Amendment 8: A Leon County circuit judge says he is likely to decide today if proposed constitutional Amendment 8 will stay on the November ballot or be removed because it’s misleading. At a hearing Friday, a lawyer for the state said the ballot title and summary are “a fair statement” of the amendment and that “the voters have a right to see this. It’s clear. There’s nothing misleading about it.” A lawyer for the League of Women Voters, which is challenging the amendment, says the ballot title and summary are “misleading” and “deceptive” because they don’t explain that voters would be stripping local school boards of the authority to oversee charter schools. Florida Politics. WJCT. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida.
School security: A shooting between adults sparks pandemonium during a practice football game at Palm Beach Central High in Wellington on Friday night and raises questions about how even the greatly increased safety measures at schools are able to protect students. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says two suspects targeted the victims because of unspecified past dealings. A 29-year-old is in critical but stable condition and a 39-year-old, the father of one of the players in the game, is in stable condition. The district has announced some changes for this week’s games. Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. WPLG. Miami Herald. Sun-Sentinel. The Pinellas County School District will show students videos this week that instruct them how to respond during a school shooting. All follow the run-hide-fight strategy. There are versions of the videos for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, in grades 3-5 and for middle-schoolers. Active-assailant drills are expected to begin soon in schools. Gradebook.
Disaster recovery: Florida school districts are preparing applications for some of the $84.5 million in disaster recovery aid from the U.S. Department of Education, says Florida Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters, even though the department hasn’t received any yet. The deadline for applying is Aug. 31. States can’t use the money for construction or major renovations, but can use it for minor repairs, replacing software and hardware, renting portable classrooms and developing curriculum. Politico.
Turnaround schools: The Florida Board of Education approves a turnaround plan for Evergreen Elementary School that includes the retention of principal Wayne Livingston. Evergreen has received five straight D or F grades from the state, prompting the state board to require the Marion County School District to close the school, turn it into a charter school or hire an outside operator. The district elected to hire Educational Directions to take the over the school, and its officials recommended Livingston be retained. Ocala Star-Banner. Principal Michael Randolph is credited for the improvement of Leesburg High School in three critical areas: the school’s overall score, truancy declining and the graduation rate. Daily Commercial.
Contract negotiations: Volusia County teachers and school officials cannot reach a contract agreement at their seventh bargaining session since April. School officials have met the teachers union’s request for a 2 percent raise, but wouldn’t change its position on dropping the number of monthly faculty meetings teachers must attend below six or in reconsidering its proposal to extend the elementary school day by 30 minutes. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
District overpayments: Fifty-three Duval County School District employees were mistakenly overpaid during a two-year period, and the school district wants the money back. The employees have until December 2019 to make the repayments, which range from $332 to $3,600. The workers have filed a grievance with the Jacksonville Civil Service Board. About half those affected belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 177. WJAX.
Education and elections: Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidates answer questions (the Republican candidates did not respond) about their school experiences, charter vs. traditional public schools and the school grading system. Florida Phoenix.
School board elections: Candidates for the Sarasota County School Board talk about Superintendent Todd Bowden, security in schools and more at a candidate forum. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Candidates for the Manatee County School Board talk about the selection of a new superintendent, the district’s grade from the state and more in a candidate forum. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Use of the Baker Act and the steering of immigrant students into GED programs are among the issues in the races for two Miami-Dade School Board seats. Miami Herald. Where the candidates stand in races for the Orange County School Board District 1 and District 3 seats. Orlando Sentinel. Duval County School Board candidates talk about budget cuts, school safety and the Teach for America program. Florida Times-Union. Previews of the races for the District 2, District 4 and District 5 seats on the Manatee County School Board. Bradenton Herald. Previews of the races for the districts 3, 4 and 5 seats on the Marion County School Board. Ocala Star-Banner. Previews of the races for the districts 1, 3 and 5 seats on the Hernando County School Board. Tampa Bay Times. Previewing the race for the only open seat on the St. Johns County School Board, in District 4. St. Augustine Record. Just one race for the Monroe County School Board is being contested: District 4. Keynoter. Previewing the candidates for the District 1 seat on the Lake County School Board. Orlando Sentinel.
