- November 16, 2024
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Flagler County School Board members had an opportunity to hear directly from those affected by the funding cuts to the Step-Up Program at the school board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
After sitting quietly for nearly two hours with his son Drew, Lane Hamilton approached the podium to speak to the board members. He didn’t complain -- he wanted to thank the board for their efforts and explained why more families weren’t at the meeting.
“Many are in their 70s and their “kids” are in their 50s and they just couldn’t get here,” he said.
His voice caught as he expressed his appreciation to the board for their efforts to save the program and joked with Chairman Colleen Conklin, who also fought back tears earlier in the meeting.
After the meeting his son, Drew and Patty Petrosky, both who had been active in the Step-Up program, walked up to the dais to shake hands with board members.
“It has affected us once we heard of the state budget cut and once we heard the funds were no longer available,” Hamilton said. “We didn’t know where to go or who to talk to. I just want to express my gratitude to the school board for what they did for our program. I call it our program because my son goes there.”
Drew is in the Step-Up Community Inclusion program, where emphasis is on community skills, field trips and life lesson projects.
“That does mean so much to him and the thing that really puts a big burden on my heart is a lot of these people don’t have a program anymore and they are going to be home 24 hours a day, just sitting there, and that hurts,” Hamilton said.
While the Hamiltons are thankful Drew will be able to attend a modified program they continue to wait for his Medicaid waiver.
“He is not on the med waiver yet,” said his mother Susan Hamilton. “He’s been on the wait list going on 10 years.”
Patty Petrosky came to the meeting with her sister Betsy Burns and smiled shyly as she met the board members.
“She is in the Step-Up workshop and we have had to go down to three days a week. She was only approved for two days and we are paying for one day. That’s all we can afford,” Burns said.
Burns is retired so she is able to stay at home with her sister on the days Patty can’t go to the program.
Superintendent Jacob Oliva asked Information Specialist Jason Wheeler to talk to the families and record their stories.
“I want to be able to take the stories Tallahassee,” Oliva said. “Maybe it would help if they saw some of the people affected.”
