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EAST COUNTY
Happy Hanukkah!
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
IN FOCUS
Jewish community gathers on Main Street for Hanukkah.
community
SPORTS
Garden Club creates holiday centerpieces.
Mustangs commit to colleges.
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OUR TOWN
Thursday, DECEMBER 13, 2012
PAGE 19A UNIQUE CHALLENGE
a road trip to remember
by Josh Siegel | Staff writer by Josh Siegel | Staff writer
Interim Superintendent David Gayler remains optimistic, despite finding more budgetary problems.
+ SGA drive proves ‘angelic’ For the seventh year, the Lakewood Ranch High School Student Government Association hosted the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Through the drive, which ended Dec. 7, SGA was able to provide 160 gifts for children who otherwise would not receive gifts during the holidays.
+ Braden River wins radio contest Braden River High School won the 93.3 FLZ Jingle Ball Contest, after students and staff voted every day for two weeks. In a competition of more than 20 Tampa Bay area schools, Braden River garnered 41.49% of the vote. Representing the school were Kelsey Lutzi, Brandon Huynh and Bailey Rodgers, who attended the Dec. 9 event.
Joseph Axtell, a 23-year-old University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee senior, won the #VolvoJoyride contest on Pinterest, earning a four-day, three-night road trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., in his dream car.
Joy Ride
EAST COUNTY — East County resident Joseph Axtell doesn’t normally enter contests. But, after a long day of meticulous planning and aggressive social-media recruiting, Axtell won a coveted prize. Axtell, a 23-year-old University of South Florida SarasotaManatee senior business major, won the #VolvoJoyride contest on Pinterest sponsored by Volvo, earning a four-day, threenight road trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., in his dream car. The package included a free two-night hotel stay, $250 for gas and food, $200 for clothes and a $50 iTunes gift card. Volvo went over budget for Axtell, allowing him to stay an extra night and paying for his fiancé, Michael Nedervelt, to ride with him. “I was ecstatic the whole day when I found out I won,” Axtell said. “Anything you win is interesting and fun. I’ve never won anything this big. The only thing better would be winning the car.”
Joseph Axtell won the #VolvoJoyride contest on Pinterest, earning a trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., in his dream car.
Joseph Axtell got to drive his dream
SEE JOY RIDE / PAGE 8A car, a Volvo, to Colorado Springs.
Trip highlights: + BRE parade celebrates character Third-, fourth- and fifthgrade students at Braden River Elementary School used costumes to share character traits of responsibility, courage, citizenship and others, during the school’s Character Trait Parade Dec. 7. Students also completed a poster, illustration, definition and character trait example as part of the festivity.
SEE OUR TOWN / PAGE 4A
District budget woes grow
Interesting person — Axtell met a saleswoman at Colorado Scenes, a photography store in Breckenridge, Colo. The woman could relate to Axtell because she is from St. Petersburg.
Favorite site — When Axtell took the gondola lift up into the mountains at the Breckenridge Ski Resort.
Most surprising moment — Axtell came in contact with a squirrel at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.
EAST COUNTY — As more unbudgeted items come across his desk, David Gayler, interim superintendent of Manatee County Schools, is ready to roll up his sleeves. At a Dec. 4 board workshop, Gayler announced another $7 million of unbudgeted items in the district’s budget, a number that added to the $3.4 million deficit announced in September. A few days after the meeting, Gayler refused to wonder what caused the deficit, which pushed former Superintendent Tim McGonegal to resign, and, instead, vowed to move forward with the hope that whoever takes over the district in April won’t have to deal with any of it. “This is a challenge different than any I have experienced,” Gayler said. “The numbers are worse than I expected. Now, the goal is to install a process prior to the new superintendent coming aboard that prevents these things from happening. The new superintendent should start with an open, clean slate. I don’t want them to deal with what I am dealing with. It would be not fair and not wise.” Until then, Gayler aims to find $2.8 million in savings to fund more unbudgeted items announced last week, such as overtime pay, money for the international baccalaureate program at three schools, busing to athletic events and band uniforms. Gayler said a 1% bonus promised to staff, totaling $2.5 million, was left out of the budget, while budget estimates for utility bills and payment for unused sick and vacation days are underbudgeted by $1.5 million. In addition, Gayler revealed no one person was assigned to coordinate full-time equivalent counts, which is used to get money from the state. Instead, the role was spread among schools and departments, which resulted in 17,000 errors and $5 million in lost revenue.
SEE SUPERINTENDENT / PAGE 11A
INDEX Calendar ........... 12A Classifieds ........ 13B
Cops Corner....... 18A Crossword.......... 12B
Permits ............ 11B Real Estate........ 10B
Sports................ 19A Weather............. 12B
Vol. 13, No. 50 | Two sections YourObserver.com