Around the state: The state board of education was scheduled to meet to discuss whether 10 school districts are violating new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation, a new tool in Hillsborough will show parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean, members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union showed up in red to deliver educator wish lists to the school board and book controversy in Brevard. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Hillsborough: A new online tool from the school district here is showing parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean for their child's school. Some schools in this district have too few students while others have too many, so the district has a set of proposed plans to better utilize schools. But the impact of the plans vary for students. Any boundary changes, if approved, would take effect for the 2023-24 school year. "This is a very serious initiative," said Superintendent Addison Davis. ABC Action News.
Orange: The school system here is once again listed as the eighth largest school district for the 2022-23 school year. Based on an official count from the month of October, Orange County Public Schools reported 208,788 students. This figure is the highest number of students since before the pandemic began in 2020, when 212,401 students were reported for the 2019-20 school year. WFTV.
Brevard: The school board here wants books challenged in the district to be taken off library shelves and held behind the counter like adult magazines. But a policy needs to change before that occurs, and the district has begun the process of updating the policy. The board also narrowed down its top three candidates for interim superintendent who will take over on Jan. 1 from outgoing Superintendent Mark Mullins and begin work on reversing a controversial public speaking policy. Florida Today.
Volusia: Over 50 members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union, which represents about 3,500 district employees, showed up in red earlier this week to deliver educator wish lists to the school board. Requests included being paid what they were worth, proper time to take care of their mental health, paid maternity and paternity leave for staff and curriculum changes. Union president Elizabeth Albert wrote in an email that the employees were showing up "to send a message to the board that they are overwhelmed, exhausted, and that things need to change now." The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Meanwhile, families in this county's school district are demanding justice after groping and choking incidents. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Citrus: At a regular school board meeting earlier this week, members approved the final 2022-23 five-year work plan for the district as well as discussing the possibility of buying iPad insurance to save money on damage costs incurred. A main takeaway from the work plan: how the district is planning to compensate for student population growth at the elementary level in the next decade. Citrus County Chronicle.
Librarian guidelines: A state panel writing new guidelines for school librarians to follow when selecting books and other materials was supposed to meet earlier this week to finish recommendations. Instead, the session was canceled, sparking controversy. Tampa Bay Times.
LBGTQ policies: The state board of education was scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss whether 10 school districts are violation new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation. Letters were sent to each of the districts warning that their policies on matters such as pronoun use and restroom rules should be revised and are under scrutiny. Tampa Bay Times. Bradenton Herald. Some districts, which include Broward and Miami-Dade, have already learned they were in violation of the parental rights in education law. The Miami Herald. Many of these districts have a tumultuous history with state education officials on recent years when mask mandate disagreements during the pandemic led to administrative challenges, federal involvement and the withholding of certain school board salaries. “We’re not here to enforce anything, we’re here to listen to Chancellor (Jacob) Oliva as he makes his presentation,” Board Chair Tom Grady said in conference call meeting Wednesday. Florida Phoenix.
Superintendent shuffle: In the wake of election season, Florida school boards have booted out superintendents in districts across the state. Tallahassee Democrat. Lakeland Ledger. TC Palm.
Sandy Hook victims: The victims of this tragedy were remembered this week nationwide. NPR.
COVID-19 data: Charts were compiled to help better understand the impact COVID-19 had on teachers, students and schools. The 74th.
Lottery news: The state's lottery education contribution has reached $43 billion. Since its inception in 1988, public schools in Florida have received more than $23 billion, colleges and universities have received a total of more than $11 billion and more than $8 billion has been used to fund the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. WKMG.
Opinions on schools: It's been three years since the pandemic began and life is going back to pre-pandemic times, with the exception of one area: Education. Parents got a chance to get a close view into the education their children were being provided. One of those options is education savings accounts. Trish Wilger, reimaginED. When Oklahoma legislators approved a new K-12 open enrollment law last year, school choice advocates celebrated the reform. Despite its strong open enrollment law, Oklahoma is dealing with a problem facing other states with robust student transfer policies: how to ensure districts aren't arbitrarily defining capacity to keep neighboring students out. Christian Barnard, the 74th. Vickie Cartwright is superintendent of Broward County Schools until Jan. 24, and the district will continue looking for another superintendent. But this isn't a way to run the nation's sixth-largest school district. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Around the state: COVID-19 vaccinations were added to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of recommended childhood immunizations, teaching job openings reported in Palm Beach, a school supply drive in Bay and STEM program fun for kids in underserved communities. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools and colleges and universities.
