Governor Rick Scott visited Brauser Maimonides Academy in Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando Torah Academy today to talk about his 2017-2018 budget, including security funding for nonpublic Jewish schools.
Teach Florida, a project of the Orthodox Union, helped draft and advocated for the passage of the security funding, which allocates $654,000 to enhance security at nonpublic schools in the face of increased anti-Semitic incidents. The governor also expressed a desire to expand the funding to other nonpublic schools, including learning facilities at mosques.
Gov. Scott was welcomed at Brauser Maimonides Academy by Teach Florida’s Dr. Allan Jacob, Steven Jacoby, Daniel Adler and Mimi Jankovits, and Rabbi Yossi Kastan, head of school, and Danielle Lustman, director of communications. He personally greeted every child lined up to meet him and held a press conference for the staff, members of the school board, and students in the third to seventh grade.
Watch a news report of the press conference at Brauser Maimonides Academy here.
Gov. Rick Scott greets students at Brauser Maimonides Academy.
Gov. Rick Scott greets students at Orlando Torah Academy.
“They’re all our kids, whether you go to a traditional public school, whether you go to a charter school, whether you go to a private school,” Gov. Scott said. “They are all our kids and every child ought to be safe. Every child ought to go to the school of their choice.”
“This is just the beginning. I will work for all our children to be safe, public or nonpublic. If anybody is the subject of threats, we should look into how to protect them. We have to work on keeping everyone safe.”
“We are so grateful to Gov. Rick Scott for taking the time to visit the Jewish community today and for supporting this important security funding,” said Dr. Allan Jacob, chair of Teach Florida. “Seventy-five years ago last week, my mother arrived in Auschwitz. Today, the Jewish community is thriving in Florida, even in the face of new threats. We are thankful to people like Gov. Rick Scott who make sure we have the resources to protect our community.”
“Security in school is a public good that merits public support,” said Mimi Jankovits, executive director of Teach Florida. “We commend Gov. Scott and the Florida legislature for this funding, and for this important first step to providing safe schools for all Florida’s students.”