Taxes on the ballot: Orange County voters will be asked to renew a special property tax to pay for teacher salaries, arts, athletics and activities. The tax, which has been in place the past eight years, generates about $116 million a year. In Lake County, voters are being asked to approve a property tax increase to pay for school security; hiring more nurses, psychologists, social workers, counselors and resource officers; and providing more alternative education options. The tax would generate about $16 million a year. Orlando Sentinel. In a Q&A, Lee County Superintendent Greg Adkins makes his pitch for an extra half-cent sales tax. Fort Myers News-Press. Clay County voters are being asked to approve a property tax increase to pay for resource officers at all schools. WJXT.
Notable deaths: Delia P. Sanchez, whose direction of the Hillsborough County Head Start program for low-income preschool-aged children became a national model, has died in Tampa at the age of 93. Tampa Bay Times.
Short lunches criticized: Students and parents in Pasco County are complaining about the district’s move this year to standardize schedules, which has cut lunch time to 30 minutes. In some schools last year the lunch break had been 50 minutes. Gradebook.
Smart mouthguards tested: Football players at All Saints Academy in Polk County and three other Florida schools are taking part in a national test of smart mouthguards. The mouthguards record and transmit data about where a hit has come from and how hard it is. The data can also correct athletes’ techniques. Other schools in the test are Lake Mary Preparatory School, Bradenton Christian School and Saint Stephens Episcopal School in Bradenton. WFTS.
School board sued: A $5 million lawsuit is filed against the Broward County School District and the staff at Sheridan Hills Elementary School, alleging they ignored complaints about a substitute teacher’s alleged sexual harassment of 2nd-graders during the 2011-2012 school year. The suit says that disregard of complaints led to the teacher, Christopher Falzone, allegedly fondling a student the following year. Falzone, 35, later became a camp counselor, and last week was arrested and accused of fondling a camper. Miami Herald. Associated Press.
Opinions on schools: There are few things in Florida that have a more vital public interest than trying to understand how a school system dealt with a troubled child who would end up returning to his high school to commit a mass shooting. Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post. Should Amendment 8 pass, the Florida charter school movement could be unshackled from the constraints of your friendly neighborhood school board. Gil Smart, TCPalm. The creation of more charter schools could widen the chasm between diverse populations. Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The sniping over school safety between the Orange County mayor and sheriff makes both look petty. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. Year-round schooling shows promise in helping students who are falling behind their peers academically. Nathan Crabbe, Gainesville Sun. Fairness in the way struggling Marion County schools are treated could become a factor in school board elections. Jim Ross, Ocala Star-Banner. Volusia County is failing its youngest students. If things don’t get better quickly, the damage could resonate for years to come. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Amendment 8 is camouflage for the real issue of promoting charter schools. St. Augustine Record. The process of getting to an agreement on school security was unnecessarily difficult. Instead of everyone agreeing to work together, each agency seemed overly protective of its own interests before finally reaching the desired solution. Citrus County Chronicle. If the Florida Board of Education is really interested in attracting talented students into teaching, it should consider reactivating the Florida Critical Teacher Shortage Program and redirecting money to it from the teacher bonuses program. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Student enrichment: Graduation enhancement technicians in the Manatee County School District work in struggling schools to fight chronic absenteeism, but often find their jobs more like those of social workers. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. South Lake High School government and economics teacher Marna Lucillo learns new ways to teach students about the Holocaust at a three-day Belfer National Conference for Educators in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Orlando Sentinel. A 91-year-old Melbourne resident finally receives his diploma from Grover Cleveland High School in New York City 73 years after he was inducted into the Army just before graduation. “I can’t believe this is happening,” says Salvatore G. Bologna. Florida Today.
