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The Okaloosa School District is explaining how SRO funding works amid the ongoing county debate over school resource officer funding. The district’s Kindergarten Kickstart program readied 326 students for their first day, and the Gulfarium CARE Center released three sea turtles after a tropical storm delay. FWBHS Vikings football is building around Coach Josh Pulliam’s culture and a returning offense, and the City of Fort Walton Beach will pick up large household items and scrap tires for free in August.
BUSINESS
Fort Walton Beach to pick up large household items, scrap tires for free in August
The City of Fort Walton Beach’s Sanitation Department will run two programs in August, both free but limited to residential trash customers living within the city limits.
The city’s semi-annual neighborhood pickup program will run for the entire month, Aug. 3-27, with residential trash collection crews picking up large, unwanted household items such as furniture, appliances, mattresses and other items too large to fit in residential garbage bins.
- The service is offered twice a year, in August and January, to residential customers within the city.
In a separate program, the city will offer free tire collection for city residents on Friday, Aug. 28. To schedule a pickup, residents should call the city’s Solid Waste Division at 850-833-9655 between Monday, Aug. 24, and Friday, Aug. 28.
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GAMES
WordroW: July 28, 2026
WordroW is brought to you by Fort Walton Beach Chiropractic – keeping your mind sharp and your spine aligned, one game at a time.
Can you guess today’s 5-letter word in six tries?
WordroW is Get The Coast’s daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community. You have six guesses to find the mystery word – green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren’t in the word at all.
SCHOOL
Okaloosa School District’s ‘Kindergarten Kickstart’ readies 326 students for first day
The Okaloosa County School District’s annual Kindergarten Kickstart program welcomed 326 incoming kindergarten students at 11 Title I schools from July 20-23, giving young learners a chance to build confidence before their first day of school.
The program is designed to ease the transition into elementary school. It allows students to explore their new classrooms, meet teachers and classmates, establish daily routines and develop confidence in a supportive learning environment before the school year begins.
“Starting kindergarten is one of the most important milestones in a child’s educational journey, and we want every student to walk through our doors feeling confident, excited, and ready to learn,” Superintendent Marcus Chambers said. “Kindergarten Kickstart provides students with a positive first experience at school while helping families feel connected and supported. We are grateful to our Title I team and school staff for investing in the success of our youngest learners.”
SPORTS
Vikings football builds around Pulliam’s culture, returning offense
There’s a sense of optimism surrounding Fort Walton Beach High School, where a strong culture is taking hold under Head Coach Josh Pulliam as the Vikings look to build on a 2-8 finish and end a playoff drought.
Despite the offensive struggles a year ago, there is reason to believe the Vikings will be much improved. Last season, the offense was still finding its identity under offensive coordinator Shawn Snyder. Now, it has one.
That identity is headlined by a passing attack anchored by quarterback Lavin McDaniel, who took over as the starter midway through last season and never looked back. All of McDaniel’s weapons return, including Cannon Wilbur, Eli Crozier and Dantay Walker. The Vikings also boast a three-headed monster at running back in Carlos White, Elijah Donson and Tyshaun Montgomery.
- The Vikings defense will need adjustments after Fort Walton Beach lost eight seniors. It starts in the linebacker corps with Micah Johnson, who has wasted no time becoming the leader of a young group.
For Pulliam, the Fort Walton Beach culture comes down to a simple phrase: chop wood, carry water.
“If you make those things important, then everything else is going to become important to you,” Pulliam said.
BEACH
Gulfarium CARE Center releases three sea turtles after tropical storm delay
The Gulfarium CARE Center released three sea turtles back into the Gulf on Friday morning at James Lee Park, days after Tropical Storm Bertha brought rough surf to the area and forced a delay.
The release had been scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed when the storm churned up the water. By Friday morning, the weather had cleared and conditions were calmer for the turtles’ return. A large crowd gathered along the shoreline to watch Frida, Ziti and a last-minute addition named Monroe head back to the water.
The release was held in partnership with the St. Joe Community Foundation, which supports the CARE Center’s sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation work.
- Frida, a 176-pound adult female loggerhead, arrived at the CARE Center after being accidentally hooked at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier in late May.
- Ziti, a 126-pound subadult loggerhead, was also admitted after being accidentally hooked at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier.
- Monroe, a 31-pound juvenile green sea turtle, was the morning’s unexpected addition. The turtle arrived at the CARE Center on Wednesday evening after being found trapped among the rocks at Norriego Point.
WEATHER
Be storm ready: With hurricane season underway, Okaloosa Gas reminds residents to plan now
Forecasters with NOAA’s National Weather Service are calling for a below-normal Atlantic hurricane season in 2026, with 8 to 14 named storms, 3 to 6 hurricanes and 1 to 3 major hurricanes between June 1 and Nov. 30.
- Despite the forecast, Okaloosa Gas District is reminding residents in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties to be storm ready.
Okaloosa Gas District has served Northwest Florida since 1953 without a system-wide outage, a record that covers some of the most destructive hurricanes in Gulf Coast history.
Part of the reason traces back to how natural gas is delivered. Unlike electricity, which depends on poles, wires and substations exposed to wind and falling trees, natural gas travels through an underground network largely insulated from storm damage.
“The top priority at Okaloosa Gas is the safety of the residents of Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties,” said Eddie Springle, Vice President of Marketing for Okaloosa Gas District. “Being a natural gas provider, it is our job to make sure everyone is aware of the steps to take in case they encounter any problems involving natural gas.”
WEATHER
Today’s weather outlook
TODAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 109. West wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
TONIGHT: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7pm. Mostly clear, with a low around 83. Heat index values as high as 106. West wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
SCHOOL
Okaloosa School District explains how Safe Schools funding works amid county SRO debate
Okaloosa County School District officials said Monday they have set aside $1.6 million in case the county asks the district to pay more for school resource officers, and warned that the figure could climb to $4.4 million if the county ends its share of the program.
- The discussion came during their morning budget workshop, less than a week after county commissioners debated whether to keep funding half of the SRO program. During their July 21 workshop, commissioners voted 4-1 to hold the property tax millage rate steady after Chairman Trey Goodwin’s motion to cut the county’s SRO funding and lower the rate failed for lack of a second.
Chief Financial Officer Julie Perry told the board she built $1.6 million into the proposed budget as a potential need for the SRO contract. She said she reached the figure by taking the cost of the contract, subtracting Safe Schools funding and dividing the remainder in half, reflecting what the district would owe if the county treated Safe Schools money as separate and asked the district to cover half of the rest.
The full contract costs about $8.8 million in fiscal year 2026-27, split into two halves of roughly $4.4 million. The district covers its half with $2.7 million in state Safe Schools categorical funding, $1.5 million from its own operating budget and $200,000 from charter schools. The county pays the other half.
Much of the discussion centered on the Safe Schools funding, which commissioners cited on July 21 when suggesting the district’s share of the SRO program cost had fallen below half. Perry said that argument rests on a misunderstanding of how the money works.
- “I think there’s a misconception that Safe Schools is just extra money, a grant, that kind of thing, and it’s not,” Perry said.
She traced the funding to 2018, when the state finalized the school budget and then revised it after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Rather than adding money, Perry said, the state reduced the district’s base student allocation and shifted those dollars into categorical funds set aside for safe schools and mental health.
“So the money was never extra,” Perry said, adding that the district would have had more operating money had it never been pulled out. She confirmed the Safe Schools allocation has not increased in recent years even as the cost of the SRO contract has climbed.
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