PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – Three weeks into his tenure as Bay District Schools Superintendent, Mark McQueen spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Panama City meeting to reflect on his start and address his goals for the future.
During his speech, he acknowledged the struggles of student’s behavior.
McQueen said Hurricane Michael, the pandemic, and other events have hit the county in quick succession, adversely affecting students.
“They’re dealing with a lot of issues. And to tell you in just the first three weeks, I’m seeing a lot of behavior issues that I believe are manifested from a lot of exposure that kids have been facing in the last five years, what their parents have been facing the last five years, which has caused some maybe bad decision making or some questionable decision making on some of our students,” said McQueen.
McQueen also said reading levels among students are lower than expected. To address the issue, McQueen vowed to push reading comprehension on students earlier in their education.
