Alignment Bay County (ABC) was established in 2015 and is a 501c3 county wide volunteer organization. Our volunteers and partner organizations seek to better align community resources in order to support the success of our youth from birth to career.  We are directed by two Boards.  Our Governing Board is comprised of key community leaders and stakeholders and our Operating Board is composed of leaders from partner organizations and local businesses.  Part of the ABC system is small working groups called A-Teams, which develop plans to fill gaps in service delivery.  As a collective impact agency we work to bring together diverse partners from across the county to work toward the common goal of helping our kids to become successful adults.

​Principles

  • Enable children to be successful
  • Align with school system’s priorities
  • Support school system’s strategic plan
  • The work is generational
  • Focus on those with greatest need
  • Target academics and the whole child
  • Comprehensive and multifaceted approach

​Our Mission

The mission of Alignment Bay is to align community organizations and resources so that their coordinated support of Bay County’s youth has a positive impact on public school success, children’s health, and the success of our community as a whole.

Our Goals

Why It Works

Why Do We Need ABC?

  • Identifying the Problem: Bay District Schools has seen a dramatic increase of students entering the Pre-K program who have been identified with significant and intense needs. Why?
  • Goal: Bay District Schools seeks a strengthened partnership with pre-K and child care community partners to plan, design, and implement services that meet the needs of children and encourage school readiness.
  • In 2021–22, the number of students ages 3–21 who received special education and/or related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.3 million, or the equivalent of 15 percent of all public school students. (National Center for Education Statistics)
  • The most common type of disability for students is Specific Learning Disability at 32% followed by Speech & Language Impairment (19%), Other Health Impairment (15%), Autism (12%), Developmental Delay (6%), Intellectual Disability (5%0, Emotional Disturbance (4%), Multiple Disabilities (1.7%), Hearing (1%), Orthopedic Impairment, Visual Impairment, or Traumatic Brain Injury (<1% each). (Pew Research Center, July 24, 2023)
  • 1 in 36 children has been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder. (CDC’s Autism and Developmental Delay Monitoring, ADDM, Network)
  • In 2020, children born in 2016 (then 4-year-olds) were 1.6x as likely as children born in 2012 (then 8-year-olds to be identified as having Autism by 48 months. (CDC ADDM Network)
  • Steady increase in referrals
  • Shortages in quality teachers, support staff, and providers:
               Speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, etc.
               Teachers with ESE training and certifications
               School Psychologists
               Mental health providers including child psychologists, therapists, social workers, etc.
               Lack of bilingual support at all levels
  • Lack of classrooms
  • Funding
  • Children lacking school readiness skills
  • Increased number of children with intense social-emotional and behavioral needs that require significant support at school
  • Children that are unreached or unserved in the community
               In 2022, 47% of all 3- and 4-year-olds were unserved [nationally], and a whopping 57% of children in households with annual incomes under $20,000 were unserved. (NIEER, November 3, 2023).
  • Enrollment: 27, 715 students (increase of 645 students) 
               Free/Reduced Lunch
               Free: 11,542 = 50.96%
               Reduced: 932 = 4.11%

Student Wellness
Nearly 1,600 students were identified as in need of school-based behavioral health support such as substance education, anxiety, perfectionism, peer relationships, emotional regulation, grief, and impulse control. 
Over 1,200 families have connected to clinical services through our community of care process. Of the referrals, 58.42% were served in community-based clinical mental health, 18.39% were appropriate for short-term school-based mental health services, and 21.18% closed services or declined clinical support options.   

Attendance
Daily Attendance Percent: 92.88%
Chronic Absences Rate: Percentage of students who have missed 10% or more of their enrollment for any reason (excused or unexcused).

High School is 27%
Middle School 26%
Elementary 28%
Special Purpose Schools 67%.

Habitual Truant: Students who are under 16 and have missed 15 or more unexcused days in a 90-day period.
401 students who meet the definition of Habitually Truant.

Our Structure

Governing Board 
​•Provide governance / oversight for ABC activities
•Develop and approve strategic plan
•Approve budgets
•Attend quarterly Board of Directors meetings
•Serve on Board Committees as assigned
•Serve as champion for ABC and its participating organizations in the community
•Ensure adequate funding for administrative operations
•Appoint Operating Board members
Donna Pilson
Governing Board Chair
Executive Director,
​Rebuild Bay County
Ann Leonard
Governing Board Secretary​
Bay County School Board
​ 
Jason Alves
Governing Board Treasurer​
CPA, Warren Averett
Darren Haiman
Governing Board Past President 
Broker Owner
Nation’s Real Estate
Ben Lee
Governing Board Vice Chair
Market President
Hancock Whitney Bank

Governing Board Members 

Kim Bodine
Executive Director
Career Source Gulf Coast
Mark McQueen
Superintendent
Bay District Schools
Frank Hall
Executive Vice President/COO
Bancorp South
​
Richard Dodd
President Reliant South Construction Group
​
Jenna Haligas
City Commissioner
Ward 1 Panama City Commission
​
Randy Hanna
Dean Florida State University Panama City
Glen McDonald
President
Gulf Coast State College
​
Lisa Walters
Shareholder, Partner
St. Joe
Cheryl Flax-Hyman
Executive Vice President
Gulf Coast State College
Dan Rowe
President/CEO PCB Convention & Visitor’s Bureau

​
Kyle Shoots
President System Service & Engineering
Bay Chamber
Shane Boyette
FPL
Next Era Energy
​
Becca Hardin
President Bay Economic
Development Alliance
Will Cramer
Vice President
Bill Cramer Automotive
Doug Moore

​Bay County Commissioner
​
Aimee Vershaw-Bright
VP of Strategic Partnerships Bay County
Chamber
Lisa Barnes Tapscott
 Historical St Andrews

​

Operating Board 

•Provide oversight for team work - approve tactical plans, implementation plans, Invitations to
•Participate, assessment plans, scale up plans, etc.
•Provide resources and connections for team tactical plans and projects
•Appoint chairs and vice-chairs for teams
•Attend monthly Operating Board meetings
•Serve as a champion for ABC and its participating organizations in the community
Joey Ginn
Co-Chair Alignment Bay County Operating Board
Market President,
​Centennial Bank
Denise Kelley
Co-Chair Alignment Bay County Operating Board
Deputy Superintendent,
​Bay District Schools
Tiffany Campbell
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALIGNMENT BAY COUNTY