Lake County Schools highlights teacher-pipeline gains: UCF educator-plus interns hired, Lake–Sumter bachelor’s program wins State Board approval
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Summary
Lake County Schools officials said Monday that three educator-plus interns have been offered instructional roles, supervising teachers will receive $500 stipends from the Education Foundation, and the State Board of Education approved a new Lake–Sumter bachelor’s program in exceptional student education that will use Lake Hill School as a lab site.
Lake County Schools officials said Monday that multiple steps to expand the local teacher pipeline are moving forward: three educator-plus interns have been offered instructional roles in the district, supervising teachers received stipends funded by the Education Foundation of Lake County, and the State Board of Education unanimously approved a Lake–Sumter State College proposal to launch a bachelor’s degree in exceptional student education that will use Lake Hill School as a lab site.
Why this matters: The measures aim to increase the number of qualified classroom teachers — especially in hard-to-fill exceptional student education roles — by training and transitioning local paraprofessionals and interns into full instructional positions.
Lainie Abando recognized the district’s partnership with the University of Central Florida’s School of Teacher Education through the educator-plus program, which permits preservice teachers to serve as a teacher of record while completing their final semester of a teacher-preparation program. Abando said the district assigned supervising teachers to coach interns during the semester; this year three supervising teachers supported interns and each supervising teacher receives a $500 stipend from the Education Foundation of Lake County. The district announced that educator-plus interns Bethany Coffey, Madison Veach and Angelica Rodriguez have been offered instructional roles in Lake County for the 2025–26 school year.
Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the Education Foundation of Lake County, attended the meeting and confirmed the stipend and that student interns receive reimbursement for coursework during the semester of interning.
Superintendent Korniti reported that the State Board of Education unanimously approved Lake–Sumter State College’s proposal to launch a bachelor’s degree program in exceptional student education. Korniti said the program passed without questions and that Lake Hill School will be used as a lab site to provide additional training and supports. The superintendent credited Dr. Luke’s work on the application and described the approval as “unanimous.”
Officials identified workforce connections: the superintendent said the district currently employs roughly 70 paraprofessionals at Lake Hill School and noted 24 of them in the context of the pipeline conversation; district leaders emphasized the program is intended to capitalize on that local workforce to produce new certified teachers.
No formal board vote was recorded on the educator-plus recognitions or the foundation stipend; the State Board of Education’s approval of the Lake–Sumter proposal was reported to the board as an external approval and described as unanimous.
Next steps: The district will onboard the newly hired interns for the 2025–26 school year, the Education Foundation will continue stipend support, and Lake–Sumter State College will proceed with its program implementation using Lake Hill School as the local lab site.