Broward: An unusual path was forged to give $26 million to victims of the Parkland shooting: turning a negligence case into a civil rights dispute, according to newly released documents. South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Palm Beach: Officials here reported 418 open teaching jobs as of Oct. 1, which is up 70 from this time last year and more than 200 from the same time period before the pandemic. Two things seem to be fueling the shortage: fewer students studying to become educators, and teachers leaving or retiring early. Palm Beach Post.
Leon: A local charter school was closed on Thursday after alleging a man was arrested after receiving threats to campus safety. Leon County Sheriff's Office found that the threat was not related to Tallahassee Classical School. Tallahassee Democrat.
Marion: Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods wants to take over the school district's Safe Schools department, a five-member team that focuses on school security, such as electronic surveillance and fencing. Ocala Star Banner.
Citrus: A bus driver was suspended without pay for 10 days after it was alleged that she made disturbing comments during a rowdy route in late August. Citrus County Chronicle.
Lee: School board members toured schools heavily damaged here after Hurricane Ian slammed the state a few weeks ago. The district had the board visit Lexington Middle, Diplomat Middle, Hector A. Cafferata Elementary, Gulf Elementary and Gulf Middle schools. WINK.
Bay: The county's public transit system here is teaming up with Bay District Schools to help give back to local students and teachers in need. Bayway, formerly known as Bay Town Trolley, launched a school supply drive to help teachers and students restock some of the most needed school supplies. Donation boxes are spread throughout the county, and the drive runs through the end of the month. Panama City News Herald.
Vaccines for children: COVID-19 vaccines were added Thursday to the list of recommended childhood immunizations. WEAR. Miami Herald. But Gov. Ron DeSantis is still against COVID-19 vaccines for school children in the state of Florida, despite the latest guidance from a panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommends that coronavirus vaccines be added to the Vaccines for Children program. Florida Politics.
Parkland shooting: After a jury recommended a life sentence in lieu of the death penalty for Nikolas Cruz in connection to the Parkland school shooting in 2018, families wondered if this would send a message that there is no punishment for a mass shooting. An expert weighed in. WFSU.
Mental health for children: Students are struggling with mental health challenges that were worsened by the pandemic's disruption of their school routines. Miami Herald. Meanwhile, a small group of states quietly withdrew from the nation's largest public effort to track concerning behaviors in high school students. Chalkbeat.
STEM program fun: A Miami nonprofit is providing free educational programming to underserved neighborhoods in South Florida, which includes science, technology, engineering, art and math. The founder and CEO of Seeking Education Empowers Knowledge, or S.E.E.K., said life experiences prompted the start of the nonprofit a decade ago. Miami Herald.
Young voters sound off: A listening session with young voters on the St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida shared thoughts on the issues that matter to them. WUSF.
University and college news: The University of South Florida is going to the state Supreme Court in a dispute regarding fees collected from students for on-campus services that were not provided due to pandemic. The university breached a contract with a student and improperly kept fees for services that were not provided when the campus shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, the potential class action lawsuit alleges. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: If you want to give kids a roadmap for their futures, robotics is an extracurricular activity that is helping its participants see pathways to career success. Chris Moore, The 74th.
Around the state: The Florida Department of Education released school grades statewide, Hillsborough officials face hurdles in building new schools, free meals in Charlotte and crowdfunding for teacher wish lists in Seminole. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
School grades: The Florida Department of Education released school grades for the 2021-22 academic year. Schools statewide exceeded expectations, with the 2021-22 grades marking the first full school grade data released since 2019. Some highlights: Fifty-three schools exited the school improvement support list in 2022, all schools graded 'F' in 2019 improved their grades in 2022 and 84% of schools graded 'D' and 'F' in 2019 improved grades in 2022. Statewide, the biggest gains were seen in elementary schools, where 1 in 5 schools improved by at least one letter, according to the Department of Education. News4Jax. Politico. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, fewer schools earned 'A' and 'B' grades than they did in 2019. In Central Florida, for example, Seminole County Public Schools remained the top performer, earning an 'A' grade. Orange County Public Schools earned a 'B,' as did Lake and Osceola school systems. The state canceled school testing in 2020 when the pandemic closed schools, so no grades were issued that year. Last year, grades were optional because students were studying remotely, so this year marked the return of the grading system for schools and districts, based mostly on standardized test performance. Orlando Sentinel. Despite COVID-19 challenges, Lake County received a 'B' grade. Some families had trouble getting children to school during quarantines, but school officials say teachers, staff and administrators attentive to the needs of students, which was reflective in grades. WESH. In Sarasota and Manatee counties, Sarasota maintained its 'A' grade and Manatee its 'B' rating. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. In Collier County, the school district received an 'A' rating. Lee County received a 'B,' with 27 Lee County schools increasing their overall grade average since 2019. Ft. Myers News-Press. Fox4Now. Volusia and Flagler schools each earned 'B' grades, while St. Johns County district kept its straight 'A' performance. The Daytona Beach News-Journal. And of the seven largest school districts in Florida, only Palm Beach and Miami-Dade achieved 'A's' while Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Orange and Pinellas earned 'B's.' Palm Beach Post.
