Teacher bonuses lawsuit: Forty-three Florida school districts have been dropped from the legal challenge to the state’s teacher bonuses program known as the Best & Brightest scholarships. Those districts successfully argued that the bonuses program wasn’t their idea and that they shouldn’t be held responsible for simply following the law. The state’s largest school districts and the Florida Department of Education remain defendants. The suit was brought by the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, which contends the program discriminates against veteran and minority teachers because college entry exam results are used to qualify. The U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida is handling the case. Gradebook.
After the storm: Bay County teachers get trauma training to help students who were devastated by Hurricane Michael, as schools prepare to reopen next week. “Our teachers, you guys are going to be on the front line of helping students,” says Jinks Middle School principal Britt Smith, who arranged training to prepare teachers to reassure students and help them talk about the effect of the hurricane on their lives. “How we act is going to affect how they react as well,” says Lori Allen, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center. Panama City News Herald. The Bay County School District has found emergency housing for 10 families of district employees left homeless by the storm, but is still looking on behalf of 86 more. “We’re just making these connections, one by one,” says Sharon Michalik, district director of communications. “We’re going to do this one home at a time. That’s how we’re going to solve this.” Panama City News Herald.
Governor’s race: At an event at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Tampa yesterday, Casey DeSantis, wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, characterized Democrat Andrew Gillum’s opposition to school choice “shameful & wrong.” Gillum has sent mixed messages about his position on school choice on the campaign trail, calling in September to bring choice scholarships “to a conclusion” and most recently at the final gubernatorial debate saying he proposes no change to the current status quo. Florida Politics.
School security: After the shootings deaths of 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue last week, Gov. Rick Scott is asking the Legislature to double the amount of money for security at Jewish day schools, to $4 million a year. The legislative session begins in March. Florida Politics. While Sarasota County School Board members were caught off-guard by Superintendent Todd Bowden’s shakeup of the district’s police department before it happened this week, both supporters of Bowden and his critics say it’s a nonissue. “If he has a thought and he wants to do something, that has to be fully fleshed out before he talks to us,” says board member Caroline Zucker. “Because if it isn’t, it’ll be in the papers before he’s finalized it.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Two Duval County school safety assistants who knew a coworker pawned his service weapon but said nothing have resigned. WJXT.
Contract negotiations: Volusia County School District officials reach a contract agreement with support staff that mirrors the one for teachers, with a 3 percent raise this year plus a $350 bonus and a 7.5 percent total pay raise over the next three years. The district has now settled on deals with all its workers, and district and union officials hope the sometimes bitter bickering of the past can be set aside. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The Leon County School District is offering its teachers a raise of $1,150, but union officials want $3,000 this year and $1,500 next year. The district’s offer would cost about $3.2 million, while the union’s offer would cost about $7.8 million the first year. WFSU.
Scholarship programs: The author of an EdChoice survey that concluded parents are happy with the state’s tax credit scholarship program and the private schools it allows their children to attend talks about the findings, and the implications. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarship. Gradebook. Applications are now being accepted for Hope scholarships, the first program in the United States to offer money to bullied students to attend a private school or transfer to another public school. Step Up For Students also administers this scholarship. redefinED. Florida is continuing to expand the number of school choice programs it offers. Here’s a summary of those programs for K-12 students. Tampa Bay Times.
Unequal suspensions: Faced with statistics showing that black students are disciplined at a much higher rate than white students, the Hernando County School District launched a program a year ago to fix the disciplinary gap. The plan involved a lot of listening to focus groups and parents about reasons for the disparity, and meetings with the University of South Florida’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support program for corrective ideas. Results at the first three schools are encouraging, and the district plans to expand the program to three more schools. Tampa Bay Times.
Plans for new schools: The Lee County School District is working on plans to tear down and rebuild two schools that have significant flooding and air-conditioning issues. Cypress Lake Middle and Franklin Park Elementary will be among the first projects if voters approve a half-cent increase in the sales tax on Tuesday. “To walk into a crisp new building that is perfectly prepared for the students of this community, it would be phenomenal,” says Franklin Park teacher Tamara Hunter. “They would have an opportunity to know their main focus is to work their fancy brains.” Fort Myers News-Press.
Student recruitment: Facing a labor shortage, the construction industry in St. Johns County is recruiting high school students to let them know of job opportunities if they choose to enter the workforce after graduation instead of going to college. “The construction industry is experiencing a labor shortage,” says Karin Tucker Hoffman, president/CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Florida First Coast Chapter. “More than 80 percent of ABC members report having trouble finding appropriately skilled labor.” St. Augustine Record.
Recognition money: Pasco County’s Ridgewood High School recently was awarded nearly $100,000 in recognition money for its state testing performance. But the school was closed last summer and converted into a technical school. So what happens to the money? Principal Chris Dunning wants to reward the teachers who stayed on the staff for the whole year by dividing it equally among them, but the decision rests with Superintendent Kurt Browning. Gradebook.
Internet access restored: Two days after a construction crew cut a fiber optic cable, Internet service has been restored at about 300 schools in Miami-Dade County. AT&T spokeswoman Kelly Starling called the damage “extensive,” requiring workers to dig up roadway to repair the cables. Miami Herald. WLRN.
Students hit by car: A car runs into five students and two adults at a Tampa school bus stop. All were taken to hospitals for treatment. Two of the children were seriously injured, but police said the injuries are not life-threatening. All five of the children are students at Carter G. Woodson K-8 School. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP. A 5-year-old kindergarten student at Hawks Rise Elementary in Tallahassee who was hit by a vehicle at his school bus stop this week has been released from the hospital. WCTV.
Substitute removed: A substitute teacher at Greenway Elementary School in Ocala is removed from the classroom while the Marion County School District investigates allegations that she physically abused two students. The long-term substitute allegedly pulled the hair of one student and struck another in the back of the head. The state Department of Children and Families is also investigating. Ocala Star-Banner. Meanwhile, another Marion County teacher returns to the classroom after charges of child neglect and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon were dropped by prosecutors who decided the chances of conviction were remote. Christine Maria Egitto was reinstated on Monday and is teaching at South Ocala Elementary School. Ocala Star-Banner.
Opinions on schools: These 5th-graders at Apopka Dream Lake Elementary School understand electric current and circuits better than some college engineering majors and even graduates. What can we do to give every Florida 5th-grader that opportunity? Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Student enrichment: Three grocery businesses donate 6,000 books to students who live in three migrant worker camps in Miami-Dade County. Miami Herald. Polk County schools now have more than 100 career academies, which are on display today and tomorrow at the 11th annual WE3 Expo. Lakeland Ledger.
