- November 17, 2024
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When he was first appointed to be a student School Board member at the beginning of the school year, Matanzas High School senior Michael Manning already had a goal in mind. He wasn’t planning to be a passive member of the board.
He told the Palm Coast Observer in an interview several months ago: “While I realize it’s very unlikely to change a major part of it, we’d like to expand to the point where, instead of just being able to wear spirit wear on Fridays, you can wear it any day of the week.”
While it might have seemed unlikely at the time, now it’s got some traction. The School Board has studied the issue carefully, even instructing staff to poll hundreds of students, teachers and parents; most recently, the five elected members voted 4-1 to advertise a date when they will vote on Manning’s proposal.
Manning, has been driving the discussion the whole time, politely but persistently challenging the School Board members to explain the reasoning behind the current policy, which he spoke out against in public meetings before it was implemented.
Win or lose, Manning isn’t done. On WNZF’s “Free For All Friday,” the Matanzas student body president explained two other suggestions he’s planning to make to the board.
First, he said, he wants the policymakers to look at the rules that allow students to transfer schools and play sports the following year. In college, athletes have to take a year off from playing sports, and Manning believes that would be more fair in Flagler Schools, as well. He said five former Matanzas students have left to play at other schools: three at Flagler Palm Coast and two at Seabreeze. That has hurt Matanzas, he said on the air. He believes school spirit is not as robust at Matanzas as it is at a school with more tradition, like FPC.
The second proposal will be to pave the dirt parking lot at Matanzas. He pointed out that a lot was paved to accommodate FTI’s move onto campus, and the underclassmen who park in the remaining dirt lot would benefit from the same treatment. He pointed out that the FTI lot was paved during the summer, so the same should be done for the Matanzas students. “It needed to be paved 10 years ago,” he said.
Manning has taken full opportunity of his appointment to the board. He said his fellow students often approach him at school with suggestions that he should bring to the rest of the board members. When pressed on the air, Manning said he is considering going to the University of South Florida and then returning to Flagler County, possibly to run for public office.
