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District says Health First underwrote 'The Coffee Bean' program; student praised the purchase
Summary
A sixth-grade student praised the district—s purchase of The Coffee Bean author visit and book distribution; Superintendent Rendell said Health First underwrote the Coffee Bean program and that the initiative costs about $100,000 for books and related events.
A sixth-grade student, Corey Higginbotham, told the board Oct. 28 that Superintendent Desmond Rendell spent $21,650 for a guest speaker who delivered a program tied to The Coffee Bean, a book distributed to sixth graders.
Superintendent Rendell later clarified the district—s Coffee Bean program is a multi-year initiative in which every sixth grader receives a copy of The Coffee Bean and many students hear the co-author (John Gordon) in person or via livestream. Rendell said the program serves roughly 5,000 sixth graders annually and that the program costs are substantial: the district purchases thousands of books and pays appearance and facility costs for live events.
Rendell credited Health First as the program—s platinum sponsor; he said Health First underwrote the project in the most recent year, enabling the district to provide books and speaker appearances at a cost the superintendent estimated was about $100,000 for the program and associated events at a district venue. The superintendent described the book as a short, motivational story intended to help sixth graders learn resilience and said the district had used grant funds and community sponsorships to cover the expense.
The transcript records the student—s brief public-comment appreciation of the program and the superintendent—s subsequent remarks acknowledging Health First—s sponsorship and the program costs.