Seminole: With teachers reaching into their pockets to pay for school supplies as inflation continues to soar, a few teachers here turned to social media to receive assistance by posting their classroom wish lists. A Facebook page started more than a decade ago by a realtor named Emma Reichert has been encouraging the community to lend a hand to teachers and students in need. WKMG.
Building hurdles: Hillsborough school officials are facing hurdles in their quest to make sure every student has a seat to learn while its population continues to grow. Capacity issues plagued Hillsborough at nearly 60 schools. While the district waited for funding to build new schools, construction costs have skyrocketed, officials say. The construction of schools is up 43% in the last three months, and 90% in the last year. ABC Action News. Meanwhile, Flagler County schools, county government and Palm Coast are at odds over how to bill builders for new schools. A meeting will be held today with representatives from the school board, county, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell to hash things out. Flagler Live.
Free meals: Students in the Charlotte County Public Schools system can get free breakfast and lunch daily during the 2022-23 school year, according to officials. The meals are made available through the federal Community Eligibility Program that allows schools to qualify as a "community" when the percentage of directly certified students reaches a certain threshold at a particular school. Port Charlotte Sun.
Artwork competition: A Martin County High School student's art is up for consideration in a national artwork competition called Doodle for Google. Sophie Araque-Liu won Florida's nomination, where students submit artwork to be featured for a day on the search engine's homepage. This year's theme was "I care for myself by..." Araque-Liu's artwork depicts her hugging her mother. Voting to select national finalists began Thursday. TC Palm.
Suspension inequality: Despite a decline in suspension as students moved to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Black children and those in special education were disciplined far more than white students and those in general education, a new study shows. The study also indicates that the behavior of students may have worsened this past academic year. The 74th.
Educator concerns: The president of the state's largest teachers union says educators are concerned about state legislation and recent education training that could threaten the bond between educators and their students, in addition to the separation between church and state. WINK.
University and college news: A state appeals court this month will delve into a dispute about whether the University of Florida should refund fees to students who were forced to switch to remote learning in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments on July 20 after an Alachua County circuit judge last year refused to dismiss the potential class-action lawsuit. Two other state appellate courts have taken on similar cases from other schools. A key issue in the cases: whether schools breached contracts by not providing on-campus services in 2020 after students paid fees. WUFT. The board of trustees of the College of Central Florida on Wednesday approved renaming its Citrus County campus in honor of Sen. Wilton Simpson. The new name: CF Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus. Simpson served as a member of the Florida Senate since 2012 and is currently Senate president, representing the 10th district that includes Citrus, Hernando and part of Pasco counties. Citrus County Chronicle.
Opinions on schools: West Virginia's State Treasurer Riley Moore, who serves as chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, issued a statement after Kanawha County Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit permanently enjoined the state's Hope Scholarship Program. In the statement, Moore says, "I am deeply disappointed that a judge has decided to halt this program which would help so many families in West Virginia. More than 3,100 West Virginia students were relying on having this funding in the fall, and now — at the last minute — they may not be able to get the educational services they want and need." reimaginED.
Guardian Catholic School in Jacksonville is partnering with a subsidiary of KinderCare Education to offer a summer program geared toward addressing COVID-19 learning loss.
As many students continue to struggle academically more than two years since COVID-19 hit, one Florida Catholic school has a focused plan to close the gap.
Guardian Catholic School in Jacksonville, Florida, will offer learning opportunities for students in kindergarten through third grade during its summer program to help those who have fallen behind catch up to their peers.
