Police in schools: The Minneapolis Board of Education’s decision to end its relationship with the city police department came only after George Floyd was killed by an officer in May, although students had been lobbying for years to get resource officers out of schools. “Students have been telling us for years,” said school board chair Kim Ellison. “I’m sorry we’ve not listened to them.” And now, other districts around the country are following Minneapolis’ lead and are reconsidering the presence of sworn officers in schools. The 74. Education Week. Reason. The Cape Coral Police Department has received a $500,000 grant from the Department of Justice to put more school resource officers into Lee County schools. WFTX.
Tackling school inequities: As racial unrest has spread across Florida and the country, school leaders in the Tampa Bay area said they recognize that change is needed in their districts. Pinellas County school officials wrote a letter to parents assuring them that they are committed to improving education for black students. Hillsborough County Superintendent Addison Davis has appointed a chief of equity and an officer to oversee struggling schools. Hernando County school officials pledged to continue to work on closing the achievement gap. And Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning has announced he is appointing a district equity team to look for inequities in the system and make recommendations on ways to tackle them. “We are in an important moment in our nation’s history when people of all races and ethnicities are standing together hand in hand demanding change. I am hopeful that we have at last embraced the concept that we are all responsible for each other,” Browning wrote. Tampa Bay Times.
Costs of reopening: A recent cost analysis estimates that U.S. school districts will have to spend nearly $500 per student for cleaning supplies, personal protection equipment, extra staff, transportation and child care in order to reopen. The analysis by the school superintendents association AASA projects those unbudgeted expenses will cost the average school district almost $1.8 million each. “With budget cuts and no money coming from the feds, how many schools will be able to reopen?” asked Dan Domenech, the executive director of the organization. The equipment is expensive, according to the analysis, and availability is in question too. Education Dive.
Reopening K-12 schools: All Volusia County students will begin schools Aug. 17, district officials said, instead of adhering to a staggered start. What has yet to be decided is whether those students will be in classrooms or at home on a computer. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WKMG. Manatee County School Board members are being asked today to approve spending $325,000 for reusable face masks for students and staff to wear this fall. Bradenton Herald. The Sarasota County School Board has called for a special meeting Thursday to discuss school reopenings. Board members were displeased that a tentative plan was released by the district last week without their input. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Duval and St. Johns school districts are preparing reopening plans, complete with contingencies. St. Johns officials want a plan in place by July 1. WTLV. Lake and Osceola school officials are asking for public input on how to reopen schools. Orlando Sentinel. A committee appointed by the Florida School Board Association is compiling guidance for school districts to consider when putting together plans for reopening schools. The plan is due June 30. Citrus County Chronicle.
Reopening universities: Classes over 100 would be taught online in the fall at the University of South Florida, under the school’s reopening plan going before its board of trustees today. Students, faculty and staff would have to fill out a symptoms survey before returning. Students from out of state, out of the country or from counties with high coronavirus rates will be required to be tested, and 10 percent of everyone else will be chosen for testing. The proposal’s first phase calls for 25 percent of students on campus, increasingly at each phase level until the fourth phase, in which the campus would resume normal operations. Tampa Bay Times. The fall semester at the University of North Florida would include a blend of online and in-person classes, 11 percent fewer students placed in campus dorms, face masks for everyone indoors, and reduced seating in classrooms and at athletic events, according to a plan that was approved by the school’s board of trustees. UNF officials said that in the past, up to 80 percent of classes were in-person. They expect that to be closer to 50 percent this fall. Florida Times-Union. WJAX. WJXT. A recent study by EY-Parthenon, an education consultant, projects that as many as 800 of the country’s 2,000 colleges could close because of problems that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus. The most vulnerable are private colleges in rural areas with fewer than 1,000 students. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
More on the coronavirus: Today’s Hillsborough County School Board meeting will be the first since March with all seven members present and sitting at the dais. As many as 50 community members will be permitted to attend the meeting, in spaced-out seating. Gradebook. Sarasota and Manatee school districts will continue free meals distribution through the summer. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. So will the Miami-Dade and Broward school districts. WSVN. A Quincy man is helping the Gadsden County School District deliver meals to homes of students. WCTV. The Leon County School District has resumed making free meals available. WCTV. Seminole County high school sports teams returned to workouts Monday for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak. Orlando Sentinel. Collier County student-athletes may begin offseason workouts at schools June 15. Naples Daily News. Marion County high school student-athletes can return to campuses Wednesday for offseason workouts, with social distancing. Ocala Star-Banner.
