Open enrollment: A bill that would allow any student to enroll in any school that has an opening is headed for a full House vote. Two changes were made to the bill. One would give enrollment preferences to those who live in communities that donated land for the school. The other would require middle and high school teachers to provide a class syllabus to any parent who asks for it. Three other education bills also moved along in the House. One would require daily recess in elementary schools. Another would eliminate the Florida School Board Association’s ability to use taxpayer money to sue the state. The third would ask voters to approve a statewide body to govern charter schools. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. WFSU.
State testing: The Florida Department of Education is warning superintendents that some of their computer systems may not be able to properly run the 2016 Florida Standards Assessments tests. Gradebook. Fort Myers News-Press. Sunshine State News.
Computer coding: A House committee adds $79,326 in appropriations for a bill that would allow students to fulfill their foreign language requirements by taking computer coding. The bill is at odds with the Senate version. Politico Florida. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter construction: A bill that would require districts to finance charter school infrastructure moves ahead in the House. Districts now may use money from property taxes for charter school construction and maintenance, but it’s not mandatory. The bill also places limits on how much school districts may spend, with penalties attached for exceeding those limits. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida.
Superintendent loses support: Three of the seven Polk County School Board members say they no longer support School Superintendent Kathryn LeRoy. She was the target of a complaint that alleged sexual harassment, unprofessional conduct and mismanagement. She was cleared, but advised to take sexual harassment training. The board votes Friday whether to fire LeRoy. Lakeland Ledger.
Suspensions limited: The Pinellas County School Board cuts the maximum out-of-school suspension penalty from 10 days to 5. Students will also be allowed to make up their work when they return. Tampa Bay Times.
Teacher pay raise: Bay County teachers will get pay raises ranging from $1,100 to $1,400, the school board decides. Nonunion employers, such as administrators, will receive 2.21 percent increases. Panama City News Herald.
Sales tax hike: Palm Beach County commissioners agree to hold off on officially asking for a 1-cent sales tax hike until they get specific details on how the school district and municipalities would spend their shares.The penny would raise about $2.6 billion, but commissioners are already concerned about the number of requests. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.
School uniforms: Blue jeans will remain an option under the Volusia County school uniform policy, the school board decides. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Plans questioned: Duval County School Board members question Superintendent Nikolai Vitti’s school improvement plan. Duval is expecting more schools to receive D or F grades this year, and some board members think Vitti should focus more on the struggling schools. Florida Times-Union.
Rehiring concerns: Leon County School Board members are questioning the rehiring of retired employees and the use of a staffing agency to handle those contracts. Tallahassee Democrat.
Nondiscrimination policy: A nondiscrimination policy that would include sexual orientation and transgender students and school employees will be revised by school officials before the Brevard County School Board votes on it. Florida Today.
School calendar: Collier County schools will start Aug. 15 instead of Aug. 10, the school board decides. Parents protested the earlier start, which was approved in January. Naples Daily News.
STEM grant: The Duval County School District receives a $1.2 million grant to build labs for science, technology, engineering and math studies in 11 elementary schools. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s School Improvement Grant program. Florida Times-Union.
Magnet proposed: A technical magnet program may be placed in Coconut Creek High School. The D-rated school has struggled with enrollment well under capacity. Sun-Sentinel.
Charter schools: The Manatee County School District may donate 20 buses to Manatee School for the Arts so the charter school can handle its own transportation. Bradenton Herald. The district will also consider allowing a charter school to use an under-capacity middle school. That was just one of the ways suggested to spread out the county’s students and ease overcrowding. Bradenton Herald.
Charter renewals: Two charter schools in St. Johns County are renewed, though both have issues to resolve, according to the school board. St. Augustine Record.
Employees honored: Jessica Solano is named Polk County’s teacher of the year. She’s a third-grade math teacher at Highlands Grove Elementary in Lakeland. Maria Gomez is named school-related employee of the year. She’s a paraeducator in English for speakers of other languages at Bartow High. Lakeland Ledger.
Teacher suspended: A Citrus High School teacher is suspended without pay for allegedly supplying alcohol to students. Josephine Breviario, a 35-year-old English teacher, is also accused of giving sex tips to students. She denies the charges. Citrus County Chronicle.
No re-employment: The Manatee County School Board votes 4-1 against allowing a former investigator at Manatee High School to reapply for a job in the district. Debra Horne was charged with failing to report child abuse in the case of Rod Frazier, a former assistant football coach. The charge was dropped after she completed a program for first-time offenders. Bradenton Herald.
Absenteeism costs mom: A Minneola woman is jailed on child neglect charges after deputies discover her children, 14 and 11, had each missed at least 30 days of school this year. Daily Commercial.
Bus hazing incident: Another student who was transferred after a hazing incident on a West Florida High School bus is now back in the school. Typically, students transferred for disciplinary reasons cannot return to their school for a semester. School officials are not commenting. Pensacola News Journal.
Students disciplined: Three students from Zephyrhills High School are disciplined for a sexual incident at the school more than five months ago. The incident contributed to the dismissal of football coach Reggie Roberts. Tampa Tribune.
Guns at school: A 17-year-old Wekiva High School student is arrested after a gun is found in his backpack. Orlando Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: The state’s education uniformity clause is well-intended but not practical to handle the needs of students. William Mattox, Florida Politics. Two bills in the Legislature would shift control of school curriculum from local educators to Tallahassee politicians. Beth-Ellen Povlow, Naples Daily News. Are electives educational or merely entertaining? Laurie Futterman, Miami Herald. Why are legislators so gung-ho on micromanaging our schools? Mark Lane, Daytona Beach News-Journal. Student absenteeism is really a crisis in parenting. Panama City News Herald.
Student enrichment: Eastside High School culinary students win first place in the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Educational Foundation annual competition. Gainesville Sun. Gilchrist Elementary students get a lesson from local artist Eluster Richardson. Tallahassee Democrat. Allen D. Nease High School and Valley Ridge Academy students raise $20,000 to fight hunger in St. Johns County. St. Augustine Record.