The campus, which opened in 2017 as the result of the merger of two other local Catholic schools, will offer help in reading and math, along with the usual fun of its summer program, said school principal Sr. Cynthia Shaffer.
Guardian serves students in pre-kindergarten through third grade and is the only urban school in the Diocese of St. Augustine. About 90% of its students receive state education choice scholarships to attend the school and about 70% are eligible for free lunch.
The school has partnered with Champions, a subsidiary of KinderCare Education, to put on its summer program, though paraprofessionals and aides at the school also will be assisting students. The program was made possible by donations.
Students will spend the first part of the day focused on academics, which will include a digital phonics program for pre-kindergarten through second grade. A math and English/language arts curriculum will come from Freckle, an online resource that continuously adapts to allow students to practice their skills while giving teachers the ability to focus on grade-level standards.
The English/language arts portion features instruction in reading, vocabulary and grammar. Self-paced math exercises present more than 70,000 unique math questions, covering K-12 standards and skills.
Like most every school in Florida, Guardian closed during the spring of 2020. When fall arrived, the school reopened its campus to in-person instruction, offering a synchronous online version for students whose parents chose to continue remote learning.
Many of the students who stayed home to take advantage of remote learning during 2020-21 are between six months and a year behind grade level, Shaffer said. Among the challenges families faced was Internet connectivity. Meanwhile, teachers were forced to go at a slower pace to ensure that students who were attending in person and online were working at the same rate.
While summer has been a traditional time for learning loss, known as the “summer slide,” the negative impact of COVID-19 on learning during the academic year has ramped up the need to provide safeguards. The situation has become so dire that traditional district and charter schools are required to spend at least 20% of their federal COVID-relief aid on addressing learning loss.
A recent analysis by FutureEd, an independent think tank at Georgetown University, found summer programs to be the top strategy for learning recovery. According to the group, Miami-Dade County Public Schools has budgeted $120 million over four summers, or 12% of its total American Rescue Plan allotment.
Meanwhile, the New York City Department of Education has earmarked $101 million for its six-week Summer Rising program this summer after spending $100 million last summer. Overall, districts have spent $3.1 billion to date; that amount could reach $5.8 billion by 2004.
Like Guardian, which plans to offer crafts, play and other fun-filled activities each afternoon, many summer programs this year are going beyond traditional, academic-oriented summer school offerings to provide enrichment activities for students. Some trends identified in the FutureEd report include:
Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he would approve a line in the state's new budget that allocates $800 million toward upping teacher salaries, more limits may be coming on public comment at school board meetings in Pinellas, and discussions continue on the superintendent post in Volusia. Here are details about these stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Palm Beach: Nearly two dozen sheriff's deputies will soon be available to guard Palm Beach County schools if the school board approves a million-dollar agreement on Wednesday. A pending agreement with Sheriff Ric Bradshaw would provide 20 deputies and two sergeants at a cost of $100 per hour and $136 per hour, respectively. Palm Beach Post.
Orange: Residents here can share what they'd like to see in a new school superintendent, and what they see as the public school system's biggest challenges, at a series of community forums that begin today. The seven public forums are one part of the school board's multi-pronged approach to selecting a new superintendent for the region's largest school district. Orlando Sentinel.
Pinellas: The Pinellas School Board is considering more limits on comments at public meetings. When the board meets this morning, it will hold a public hearing before voting on proposed changes to its comment policy that emerged amid concerns that long and often heated speeches about issues such as masks and classroom lessons were interfering with regular district business. Tampa Bay Times.
Volusia: The school board here says it plans to decide soon whether to keep the superintendent in his post. Teachers, parents and leaders in the community say they are divided about whether Superintendent Scott Fritz should stay. School board members plan to decide if they will extend Fritz's contract beyond the end of this year in a meeting next month. WFTV.
Osceola: The county announced on Monday that all 2022 seniors will get to attend Valencia College or Osceola Technical College for free as part of Osceola Prosper. The money was set aside from what Osceola County received through the American Rescue Plan. That means that all high school students who graduate in May, whether they are in public, charter or home school graduates, can attend one of the schools for a full ride with a two-year degree.
Teacher salaries: Gov. DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran toured the state on Monday to promote initiatives they say will help recruit and retain teachers. Gov. DeSantis addressed media from the front of Fleming Island Elementary School in Orange Park to announce that he would approve a line in the state's new budget that allocates $800 million toward upping teacher salaries. The Florida Education Association worked with lawmakers to switch the funding percentage for beginning and veteran teachers. Florida Times-Union. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Lakeland Ledger. The funding is part of Gov. DeSantis' efforts to raise the starting teacher salary in Florida to $47,500. In 2020, the governor oversaw a $500 million shift in the state budget intended to move Florida to fifth in the nation from 26th in starting pay. Palm Beach Post.
