Vaccination plans: The state has finalized its plans on how to distribute coronavirus vaccination shots, pending the Food and Drug Administration’s approval today of Pfizer Inc.’s request for emergency use authorization. Gov. Ron DeSantis said vaccinations should be available for front-line health-care workers by the end of next week, and for senior citizens in nursing homes by the end of the month. Elderly residents with significant underlying health conditions would get preference in January. A second vaccine, by Moderna, is up for approval Dec. 17. Both require two shots. Another vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, could be ready by February. DeSantis said that vaccine, which requires only one shot, is expected to be directed toward teachers and law enforcement officers. By then the vaccines could be more widely available and distributed through doctors and pharmacies. News Service of Florida. Florida Phoenix. WPLG. WFOR. WTVJ. WJAX. WTLV.
Coronavirus in schools: Nearly 4,000 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Florida’s K-12 schools, private schools and colleges and universities the week after Thanksgiving, according to the most recent Florida Department of Health report. Since Sept. 6, 33,422 cases have been reported in schools. Florida Phoenix.
Around the state: Tom Russell, the principal at Flagler Palm Coast High School principal and a former interim superintendent of schools in Volusia County, has died of complications from the coronavirus, the Florida Department of Education is threatening to withhold special education funds from the Sarasota County School District, Manatee County School Board members agree to pay a software company $525,000 to settle a lawsuit, Lee County names its principal and assistant principal of the year, Gulf County’s teacher of the year and school-related employee of the year are announced, and Leon County teachers will begin to see their raises in paychecks issued next week. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts and private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe: The number of coronavirus cases in Miami-Dade and Broward schools spiked just before Thanksgiving and has been fluctuating since then, according to the districts’ coronavirus dashboards. Miami-Dade has counted 1,097 students and 653 employees testing positive for the coronavirus since schools opened Oct. 6. In Broward, 455 students and 456 employees have been infected since Oct. 9, and Monroe has reported 120 students and employees becoming infected since Aug. 31. Miami Herald.
Orange: Two new high schools will open next August, and are being named Horizon High and Lake Buena Vista High. They are being built to relieve overcrowding at Dr. Phillips, Freedom and Windermere high schools, which are each 1,000 or more students over capacity. The school board also announced that a new middle school will be named Water Spring Middle School, which begins in a wing in Horizon High next August but will move into its own building in August 2023. Orlando Sentinel.
Duval: District officials said a First Coast High School teacher erred Wednesday when she ordered a student to replace his face mask that expressed support for President Trump. The student said the teacher told him the mask was a violation of school policy. When he responded that he was within his rights to wear it, she kicked him out of class. District officials later said the teacher “misinterpreted” the dress code and told the student he could continue to wear the mask. WJXT.
Lee: Rob Cooper of Bonita Springs Elementary School has been named the school district’s principal of the year, and Dunbar High School’s Forrest Walker Jr. is the assistant principal of the year, district officials have announced. WFTX.
Volusia, Flagler: Tom Russell, the former Volusia County interim school superintendent for two years who was hired as the principal at Flagler Palm Coast High School 18 months ago, died Wednesday of complications from the coronavirus. Russell was exposed in early November and was placed in quarantine. On Nov. 16, he announced he had contracted COVID-19. On Nov. 18, he released a statement saying he had mild symptoms but that “this is nothing like the flu! Covid wrecks the body in so many ways …” Jim Tager, the former Flagler superintendent who worked with Russell in Volusia, said his friend left a “legacy of kindness, decency, and a respect for all.” Grief counselors will be at the school today and for as long as necessary to console students and employees. Flagler Live. WKMG. WOFL. WFTV. WESH. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WJXT. Interim Volusia Superintendent Carmen Balgobin defended the hiring of former school board member Ida Wright for a job without first advertising it, and said the extra $29,000 she will be paid for the seven months she is expected to be in the interim job was not a raise, but a “prorated amount that the board has approved for seven months of servicing in a brand new role.” Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Manatee: The school board has agreed to pay $525,000 to resolve a lawsuit with a company that was hired to replace the software for the district’s business systems. School officials said the company, Ciber Global LLC, never completed the job and that the software never worked properly. The company sued in September 2019, demanding $779,000 in unpaid invoices. Bradenton Herald.
Collier: School officials have presented seven priorities to the legislative delegation for the session that begins March 2. for the legislative session. They’re asking for meeting or bettering the state Board of Education’s request for school funding, for making waivers to support online learning permanent, reducing the number of state-required exams, improving funding for mental health workers in schools, expanding career experiences for students with disabilities, boosting funding for the voluntary pre-K program, and tightening the oversight of charter schools. Naples Daily News.
