DeSoto County School Board honors employees and approves routine business unanimously

The DeSoto County School Board recognized three district employees at its Jan. 13 meeting and approved routine agenda items unanimously.

The board honored Karina Espinosa of West Elementary as Teacher of the Year. A presenter summarized Espinosa’s background, noting seven years with the district, a bachelor’s degree from Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Department of Education certification with ESOL and reading endorsements. Espinosa said, “I hope to be an inspiration to my students, whether they decide to become educators themselves or simply feel encouraged to chase their dreams and achieve the goals they set for themselves.”

The board also recognized Makayla Butts, principal secretary at Nocatee Elementary, as the school-related employee of the year, and Brooke Williams of DeSoto Middle School as the beginning teacher of the year. Presenters cited Butts’s 21 years of service to the district and Williams’s certification in physical education and health and prior award recognition from the Education Foundation.

On procedural business, the board adopted the superintendent’s agenda (motion by Missus Mott; second by Missus Chancey) and approved minutes, financial reports, routine business and new business items by unanimous votes. Motions were recorded as passing on voice votes of “Aye.”

The board chair noted that several agenda items had been removed by the superintendent before the meeting; the attorney later read the statutory language governing post-publication changes to an agenda. No members of the public spoke on agenda or non-agenda items during the meeting.

The board adjourned at 5:56 p.m.