Settlement talks: Teachers in Pinellas County expect a contract settlement to be reached this week. Meanwhile, the Pasco County school district also remained without a settlement. But the Friday before spring break, Superintendent Kurt Browning sent an email to employees saying the district had found budget funds to pay for a 4% across the board pay supplement. Tampa Bay Times.
COVID-19 adjustment: As protocols end, young students and educators are adjusting after two years of disrupted lessons. For veteran teachers and older students, its a return to normalcy. But for new teachers and young students, it's the first time they have experienced in-person learning without restrictions or interruptions. Chalkbeat.
College and university news: An international climate change conference in Orlando featured dozens of experts who spoke in carbon sinks, carbon traps, carbon sequestration and of being carbon neutral. Precious Nyabami, a University of Florida graduate student, was honored for her discovery that farmers can easily trap planet-warming carbon. WGCU.
Opinions on schools: Access to high quality schools should not be rationed through the mortgage market, nor kept as an unnecessarily scarce commodity. Allowing educators the freedom to create new schools and families to select between them creates opportunities for families and teachers. Matthew Ladner, reimaginED. Over the last two years, public school enrollments have dropped at about the same rate as their private school counterparts have risen, and districts that denied students in-person options for most of 2020-21 experienced some of the largest declines. Ben DeGrow, reimaginED.
Around the state: Changes in district quarantine policies in Polk, students awarded for being courageous in Sarasota, new civics curriculum for Florida students and the state Legislature's restraint ban. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Graduation dates are set for seniors from 66 public schools, who will have the chance to walk across the stage to receive their diploma. Miami Herald.
Broward: A report released last week by state auditors found multiple violations of safety protocols in Broward schools. The findings show that complying with school security standards remains a challenge for the district, four years after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. WLRN.
Polk: Schools officials here announced a change in the district's quarantine policy, cutting in half the amount of time students and staff will have to stay at home if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result. Lakeland Ledger.
Volusia: The Volusia County School Board has canceled the Tuesday workshop designated to discuss the extension of Superintendent Scott Fritz's contract, per the district's website. The extension of Fritz's contract has been a controversial issue, where teachers, district staff and parents have spoken out against the contract extension while area groups have sent letters of support for Fritz to the board. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Sarasota: Several North Port students were honored for their courage recently at an awards ceremony called Do the Right Thing. Students from Imagine School of North Port upper middle and high school campus and North Port High helped others since the school year began. Some turned in money, while others told an adult when they heard about a student struggling with mental health issues. Your Sun.
Alachua: A ninth-grade PK Yonge Developmental and Research student named Marin Best has been selected to be a "youth trekker" for the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation. Best will be part of a documentary called "Home Waters" coming out later this year. Gainesville Sun.
Citrus: Citrus High School made an announcement via Facebook on Friday that current principal Laura Lindeman will be leaving for a district job on June 1. Citrus County Chronicle.
Learning losses: Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced a batch of new funding to address student learning losses. The money comes from federal COVID-19 relief funds, and it will be used for after-school programs, reading intervention and creating regional mental health teams. One chunk of funding will support reading intervention and professional development for reading coaches, since DeSantis says it's crucial to have children reading at grade level by the time they reach 3rd grade. WUSF. Florida Politics.
Civics curriculum: A new civics curriculum is available for Florida fourth graders, and all Florida residents will be able to access it online for free. The state Department of Education approved a curriculum created by the state House. Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls said the curriculum can assist in improving Florida's third place ranking in K-12 achievement. Citrus County Chronicle.
Pandemic update: The disruption and isolation of the coronavirus pandemic on students has been unlike anything they have ever experienced, with one counselor saying the impact on their mental health remains significant. Kids were already facing a mental health crisis before COVID-19, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, but the pandemic has only made it worse. WFSU.
Understaffing woes: The return to classrooms for schoolchildren nationwide doesn't equate to a return to work for many of their parents are finding needed after-school programs in short supply. Hiring and retaining staff are the biggest reasons school-based providers have not fully rebounded from pandemic shutdowns. Miami Herald. Meanwhile, students are stepping up to become employees at schools due to staff shortages. NPR.
