for learners from birth to third grade. 

The funding allocated will support an Early Learning and Family Support Center that provides free developmental screenings and will focus on pre-K programs.

Improving early literacy has been a top priority for members of the School Board of Manatee County, which is why the board decided to add early literacy to the tax referendum. 

Third grade reading proficiency in the district increased from 50% in the 2022-2023 school year to 54% in the 2023-2024 school year. 

The highest performing districts in Florida percentage-wise are in the mid and high 60s in third grade reading proficiency. Only two districts in the state — St. Johns County School District and Sarasota County Schools — have a third grade English language arts achievement score of above 70%.

Of the 67 districts in Florida, 46 districts, including Manatee, had a 54% or higher in third grade English language arts achievement.

Photo by Liz Ramos

Laurie Breslin, the executive director of student support and family engagement for the district, said the first five years of a child's life "are huge as far as brain development and in relation to early literacy."

"Florida in recent years has strived to become a leader in early literacy skills because as data shows, when you have a child who participates in our (voluntary pre-K) programs, you can see the child's ability to transition into kindergarten is just heightened tremendously from literacy to social engagement," Breslin said. 

She said a child's early skills for kindergarten readiness translate through a child's progression in the school system. 

With that in mind, the district is in the process of renovating Harllee Support Center to create a Soar in 4 lab that will be available to the schools and community members. 

The renovation project for the lab is budgeted at $695,000 and is funded through the district's capital fund.

"We want to give students that hands-on experience with learning for age-appropriate, interactive skills," Breslin said. "We are a leader in our state in early learning, and we're seeing those benefits through kindergarten readiness as the students continue to progress in our school."

Breslin said parents will be able to visit the lab with their children, and schools will do field trips to the lab as well. 

Children will be able to go through the rooms to participate in different interactive learning experiences that are tied to important skills they need, including math and other educational skills. 

Breslin said there will be take-home activities for parents. 

"The key for early learning is we want it to extend into the homes as well," Breslin said. 

Breslin said the millage could fund field trips to the Soar in 4 lab and pay for staffing as the lab grows. Millage funds could also pay for future costs associated with the lab.

Community partners with the district are providing materials for the initial opening of the lab. 

Harllee Support Center is home to the Early Learning and Family Support Center, which offers free developmental screenings as well as additional support for parents looking to support their child's learning further.

Funding also could go toward expanding other early literacy efforts. 

For example, Breslin said, the district has started creating libraries in front of schools where parents can receive free books. She said it is similar to little free libraries, which are found at Summerfield Community Park and James L. Patton Community Park.

She said the books available are for pre-K through third grade and come in multiple languages.