Florida roundup: Private schools, charter schools, superintendents and more

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Charter schools. The Tampa Tribune looks at a proposal to give charter schools a guaranteed source of facilities funding. A proposed charter school would be located on what is now farmland. Sun-Sentinel. An Alachua County charter school tries to address its financial problems. Gainesville Sun.

Private schools. A growing proportion of private school students rely on scholarship programs to afford their tuition. Orlando Sentinel.

Magnet schools. How do they work in Hillsborough? Gradebook.

Discipline. The Hillsborough school board plans to hear recommendations on lowering suspensions, and raising graduation rates, among minority students. Tampa Tribune. The Pinellas school board may revisit its zero tolerance policies. Gradebook.

School choice. Bureaucracy is a barrier to an education system that meets the needs of every child, a student columnist writes in the Independent Florida Alligator.

Audits. Audit findings could cost the Duval school district hundreds of thousands of dollars, and record-keeping issues at a charter school could add to the cost. Florida Times-Union.

Migrants. Manatee schools work to meet the needs of migrant students. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Boundaries. Parents at Chumuckla Elementary defend their schools’ quality amid rezoning. Pensacola News-Journal.

Superintendents. Volusia schools’ new leader steps into the middle of a number of controversies. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Palm Beach’s new chief sets plans for his first three months in office. Sun-Sentinel. More from the Palm Beach Post. Brevard plans to take its time finding a new chief. Florida Today. Hillsborough’s new leader moves closer to inking a contract. Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Tribune.

School boards. A Palm Beach school board member’s vote on the hiring of a new superintendent highlights racial tensions. Palm Beach Post.

STEM. Schools help parents adjust to new math standards. Palm Beach Post. A Gainesville high school continues a run of dominance in math competitions. Gainesville Sun.

Budgets. Parents and teachers protest possible reductions of force in Clay County. Florida Times-Union.

Testing. Florida’s testing legislation appears in an Associated Press article on the opt-out movement. The new law is a step in the right direction, Collier officials tell the Naples Herald.

Investigations. Notes may point to the sources of information that triggered an FBI probe of Leon County Schools. Tallahassee Democrat.

Language. Seminole County schools could bring foreign language programs to all their elementary schools. Orlando Sentinel.

Security. Alachua County will debate funding for school resource officers. Gainesville Sun. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputies plan to increase patrols near schools. Northwest Florida Daily News. A former school resource officer faces sex charges. Tampa Tribune.

Attendance. Pasco schools try to tackle absenteeism. Gradebook.

Community involvement. South Florida corporations increase their connections with Palm Beach schools. Palm Beach Post.

P.E. Duval schools debate ways to evaluate students in physical education courses. Florida Times-Union.

Administration. Principals change schools across Marion County. Ocala Star-Banner.

School calendars. Manatee schools change course after parents raise concerns about an earlier start to the school year. Bradenton Herald.

Bullying. Students at a private school plan a bully-free prom. Sun-Sentinel.

Dual enrollment. Osceola schools link up with the University of Florida. Osceola News-Gazette.

Nutrition. Manatee schools grow their breakfast program. Bradenton Herald.

Driver’s ed. Bay County students lobby for the course. Panama City News Herald.


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BY Travis Pillow

Travis Pillow is Director of Thought Leadership at Step Up For Students and editor of NextSteps. He lives in Sanford, Fla. with his wife and two children. A former Tallahassee statehouse reporter, he most recently worked at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a research organization at Arizona State University, where he studied community-led learning innovation and school systems' responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. He can be reached at tpillow (at) sufs.org.