Book-banning move: The Florida Citizens Alliance says it has identified about 100 textbooks and library books in state schools that are "pornographic," preach religious "indoctrination," push "unbalanced propaganda" relating to climate change and violate Florida laws. It wants them removed, and many fear that the group, which has influence with the governor and Legislature, could accomplish that through a pair of proposed bills that would restrict decisions on textbooks by local school officials. Critics of H.B. 855 and S.B. 1454 are organizing to fight back. Gradebook.
Spending on guardians: A review of state records indicates that sheriffs are receiving little oversight in how they spend the millions of dollars they're getting through the state's Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program to protect schools. In Brevard County, for instance, Sheriff Wayne Ivey has bought a $125,000 simulator to recreate active-shooter situations. Money has gone for training, salaries, weapons, ammunition, and for uniforms, background checks, insurance, warning signs, staples and more. Some counties with few students received more than much larger counties. Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters says, "Other than ensuring that each district’s budget appropriation meets the statutory requirements, the department is not involved in oversight." Florida Today. (more…)
Graduation paths: Florida's high schools are graduating more seniors than ever, but some legislators want to find even more alternative paths to a diploma. "It's still a big goal of mine," says state Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, the chair of the House PreK-12 Innovation committee. Several bills have already been filed. One would allow students to graduate even if they can't pass the required tests as long as they meet other criteria. Another would focus on subject mastery in middle and high schools as ways to assign grades and credits, and another would require all high schools to have advisers to counsel students with a grade point average under 2.0 about alternative graduation pathways and technical training. Gradebook.
Teaching religion: A bill is introduced into the Legislature that would require all high schools to offer students an "objective study of religion." State Rep. Kim Daniels, D-Jacksonville, who filed the bill, said examples are courses on the Hebrew Scriptures and Old Testament, the New Testament or a combination of all three. Florida Politics. Daniels also said Wednesday she is willing to agree that she broke state law by filing false financial disclosures if the Florida Commission on Ethics turns the case over to House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, to decide if further action is necessary. Florida Times-Union. (more…)
School security: Paul Grohowski, who most recently worked as the director of public safety and chief of police for the Allan Hancock Joint Community College Police Department in Santa Maria, Calif., is hired as police chief for the Sarasota County School District. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Some of the everyday people being hired as school guardians in Polk County talk about their motives for taking the job. Lakeland Ledger. CBS News. A survey shows that students in Boca Raton want improved active shooter drills, bulletproof windows installed and identification badges on campus enforced. Palm Beach Post. The Gulf County teachers union holds a community meeting to discuss school safety, motivating students and other issues. Port St. Joe Star.
Budget problems: The Volusia County School District is projecting a budget deficit of $4.49 million for the next fiscal year, and district officials and school board members have six weeks to close it before the scheduled board vote. Items unsettled include how much school security is going to cost, pay raises as the district continues to negotiate with the teachers union, and whether there will be money left over from the current budget year, which ends June 30. Dipping into reserves has been mentioned as an option to close the deficit. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Teaching with depression: Teachers who suffer from depression spend less time than other teachers in group instruction and explaining new assignments, according to research published in the Journal of School Psychology. Researchers studied 32 3rd-grade teachers and their 326 students in eight schools in north Florida three times over the course of a year, and theorize that depressed teachers may be choosing lessons that require less energy. Education Week.
Teacher bonuses: More than 163,500 Florida teachers qualify for bonuses under the state's Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program, according to Florida Department of Education data. The bonuses range from $800 to $7,200. More than 9,000 will get the top awards. They qualify by being rated highly effective and scoring in the top 20 percent when they took the ACT or SAT. Also receiving bonuses of $4,000 or $5,000 are 638 principals. The state will spend almost $215 million on the bonuses, which will be paid by April 1. The bonus program was created in 2015 but has been controversial, and the Legislature is considering bills this year to amend it. Orlando Sentinel.
More on Nikolas Cruz: Suspected school shooter Nikolas Cruz would plead guilty to killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland to avoid the death penalty, according to his lawyer. Sun-Sentinel. The FBI apologizes for not following up a tip in January that Cruz may have been planning a school shooting. Miami Herald. Associated Press. The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated Cruz after he made threatening posts on social media, but determined he was a low risk to harm himself or others. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Cruz was regularly in trouble for cussing, insulting people and disrupting classes when he attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to his disciplinary file. Sun-Sentinel. The couple who took Cruz into their home after his mother died say, “We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know. We didn’t see this side of him.” A longtime friend also called Cruz "lonely and ostracized." Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald.
Other developments: Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie says the district is proposing to tear down Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Legislators agree. Runcie also says the school will remain closed through at least Wednesday. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. A hospital spokesperson says the last critically injured victim of the shooting is improving. Sun-Sentinel. Stoneman Douglas principal Ty Thompson posts an emotional video message for the community. Sun-Sentinel. These are the heroes of the massacre. Miami Herald. CNN. More than nine out of 10 U.S. public schools now hold regular active shooter drills. Vox. An expert on school security warns officials to avoid "knee-jerk" reactions to improving security, and lists several things districts can do now to lead to safer schools. New Orleans Times-Picayune.
School shooting: A 19-year-old man who had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland returned Wednesday to shoot and kill 17 people and wound 16 more in the worst school massacre in Florida's history, according to Broward County deputies. The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, was arrested at a house near the school by deputies shortly after escaping by hiding among students running from the school. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Palm Beach Post. Florida Today. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. Politico Florida. The 74. The shooting suspect had been flagged as a potential threat, and family members say he seemed troubled and depressed in recent years. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. CNN. Students tell their stories of horror, and videos capture the scene. Sun-Sentinel. Stoneman football coach Aaron Feis is called a hero for stepping between the gunman and students. Miami Herald. The rifle used in the shooting, the AR-15, is "designed to kill multiple enemy combatants at once,” says a weapons expert. Miami Herald. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High will be closed today and tomorrow. Sun-Sentinel. There have already been at least six school shootings that have killed or injured U.S. students in 2018, and at least 17 other incidents involving a gun fired at or near U.S. schools. USA Today. Business Insider. Time. MSN. The 74. Fox News. CNBC. Political leaders express their anguish over the shootings but wonder if anything will change. Sun-Sentinel. How vulnerable are kids at school? USA Today.
School choice funding: A bill that would create a new funding source for private school choice scholarships is approved by the House Ways and Means Committee. The proposal would let businesses donate to a state to a scholarship funding organization and receive a full credit for sales taxes they collect. It's projected that the measure could collect as much as $150 million a year. That money would help fund state-approved scholarship organizations such as Step Up For Students, which publishes this blog and helps administer the Gardiner Scholarships for children with special needs and tax credit scholarships for low-income students. Both have waiting lists. The bill also creates tax holidays for certain back-to-school items and hurricane supplies. The total tax relief amount is almost $350 million. redefinED. Associated Press. Orlando Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida.
School funding formula: The House Education PreK-12 Appropriations Committee approves a bill that calls for a study of the way state funding is distributed to school districts. Smaller and more rural districts around the state have complained for years that price-level index portion of the funding formula unfairly favors urban districts. The House has allocated $100,000 for the study. The Senate also passes its version of the school funding bill, which includes more money for school mental health services. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. Politico Florida.
