Makeup days: School districts in Hillsborough and Brevard counties won’t make up any of the days they lost to Hurricane Irma, school officials announce. Lake County school officials will convert six early-release days into full days and will have classes on a previously scheduled day off. In Indian River County, the school board will vote tonight on adding three makeup days. Florida Today. Space Coast Daily. Gradebook. WUSF. TCPalm. Daily Commercial. WTSP. Students in Lee and Collier counties return to school after two weeks off because of Irma. Fort Myers News-Press. Naples Daily News.
H.B. 7069: A prominent Republican state senator says he believes “there is a very credible argument that H.B. 7069 is unconstitutional,” and that the school districts that plan to sue the state to challenge the bill have taken “a very credible position.” State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, made the comments at a meeting organized by the League of Women Voters of Volusia County. Simmons added that the bill is “antithetical to public education” because it “condemned” Florida’s “very successful” public education system. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Meals, tuition bills: A bill is filed for the next legislative session that would require free or reduced-price meals to be offered to all students at schools participating in the national school lunch program or the breakfast program. State Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, says the goal of her bill is to make sure more eligible students are receiving the meals by requiring schools to help parents fill out the applications. WFSU. A bill is filed in the Florida House that would pay tuition to state colleges for students in households with an income of less than $125,000. The “Sunshine Scholarship Program” is proposed by State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park. News Service of Florida.
District budgets: Lake County School Board members approve a $584.4 million budget, an increase of about $6 million over last year’s. Daily Commercial. The Volusia County School Board will vote today on an $847 million budget that draw downs on the district’s reserves by $1.65 million. The proposed budget is about $5 million below last year’s, and calls for fewer teachers since enrollment is down 95 from last year and is 514 below projections. Daytona Beach News-Journal. School property taxes have fallen to a historic low in Flagler County. Flagler Live.
Guns at schools: Public school officials in Florida reported 167 gun-related incidents during the 2015-2016 school year, up from 137 the year before, according to the Florida Department of Education. WKMG.
Commission extension: The Florida Constitution Revision Commission will consider extending the deadline for residents to file proposed constitutional amendments to Oct. 6. The deadline now is Sept. 22, but a commission committee recommended the extension because of Hurricane Irma. The commission has received about 500 distinct proposals on education and other reforms, and will meet Monday to begin reviewing them. Miami Herald. News Service of Florida.
Water tests clear: An engineering consultant finds “no significant concerns” about the groundwater near Bayshore High School in Bradenton. Some alumni of the school worried that the water was causing cancer, prompting the tests. The consultant, GHD of Tampa, found that the chemicals at the school “would present minimal risk” to students “because any exposure would be limited in duration.” Bradenton Herald.
Reporting abuse: The Okaloosa County School Board will consider changes in the district’s policies for reporting suspected child abuse. One proposal would require the superintendent to immediately notify the school board chair when there is a report of a student being abused. Another would require the superintendent to immediately notify the parent of any student who has allegedly been abused. The board also voted to continue suspensions for Marlynn Stillions, a teacher accused of abuse, and Arden Farley, who investigated the allegations. Northwest Florida Daily News. Meanwhile, Okaloosa Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson denies she is resigning over her handling of the allegations. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Sex education: Sex education classes for Santa Rosa high school students will be taught by an organization that emphasizes abstinence. The Pregnancy Resource Center in Milton is a nonprofit that aims to provide an “evidence-based curriculum designed to help teens learn how to set goals and make wise choices about relationships, dating, partners, and more,” according to the agreement with the district. Florida law requires abstinence be taught in health education courses, but “does not preclude abstinence-plus or comprehensive sexual health curricula from being implemented.” Pensacola News Journal.
Program reports: Palm Beach County school officials are expanding a competency-based math program that allows students to complete two levels of math in a year, or three levels of math in two years. The goal of the program is to push students on a path to take higher levels of math before graduation. redefinED. A program for disabled Florida students is reporting a 99 percent graduation rate. Florida High School High Tech program officials also say about 80 percent of graduates get jobs or move on to further education. Florida Politics.
Unions and charters: Students at charter schools with teachers who are unionized show better performance in math testing, according to a new study of California charter schools. The study, published in the Economics of Education Review, compared students in charter schools with unions and without, and concludes the students in unionized schools had significantly higher test scores and that the gains persisted at least three years. Chalkbeat.
Teacher transfers: More states, including Florida, are making it easier for teachers to transfer their teaching licenses when they move from one state to another, according to an analysis from the Education Commission of the States. In the past two years, 11 states have adopted regulations that grant full reciprocity. Education Week.
Teaching environment: Florida ranks near the bottom of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in environment and opportunities for teachers, according to rankings compiled by the personal finance website WalletHub. Factors considered included average starting salaries, school system quality and student-teacher ratios. The No. 1 state is New York. Florida ranks 47th, beating out only Mississippi, South Carolina, Hawaii and Arizona. Patch.
Charter school: The Excelsior Prep Charter School recently opened inside University Mall in Tampa. The K-5 school emphasizes foreign languages. Tampa Bay Times.
Personnel moves: Rayann Mitchell, Pasco County school district’s director of teaching and learning, is appointed assistant principal at West Zephyrhills Elementary School. Gradebook.
Teacher arrested: A Tampa charter school teacher is arrested after allegedly firing two bullets into the ground during an argument with her boyfriend. Melody Patrice Bing, 51, was fired Monday by Vision of Excellence Academy officials. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: If the Department of Education removes its letter instructing educators on how to work with students who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, I fear many children will be subjected to the cruelty I was. Teachers need to know that ADHD is not laziness, it is not being defiant, and it isn’t fixed by yelling at us to focus. Marni Pasch, Orlando Sentinel.
Student enrichment: Trey Morris, a sophomore at Berkeley Prep in Tampa, has raised more than $4,000 for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico through a GoFundMe drive. WFLA. Valedictorian and salutatorian choices at Pasco County high schools will be announced March 12, school officials say. Tampa Bay Times. Pasco County’s Parrott Middle School has received two gold medal ratings for its positive behavior support program . Tampa Bay Times. Bay County’s Callaway Elementary School is fighting chronic absenteeism with a schoolwide attendance competition that offers weekly rewards for the winning grade level. Panama City News Herald.
