Citrus slices

Pictures worth a thousand jokes

Spring break is over and summer vacation is within sight. So here is a special school version of Citrus Slices.

COUNT ON IT: The School Board recently got a detailed presentation about all the new information added to the district's Web site in recent months. Mike Geddes, who oversees instructional technology for the district, noted that the newest board member hadn't yet gotten his picture added to the site.

When photos of the other board members were taken before, some joked about the quality of the shots. "They're all lovely," Geddes told the board members.

"That's just because we haven't approved your budget yet," quipped Chairwoman Sandra "Sam" Himmel.

MINOR MATTERS: The school district recently surveyed employees to learn what they actually knew about the system's strategic plan. Questions were asked concerning what they knew about the mission statements of the schools, and all were asked whether they believed their work affected student achievement.

Most support workers said yes and 99 percent of the teachers said yes.

"I'd worry about that 1 percent," noted planning director Gail Grimm.

BELIEVE IT: During its meeting last week, the board honored the Crystal River Middle School cheerleading squad for its recent success in a national competition. The squad's leader, teacher Irene Hupp, was all smiles.

People can believe I'm a cheerleading sponsor, Hupp joked with board members, if they can believe board attorney Spike Fitzpatrick once played football.

"Damn well, too," Fitzpatrick replied with a grin.

GOOD NIGHT: The board last week was developing a schedule of upcoming workshops. Many issues are slated for discussion and they were having trouble fitting everything onto a limited number of meeting days.

At one point, it became clear that a session in several weeks was going to be crowded with important items.

"We're going to have to bring our pajamas," quipped board member Pat Deutschman.

"Wait a minute," said superintendent David Hickey. "That's a dress code issue."

-- Times staff writers Barbara Behrendt and Jim Ross contributed to this report.

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