In The News

The goal of an election should always be to have the highest overall voter turnout possible to elect our leaders. Elected officials should always be answerable to the widest range of voters, and hopefully that includes a diverse electorate.

The much-anticipated school grades for the 2022-2023 school year were released under the new assessment system implemented in the State of Florida. Data was released much later than usual and also in parts. The data released this week dealt with District rankings and grades, and also individual school rankings and grades. This column will cover district data.

In business, data is extremely important to making effective decisions of all kinds and increase growth. Data with both good and bad numbers are vital to identify what is working and what is not. In the past, the Superintendents of Schools in Sarasota after Lori White retired in 2017 would primarily focus on the good data, breeze through the bad data and not really acknowledge problems, let alone develop solutions.

Contained within University of Florida, there is a department focused on Florida housing called The Shimberg Center for Housing. According to their website, they “work in close partnership with Florida Housing Finance Corporation to provide data and analysis to guide Florida’s affordable housing efforts.” This center has research, publications, a data clearinghouse and the Flood Hazard + Housing Information Network for Florida Coastal Communities