Restraint ban: The state Legislature has banned teachers and other school staff from using zip-ties and handcuffs on students. The House and Senate approved legislation to prohibit those methods, which often target children with disabilities. HB 235 provides that only school resource officers, school safety officers, school guardians or school security guards can use mechanical restraints on students in grades 6 through 12. The next step? Approval of the bill by Gov. DeSantis. Florida Phoenix.
Legislative confusion: Two pieces of major legislation pushed by Gov. DeSantis and approved by the state Legislature have created confusion, critics say, over what public school teachers can teach in class. Orlando Sentinel.
Bill support: U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona spoke with LBGTQ students to say the federal government supports them even if their governor does not in regards to the controversial parental rights in education bill. Fox 13.
Spelling bee champs: Twenty-four spellers in south Florida competed to become the champ and represent their county in the national bee, which will take place the week of Memorial Day in Maryland. The finals will be broadcast live on June 2. Miami Herald.
University and college news: University of South Florida is working to close learning gaps for male students through a mentorship program. USF officials hope such mentorship relationships will move students one step closer to addressing a longstanding issue: The growing gap in college completion rates between male and female students. Across the country, men are falling behind women not only in college enrollment, but in college graduation rates, with the gap widening in recent decades. Tampa Bay Times. The University of Florida launched the Artificial Intelligence Academic Initiative Center in March. The initiative, known as AI Squared, is designed to promote the use of AI and data science research. WUFT. University of Florida officials have selected a presidential search firm used by University of South Florida and Florida State University. The UF Board of Trustees voted during a meeting on Friday to select SP&A Executive Search from among four search firms interviewed. Tampa Bay Times. As educational institutions return to a level of normalcy, Florida Gulf Coast University students are calling for the school to honor graduating seniors with a commencement ceremony as in years prior. Instead, university leaders announced they are keeping their Grad Walk to honor graduates, with the concern being space and not COVID-19. Ft. Myers News-Press. The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering partnered with For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics to host a regional competition in Tallahassee. The event featured robots built by high school students from across the Southeast, in addition to a team from Hawaii. Tallahassee Democrat.
Opinions on schools: The education budget passed by the state Legislature this year is the largest in the history of Florida. Step up for Students President Doug Tuthill and Legislative Affairs Manager Alexis Laroe discussed changes coming to educational choice programs in the Sunshine State. reimaginED. When Gov. DeSantis announced legislation to end the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), he said the proposal would reduce school testing by 75%. But it's unclear whether a bill he signed on Tuesday will achieve that reduction. Miami Herald. The 2022 Legislative session was about waging cultural wars in the name of "transparency" and parental involvement in public education. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke in Okaloosa to highlight legislation that ends the FSA test in Florida, metal detectors are being implemented in Broward and Polk officials seek answers to their district survey. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state's districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Officials in the school district here have begun using metal detectors to screen students for weapons. The district says trained security staff are using handheld wands to do random searches in classrooms. Superintendent Vickie Cartwright says the policy is meant to address a recent increase in students bringing weapons to schools. WLRN. WPLG. CBS Miami. NBC Miami.
Hillsborough: St. Joseph Catholic School in west Tampa is celebrating its 125th birthday this year. It began in 1896 under a different name and location as a school for the children of cigar workers, and grew along with the city. The school remains dedicated to the Roman Catholic faith as well. Tampa Bay Times.
Lee: Students at Cypress Lake High participated in hanging up "inappropriate" signs in the school's empty courtyard. The signs were hung up for a few minutes and then were taken down after students took photos and posted them on social media. Fox4Now.
Polk: Officials here are conducting the district's annual survey of students grades 4 and higher, employees, their families and the community to make improvements where needed. Lakeland Ledger.
St. Johns: Longtime school board member Bill Mignon said he plans to step down from his position at the end of his term later this year. Mignon has represented District 3 for 16 years, and is ready to retire. News4Jax.
Okaloosa: At Florosa Elementary School on Thursday, Gov. DeSantis celebrated the new state law that will see the FSA, or Florida Standards Assessment, replaced with a progress monitoring system called Florida's Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST. NWF Daily News. WEARTV.
COVID relief dollars: Schools are struggling across the country to spend their COVID-19 relief dollars as quickly as planned. Their efforts are running up against a national labor shortage and supply chain issues, making it difficult to hire tutors or renovate dilapidated buildings. Chalkbeat.
