Lowest performers: Sixty-four Florida elementary schools are placed on the “persistently low-performing” list, and with 13, Hillsborough County has more than twice as many as any other state school district. Last year the district had 20 schools on the list. State law defines “persistently low performing” schools as those that receive a school grade lower than C from the state for three straight years. The designation opens the way for charter school companies to apply for money from the state to open schools in the communities surrounding the low-performing schools under the “Schools of Hope” provision of the 2017 education law, H.B. 7069. Gradebook.
Polling prompts tax hike vote: Palm Beach school officials decided to ask voters for a property tax hike after private polling showed strong support. Almost 60 percent of those polled support paying higher taxes to provide about $150 million a year extra for schools. Thirty-two percent oppose, and 9 percent are undecided. The measure is on the ballot Nov. 6. Palm Beach Post.
Parents’ school fears: More than a third of U.S. parents fear for their child’s safety at school, according to a poll commissioned by PDK International. Only 27 percent are confident that their school can deter a gunman. Education Week.
School security: Edwin Lopez, a 20-year veteran of the Miami-Dade School District police force, is sworn in as the department’s new police chief. WPLG. The new era of security guards for schools and online surveillance for threats is straining the Miami-Dade County government budget. Miami Herald. Hillsborough County has begun training its new school security guards. Bay News 9. Northeast Florida school districts are slowly moving toward meeting the state requirement of having an armed guard in all schools. WJXT.
School shooting developments: Lawyers for accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz argue that releasing Cruz’s confession to police, made hours after the Feb. 14 shootings in which 17 people were killed, will make it impossible to receive a fair trial. News organizations say the public should have access to the statement. Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is taking the arguments under advisement, and says if she approves the release she will give the defense 10 days to appeal. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press.
Teachers honored: Bonnie Bresnyan, a special education teacher at Lewis Elementary School in Hillsborough County, is the winner of the state’s Mary J. Brogan “Excellence in Teaching” Award, and Kerry Adams, a 5th-grade math teacher at Shadeville Elementary in Wakulla County, wins the Dr. Brian Dassler Leadership Award from the Florida Department of Education. Tampa Bay Reporter. Florida Department of Education.
Superintendent’s evaluation: The day before Sarasota County Superintendent Todd Bowden is to be evaluated by the school board, he issues a press release listing all the accomplishments from his first year in office. The district received an A grade from the state for a 15th straight year, but Bowden has had acrimonious disputes with law enforcement officials and some board members over the state mandate to put an armed officer in all schools. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
School expected to stay open: Hawthorne Mayor Matthew Surrency says he’s consulted with the Florida Department of Education and he expects Hawthorne Middle/High School to remain open this coming school year. The school needed a grade of C from the state to avoid closing or being turned into a charter school or over to an outside company, but got an incomplete. Still, Surrency says, “The state reviewed our test scores and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.” Alachua County school spokeswoman Jackie Johnson added, “I can tell you that we don’t have any reason to believe Hawthorne will not open as usual on Aug. 13, and that’s what we are planning for.” Gainesville Sun.
Turnaround school: Officials from the Lake Wales Charter Schools system pitch a plan to the Polk County School District to turn the struggling McLaughlin Middle Fine Arts Academy into a charter school and merge it with the new Bok Academy North middle school in Lake Wales. McLaughlin has one more year to attain a C grade from the state or face closure, being turned into a charter school or being handed over to an outside operator. Polk Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd says she is recommending the school board turn down the offer. Lakeland Ledger.
Parents back school: Parents and staff at Read-Pattillo Elementary School plead with Volusia County school officials not to close their school. The district is considering closing the school instead of building a replacement, and moving the Read-Patillo students to an expanded Chisholm Elementary. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Choice research: A five-year, $10 million research project will study the effects of educational choice programs for disadvantaged and disabled students in Florida and four other states, as well as in five U.S. cities. The study by the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice is also expected to produce better ways to implement school choice programs for those students. Institute of Education Sciences.
Elementary school cleanup: A state contractor has begun cleaning up arsenic contamination at Susie E. Tolbert Elementary School in Jacksonville. The school sits beside the old Fairfax Street Wood Treater plant, and EPA officials say operations there contaminated the soil and water nearby. WJAX.
School branding: The proliferation of school choice in Florida is leading to increased marketing efforts to “brand” schools to attract students. Florida Phoenix.
Bathroom inspiration: Students at Montclair Elementary School will see inspirational quotes when they go to the bathroom this fall. The Escambia County school is painting the quotes in four bathroom stalls “to give our girls and boys a bit of inspiration while they’re taking care of business in the bathrooms. We want them being active learners at every moment,” says 4th-grade teacher Ashley Roache’. WEAR.
Charter renewal protest: The League of Women Voters is protesting the 10-year renewal for Seminole Heights Charter High School, saying it spends $189,000 in public money to produce a single graduate. The school and Hillsborough County school officials say the numbers are skewed because the school takes on students ages 16-21 who have fallen off the graduation track. Gradebook.
School board elections: Collier School Board candidates talk about bullying, reading scores, term limits at a candidate forum. Naples Daily News.
Coach arrested, fired: The head football coach at Tenoroc High School is arrested on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, introducing contraband into a jail and tampering with evidence. Laroni Gallishaw, 37, will be fired, say school officials. Lakeland Ledger.
School worker arrested: A St. Johns County School District maintenance worker is arrested and accused of molesting a child under the age of 12. Zachary Scott Bass, 34, touched the girl inappropriately over the past year, according to sheriff’s deputies. He has been suspended. Florida Times-Union.
School recruiter’s plea: An Army recruiter at William T. Dwyer High School has pleaded guilty to two federal charges of receiving child pornography. Danilo Fernandez II conceded that he received illicit photos from a 17-year-old girl. Palm Beach Post.
Opinions on schools: Charter schools don’t need a set percentage of the extra money that will be raised if Palm Beach County voters approve a property tax increase in November. The privately run charter schools should be allocated dollars and resources much the same way as traditional public schools. Rick Christie, Palm Beach Post. The Indian River County School Board erred in changing the dress code for students so close to the start of school, and should consider postponing the change until the 2019-2020 school year. Gil Smart, TCPalm.
Student enrichment: Natalie Nugent, a 5th-grader at Castle Creek Elementary School in Orlando, wins the AAA’s School Safety Patrol Lifesaving Award. She saved seven kindergartners from running into traffic in the last school year, according to the AAA. Orlando Sentinel. More than 3,800 Marion County students are attending summer educational programs designed to help prevent the “summer slide.” Ocala Star-Banner.
