Florida roundup: STEM, expulsions, facilities and more

florida-roundup-logoAccountability. A key House lawmaker sees no support for pausing grades. Gradebook.

Expulsions. The mother at the center of a controversial expulsion case is also a public-school teacher, and fears her job could be at risk. Pensacola News-Journal.

Discipline. Sarasota considers alternatives to suspensions and other major punishments. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

STEM. Schools seem to be diverting students from precalculus. Bridge to Tomorrow. A Palm Beach Post columnist inveighs against letting students sub computer science for foreign languages.

Technology. Volusia schools struggle to provide devices. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Testing. The Duval school board is the latest to call for a switch to national assessments. Florida Times-Union. Ohio may use Florida items next year. Gradebook.

Boundaries. Orange County parents protest a rezoning proposal. Orlando Sentinel.

Teacher quality. Lee schools feel a shortage. Fort Myers News-Press.

Calendars. More districts consider early August school starts. Tampa Bay Times.

Safety. A bomb threat cancels classes in Palm Beach. Palm Beach Post.

Transportation. Seminole students take a train for a field trip. Orlando Sentinel.

Facilities. Broward hires a new head for its facilities bond program. Sun-Sentinel.

Budgets. Palm Beach’s schools chief wants to make use of money saved during a spending freeze. Palm Beach Post.

School choice. Applications are set to open for Pinellas special programs. Tampa Bay Times.

Impact fees. They’re back in Sarasota. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Teacher conduct. A judge finds aides falsely accused a teacher of child abuse. Sun-Sentinel. A preschool teacher is accused of picking a boy up by the throat. Gainesville Sun.

Health. Collier schools consider a wellness program. Naples Daily News.


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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.