WOKC Local News – August 03, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Schools tackling budget with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. Okeechobee schools have seen a drop in enrollment of about 7.4% in the past five years and are expecting future declines. More and more students are going to private school or being homeschooled. The district lost over nine million in revenue in the past year and cost increased over a million dollars. 80% of the school budget goes to personnel costs. This assistant superintendent, Joseph Stanley. 80% of the district’s budget is tied to staffing. And that, by the way, is a typical amount that is not abnormally high, that is not just in education. Superintendent Dylan Tedders wants the district to be more efficient. He says he’s putting some talented veteran administrators back in the classroom. He does not expect any layoffs. Everybody that’s employed by us now, their contracts have been renewed for the next year. So, I mean, the only people you can dismiss in the middle of the year are brand spankin’ new, they’re probationary employees. Chief financial officer Blaise Ngolia continues to crack down on government waste. He announced 12 arrests for public assistance fraud in the state. These suspects allegedly stole over $806,000 they weren’t entitled to. Ngolia says it didn’t take long to find them. Over the course of just four weeks, we caught 12 criminals who defrauded over $487,000 in public assistance benefits. One local arrest in this area in Aledo Reyes Carasquillo of Indowntown. She’s charged with stealing $42,000 in benefits she wasn’t entitled to. A suspicious incident involving a firearm sends an Oogachooee man to jail in Glades County. James Haywood is accused of pointing a gun and making threats at another man. He alleged that victim had put sugar in his gas tank. He’s also charged with the incident on Hunter Road in Buckhead Ridge. He is also a convicted felon, according to Glades County deputies. U.S. Senator Rick Scott is concerned property tax measures will hit core services. In his native Collier County, he says every voter needs to find out how a property tax reduction will affect their police, fire, and education. If I vote for the tax reduction, which we all want, right? None of us don’t want a tax reduction. Our property taxes are too high. What happened to police, to fire, to education? The amendments save our homes from excessive property taxes will require 60% voter approval to pass in November. Oogachooee Police Major Betty Taylor saved a local person about $1,000 and disrupted a scam at the same time. Police were alerted to a phone call received by a local resident claiming they had a couple of warrants for their arrest and they were demanding $10,000 in bond for the two warrants. The person on the phone claimed he was from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department. Police listened in, and when they confronted the scammer, he hung up. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).