State budget: Legislators earlier this week approved a $112.1 billion budget that includes $24.3 billion for K-12 education, and must be approved by Gov. DeSantis before going into effect on July 1. But on Thursday, Gov. DeSantis said the budget might be too generous in some areas. WUSF. While the state Legislature carved out $800-million for pay hikes for Florida's public school teachers, veteran teachers may or may not get a fair deal, and some teachers who are just starting their careers may not get $47,500, a starting pay initiative backed by Gov. DeSantis, according to union leaders and educators. Florida Phoenix.
Parental rights bill: Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican who faced national criticism while debating a contentious bill in the Legislature, apologized on Thursday to anyone who was offended by what she said when arguing why she supported the parental rights in education bill. Miami Herald. Florida Politics. Meanwhile, several associations of Florida mental health professionals issued a joint statement Thursday condemning legislation that would limit instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, saying it could be harmful to the mental health of students. Florida Today.
Fashion forward: An Old Navy ad you may see on TV was inspired by a Creekside High School senior. Florida Times-Union.
Masks off: Masks are now optional for all students, teachers and staff at Catholic schools run by the Archdiocese of Miami, regardless of their vaccination status, the Archdiocese announced this week. Miami Herald.
School violence: A survey of teachers, school social workers, administrators, school psychologists and staff looked at incidents of violence and harassment toward school personnel. NPR.
University and college news: For some college students, mental health challenges create a common barrier that can prevent the completion of a degree. LEAP Tampa Bay, a network of more than 60 organizations that helps adults complete their post-secondary education, created a website designed to change that. Tampa Bay college students can go to YourCollegeCares.org to find campus mental health resources, informational sites and crisis hotlines. Tampa Bay Times. University of South Florida's 50,000-student university system is going to see historic funding from the Legislature this year. USF is slated to received $75 million from the state budget for a new science building on its St. Petersburg campus, along with millions of additional dollars for cybersecurity and nursing. The Legislature passed the budget, and it now moves along to Gov. DeSantis. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, at University of Central Florida, there are student organizations on campus that get little to no funding from student government. Orlando Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: Cherie Sanders of Fort Lauderdale says when her public school officials failed to fully intervene to stop another student from bullying her daughter, she turned to the Hope Scholarship and got her child into another school. Step Up for Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarship. reimaginED. Remote learning is hard to love. The nation's forced experiment in online education over the past few years has been a disaster for kids. It's also assumed to widen achievement gaps. Robert Pondiscio, Education Next. The danger of HB 7, also known as Stop W.O.K.E. (Stop Wrongs to our Kids and Employees), which passed in the Legislature and is expected to be signed by Gov. DeSantis, is that companies will stop offering such training to avoid lawsuits. Randy Schultz, South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Editor’s note: This commentary from Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington Bothell, appeared Thursday on The 74.
Anyone who cares about kids must rejoice over their being back in school with their peers. But that should not blind us to the harsh truths we have learned about our public education system, how badly it responded to the pandemic and how, as always, it served those with loud voices and political power and left those who were already struggling in school even further behind.
What happened during the past 20 months should have been entirely predictable for anyone who was advocating for students and families before the pandemic struck.
A rigid system designed for sameness cracked under the pressure of a crisis. Despite the exhaustive work of many well-meaning people, schools and school systems were largely unable to meet individual student needs.
Children who had already been struggling were subjected to even more hardship. People were rightly outraged that some students did not have access to Wi-Fi and portable devices. To many, such inequities were enough to cause them to first call for schools to remain open, then for them to remain closed.
But where was the outrage over unequal access to technology before the pandemic struck? Why were people not furious over the decades of research that shows historically marginalized students — Black, Hispanic and low-income, in particular — are taught by less effective teachers? Or the large and persistent gaps in academic outcomes by race and income?
Many were horrified to witness, via CRPE’s ongoing data collection, how slowly and badly so many school districts pivoted to remote learning and how few adopted anything akin to innovation, or even well-known, evidence-based interventions. But those who have long fought for shifts in 21st century teaching and learning simply gave each other a sad and resigned shrug.
Millions of suburban families were shocked to see union politics and outdated management systems impede even a basic functioning of services and individualized support. But low-income families, complex learners and those with a child with a disability thought, “Welcome to the party.”
It’s become cliché to say that the pandemic exposed and exacerbated inequality, so let me be more specific. Let’s look reality in the eye and not kid ourselves into thinking those inequalities were accidental when they were squarely by design.
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