Immigrants and GED: The Miami-Dade County School Board has ordered a review of the way the district educates immigrant students. The review was approved about a month after newspaper reports detailed how arriving teens with limited English skills were often pushed into adult education programs, where they then prepared to get a high school diploma through the GED program. Critics of that process say those students are steered away from regular high schools because school officials think they’ll have a negative impact on graduation rates. More than 1,000 of the 5,000 immigrant teens who arrived this year ended up in Spanish-language GED programs. Board members gave administrators until September to conduct the review and report back. Miami Herald. About 200 immigrant youths under the age of 19 who tried to enroll in Collier County schools were turned away and pushed toward a GED degree, online programs and workforce training sessions, according to a lawsuit filed on their behalf by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Here’s the story of one, 17-year-old Nehemy Antoine, a Haitian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen. Teacher Project, Naples Daily News.
School security: A Palm Beach grand jury’s suggestion that the school district dip into its reserves to pay for school resource officers is dismissed by school officials as a simplistic and unrealistic solution to a complicated problem. They say the reserve fund as a percentage of the annual budget is already lower than that of most Florida districts, and that reserves should not be used for everyday expenses like new employees and higher salaries. Palm Beach Post. While Sanibel, Fort Myers or Cape Coral city officials have agreed to contribute financially to place resource officers in schools in their cities, officials in Estero and Bonita Springs are still questioning whether it’s their responsibility. They think school protection ought to fall under what they already pay the county for the sheriff to police their cities. Naples Daily News. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods drops the cost to supply resource officers for schools, and if the city of Ocala can’t do the same the school board is likely to contract with the sheriff. The board meets Monday to finalize its decision. Ocala Star-Banner. Officials from the St. Johns County School District and sheriff’s office talk about how the county will comply with the state’s school security mandate. St. Augustine Record.
Counseling service ended: The Palm Beach County School Board votes to end its relationship with a counseling company, Motivational Coaches of America, that provided inconsistent service because of high employee turnover. In 2016 the district and MCUSA began an arrangement that put coaches into 39 middle schools, seven alternative schools and one high school. That number fell to 28 last fall, and by April only eight schools still had counselors. Palm Beach Post.
Public and charter bond: It’s critical that traditional public schools and charter schools collaborate for the benefit of all students, several superintendents tell attendees at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools conference in Austin, Texas. “One of the challenges we are facing is that there is a level of rivalry and competition across the schools, and it impedes collaboration,” says Tom Boasberg, superintendent of Denver Public Schools. redefinED.
Public schools report: Florida is one of 17 states to receive an F grade on a new report that ranks states by their commitment to public schools. “A Report Card on Our Nation’s Commitment to Public Schools,” issued by the Network for Public Education and the Schott Foundation for Public Education, grouped Florida with states that are judged to increasingly be shifting public dollars to private alternatives, including charter and private schools. Global Possibilities.
Career academies: Three new career academies will be open to Escambia County students this fall. An agriscience academy will be established at J.M. Tate High School, Pensacola High will have a culinary arts academy, and Booker T. Washington High will be home to a media academy. The district will now have 51 career academies for high school students and 16 for middle schoolers. Nearly two-thirds of the district’s students attend one. Pensacola News Journal.
Online report cards: The Pasco County School District is making all end-of-the-year report cards available online only. The report cards are expected to be posted next week. District officials say they are planning to make the posting of report cards online permanent. Gradebook.
District asks for money: The Duval County School District’s legislative committee is preparing its pitch to the legislative delegation – and it’s almost all about money. The committee says it needs more money for construction and repairs, school security and teacher salaries. It’s also pushing for tightening the rules that allow bullied students to get scholarships, and is asking for testing changes. WJCT.
Testing improvement: While there was little change on Florida Standards Assessments and end-of-course testing results for Bay County students, district officials say there were pockets of improvement at some schools that officials want to identify and replicate. And at Oscar Patterson Elementary, which is facing closure if it can’t get its school grade up to a C, the number of 4th-graders scoring at or above Level 3 jumped 40 percent. Panama City News Herald.
