Sixty-four percent of children in Charlotte County are born into, or close to impoverished conditions, according to school superintendent Doug Whittaker, which makes it more difficult for them to be prepared to enter the school system when they come of age.

Many kids are coming into Charlotte schools with limited vocabularies, Whittaker said, with as few as 700 words at their command, when typically a 5-year-old should have a 3,000- to 5,000-word vocabulary.