Civics education: A draft of the state’s new civics standards has been completed, and the Florida Department of Education is asking the public for comments through Aug. 5. The Legislature approved a revise, and set the end of 2020 for completing the proposal. Gov. Ron DeSantis had pushed for the revise, saying students don’t know enough about civics and the constitution. Gradebook.
Name change request: The Gator Chapter of the NAACP has formally asked the Alachua County School Board to change the name of JJ Finley Elementary School. It was named after Jesse Johnson Finley, a Confederate general in the Civil War who later was a member of both the state House and Senate and a circuit judge. NAACP members said he also was an advocate for lynching black people. The group is asking that the school be named after Josiah T. Walls, a slave who later became one of the first African-Americans to serve as a member of the U.S. Congress. WCJB. Gainesville Sun.
School site abandoned: A plan to build a K-8 school in the Milton subdivision of Whisper Creek has been abandoned because of rising costs. Santa Rosa County school officials said they will look for an alternate site after being told by engineers that removing poor soil at the 25-acre Whisper Creek location would require spending an additional $8 million, at least. The land had been donated to the district. Pensacola News Journal.
Employees honored: Two members of the Monroe County School District’s IT department, Kristen Condella and Joy Nulisch, have been named the district’s management employees of the year. Nulisch is the director of instructional technology, and Condella is the instructional materials and technology integration coordinator. Key West Citizen.
School calendar: Broward County students will return to school Aug. 19, and the last day will be June 9, 2021, the district announced on Monday. WFOR.
Tweets draw criticism: Flagler County School Board chair Janet McDonald is drawing criticism over her Twitter posts, which reflect her opposition to vaccinations and includes retweets of posts that, among other things, argue children are being brainwashed in public schools. She said she views her Twitter feed “as a vehicle to find out what’s going on in the schools and what’s going on in the world real quickly, a way for information exchange, and, I don’t know, it’s a quick kind of touch point. … It’s not to misinform but to present information out there for people to consider.” Flagler Live.
Social media controversies: The University of Florida has said it will not admit a student because of a racist social media post she made two years ago, and the University of West Florida said it has addressed racially charged social media comments by students “accordingly.” WJXT. WEAR. Protesters are urging the Lee and Collier school districts to terminate their contracts with Oakes Farms, which provides school lunches, because the company owner has posted on Facebook that the coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement are hoaxes. WZVN.
Opinions on schools: New York’s Success Academy Charter Schools succeeded with online learning because it took great pains to keep students on track, from live online instruction to breakout groups for discussions, closely monitoring assignments and requiring students to attend online remedial tutoring sessions. Matthew Ladner, redefinED. I am a black woman, and I chose to be a teacher. I believe that educators have the power to lift up students who have been taught to stay down, and teach the value of difference in a society that too often uses difference to divide. Peggy Brookins, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The former Brevard County superintendent pens a letter as a black man in reaction to recent events. Desmond Blackburn, Florida Today. Planning and preparation will be key to a successful return to schools, whether it be in-person or remotely. F. Chris Curran, Gainesville Sun. Surveys and media reports demonstrate a surge of interest in learning at home. Now is a critical time to consider how this once-marginalized option may hold answers to recurring questions about the roles played by generational poverty, access to human capital, and parent choice in education – and when it does not. Jonathan Butcher, redefinED.