District, sheriff sued over detentions: The Palm Beach County School District and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw are being sued by a civil rights group that alleges three teenage suspects were held in solitary confinement without cause for months and have been denied an education. The three boys, who are 16 or 17, are being held on undisclosed felony charges. The Human Rights Defense Center filed the suit in federal court. Associated Press. Sun-Sentinel.
District answers suit: The Pasco County School District is arguing that a 1st-grader had no “unqualified, clearly established right to kneel during the Pledge of Allegiance,” and that state law requires parents to notify districts when a child plans to not participate. District attorneys were responding to a suit filed by the mother of the 6-year-old boy, who claims his constitutional rights were violated and that he was mistreated by the teacher, principal and school district when he chose not to stand for the pledge. Gradebook.
Overseeing mentor coaches: Leon County School Board member Alva Striplin is calling for an audit of the district’s mentor coaches program after a volunteer coach at Chiles High School was arrested last week on stalking and battery charges. Striplin says she wants to make sure the proper background checks are made and that the volunteers are properly trained. Tallahassee Democrat.
Personnel moves: Minika Jenkins, the executive director of secondary reading and ELA for the Duval County School District, is hired as chief academic officer for the Pittsburgh Public School System. She starts her new job July 1, and will supervise the district’s early childhood, career and technical education, gifted and talented, and curriculum and instruction departments. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
School board elections: Seven people, including three incumbents, are running for three seats on the Manatee County School Board. The election is Aug. 28. Bradenton Herald. Eight candidates are running for three seats on the Volusia County School Board. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Sarasota County School Board candidates talk about school security and charter schools at a community forum. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Educators and sexual harassment: Twenty percent of educators in the United States say they have been sexually harassed or assaulted in schools, according to a survey. Education Week.
Board member investigated: Putnam County School Board member Nikki Cummings is under investigation for allegedly shoplifting from a Walmart store in Palatka, according to the sheriff’s office. WJAX.
Ex-teacher arrested: A former Palm Beach County teacher is arrested on a charge of lewd and lascivious behavior with a minor, dating back to 2015. School district police officers say Eric Wakeley, 34, who was a social studies teacher at Congress Middle School, texted messages of a sexual nature to a 14-year-old student, and later had intercourse with her. He was first reassigned and then terminated at the end of that school year. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.
Teacher/coach reassigned: Willis May, a physical education teacher and head football coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has been reassigned to a district administrative office. Principal Ty Thompson gave no reason for the reassignment, except to say it was not related to the Feb. 14 shootings on campus. Sun-Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: Our children deserve highly qualified, respected and effective teachers, not just warm bodies. For this to happen, we should reflect on our society and where our allegiance lies. Is it in the right place? Are we overvaluing entertainers and athletes at the expense of our children? Missi Campbell, TCPalm. Statistical analysis like U.S. News & World Report’s on the quality of schools can blur facts as well highlight them. But, from where we sit, it tells us two things: First, that our school system is better in more ways than we were aware; and second, there’s trouble within this fine system in terms of the achievement of students, heavily based on where they go to school. St. Augustine Record. A newspaper columnist isn’t going to change hearts and minds by ignoring the evidence of the tax credit scholarship program’s performance in private Christian schools, by taking away a parents’ choice, and by stooping to insults. Steven Whiteacre, Orlando Sentinel. When you hear people say that legalized marijuana is the answer to funding public education in Florida, remember the lottery and consider what’s happening in Colorado. Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post. Amendment 8 lumps a mandate that school board members serve no more than two terms with a requirement to teach civic literacy and let the state establish schools not subject to a local school board’s supervision or control. The plain intent is to rip apart the constitutional requirement that Florida have a “uniform” system of free public schools, laying the groundwork for massive support to religious schools and corporate-run charters. It deserves to go into the trash can. Sun-Sentinel.
Student enrichment: Ruby Tilghman, a 5th-grader at North Bay Haven Charter Academy, places fifth in the National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland. More than 500,000 students entered projects in the competition. Panama City News Herald. More than 50 Southwest Florida high school students are learning how to become crime scene investigators during a summer STEM camp at Florida Gulf Coast University. WZVN.
