Manatee, Sarasota counties among 27 national finalists for education award

The Suncoast community of Manatee and Sarasota counties is one of 27 finalists nationwide for the 2017 All-America City Award.

The announcement was made Friday in a press release from The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in conjunction with the National Civic League, which created the AAC Award 67 years ago.

According to the press release, the award “recognizes communities that have made measurable progress for low-income children ... in school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and grade-level reading.”

“Recognizing these communities as All-America Cities is our way of applauding the civic leaders, nonprofit organizations and agencies, and corporations that have joined forces to build brighter futures for the children in their communities,” Ralph Smith, managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, said in the press release. “We are proud of these communities for answering the call and going above and beyond to ensure more hopeful futures for our nation’s most vulnerable children.”

Delray Beach was the only other Florida community to be named a finalist.

Award recipients will be announced and honored June 16 at the All-America City Awards Gathering in Denver.

This story was originally published April 30, 2017 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Manatee, Sarasota counties among 27 national finalists for education award."