Flagler County School Board members on Aug. 26 discussed a proposed 2026 legislative platform that focuses on a statewide "Rural Renaissance" funding initiative and a board member proposal to seek funding for Flagler Technical College (FTC) modernization and instructional transformation.

Why it matters: the platform will be the district’s statement of local priorities for the 2026 legislative session; the Rural Renaissance program was a high‑profile Senate priority in 2025 and would provide recurring funds to help rural and small districts with teacher recruitment, career and technical education, student supports and regional collaboration.

John Sarah of Sarah Consulting Group, who has worked with the district on the platform draft, told the board: “Our advice is that the local priority platform only have about 1 to 3 issues.” He recommended using the Rural Renaissance item as the district’s primary local priority because it is broad, recurring and aimed at rural capacity‑building. The draft platform also proposes protecting the district’s share of capital outlay funding and other statewide priorities.

Board member Jenny Reddy introduced a companion local proposal to pursue targeted investment in Flagler Technical College to modernize curriculum delivery and support workforce training. Reddy explained the proposal would target funding to update lab equipment and to develop blended learning for trade theory (online instructional design plus concentrated hands‑on lab time) so FTC can better recruit and retain skilled instructors. Reddy noted the state’s application rules in recent cycles have required local match commitments and asked staff to confirm whether planned federal grants or other funds could count toward the required match.

Consultant and staff advice: district counsel and consultant staff said districts typically limit local platform asks to a few narrowly scoped items to increase legislative traction and that match requirements for capital or special projects should be clarified before formal adoption. The district can transmit its local priorities to statewide partners and lawmakers after final board approval; staff said they will coordinate with legislators and may return revised language at the next meeting if more information about match sources is available.

Next steps: the board signaled support for the Rural Renaissance priority and asked staff to collect more detail on funding match sources for the FTC modernization proposal and to return recommended final language for adoption at a subsequent meeting. No final vote was taken on the FTC ask on Aug. 26.