Sarasota: State sanctions are being placed on the school district for assigning students without severe cognitive disabilities into an alternative program reserved for children who do have them, and for falsifying records. “The actions of your district have likely caused irreparable harm to the students in the forefront of this issue, which may never truly be quantified,” Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran wrote in a letter to district officials. “… It is imperative that the district stop blaming former colleagues and past administrations and take responsibility for corrective action immediately.” If it doesn’t, Corcoran said, it could be stripped of state funding for special education. Last week the district reached a $250,000 settlement with a student who had been wrongly placed in the program for students with special needs and left there for years. More than 100 students were wrongly placed into the program. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WWSB.
Marion: The assistant director of the Marion Technical College made an emotional plea at a school board meeting this week for students and everyone else to wear masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Scott Carpenter’s wife, Toni, died of complications from COVID-19 on Nov. 6. She was 54, and worked as a heart technician. “If anything, it (wearing a mask) lets you know that I respect you and love you enough to respect you,” Carpenter said. “If we all do that, we will have a much better world to live in right now. That is why I am here.” Ocala Star-Banner.
Escambia: Massive racial disparities exist between black and white children in the county, according to a report from Achieve Escambia. The report, called “Achieving Equity,” studied 45 indicators of education, health and more, and showed that black children are about three times more likely than whites to live in poverty and face school discipline. Achieve Escambia’s executive director, Kimberly Krupa, said she hopes the report can be the starting point for the new Children’s Services Council that was approved by voters last month. Pensacola News Journal.
Leon: District teachers will begin to see their recently approved pay raises in their checks next week. The minimum pay for teachers is going to $43,304, a raise of about $5,800. Other teachers and workers will receive raises of at least $3,000 a year. Tallahassee Democrat. The school board will pay $36,666.63 to the Pittman Law Group through the rest of the school year to retain the services of Opal McKinney-Williams, who has been the board attorney but took a job with that law firm last month. McKinney-Williams is just one of 51 people eligible to practice law in Florida who have an educational law certification. Tallahassee Democrat. Just hours after the Tallahassee Classical School cofounder said the school would close through the end of the year because of the coronavirus, the school’s board emailed parents to say it would remain open. Board member Jennings Lawton DePriest I said the board was unaware that Jane Sayler planned to announce the closing, and held an emergency meeting at which she was overruled. Tallahassee Democrat.
Alachua: The Alachua County School District’s epidemic/pandemic response team has been meeting to prepare the spring learning plan, which must be submitted to the state by Dec. 15. Higher truancy and lower performance are two issues the team plans to address, and will consider pushing struggling online students back into classrooms. “Instructional minutes are precious, and there’s a direct correlation between the number of days and hours and minutes of school you miss and how well you perform academically,” said Jennifer Wise, the district’s director of K-12 curriculum. “We need to ramp up our efforts to find and get all of our students in school and attending school, no matter which option they’ve chosen.” WUFT.
Citrus: More than 1,100 underperforming students are being strongly encouraged to return to classrooms when the second semester begins Jan. 19. “This isn’t a suggestion … you are back in a brick-and-mortar school unless you opt out,” said board member Thomas Kennedy. “This is an obligation to return to school unless you, as a parent, decide to opt out.” Parents must make their choices known by Dec. 18. Citrus County Chronicle.
Putnam: School officials are preparing to work on a five-year plan for the district, and are asking employees, students, parents and the community to participate in a survey to make suggestions for the plan. The survey ends Dec. 15. WJXT.
Okeechobee: The number of learning options for county students has been pared to two for the second semester, in-person and virtual, and Superintendent Ken Kenworthy said he expects the number of students moving back to classrooms will increase. More than three-quarters of the district’s students are already learning face-to-face, and remote students who are struggling will be urged to return to schools. WPTV.
Gulf: Krystal Terry, a 1st-grader teacher at Port St. Joe Elementary School, has been chosen as the district’s teacher of the year. The school is also home to the school-related employee of the year, paraprofessional Joy Evans. Port St. Joe Star.
Jefferson: Three students, a school bus driver and the driver of another vehicle were slightly injured in an accident Wednesday morning in Jefferson County. Troopers said the Jefferson County K-12 Somerset Academy Charter School District school bus driver came to a stop and began backing up to pick up a student and ran into a car behind her. All the injuries were minor, troopers said. WTXL. WCTV.
Colleges and universities: Florida’s universities are expected to offer more face-to-face instruction in the next term, but officials said many classes will remain online. With vaccines becoming available, universities are preparing for the 2021-2022 school year to be much closer to normal. “With several promising vaccines around the corner, it is expected that classes will resume their normal configurations during the fall semester,” said a message signed by several University of Florida senior vice presidents. “Accordingly, preliminary scheduling of fall classes is taking place now under the assumption that physical distancing will no longer be necessary.” Orlando Sentinel. The number of low-income students who enrolled in college has dropped 29 percent during the pandemic, according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The 74.
Opinions on schools: The evidence is piling up that students are experiencing learning loss brought on the pandemic. The United States could structure a nationwide program to help students recover, though the practical challenges would be substantial and the hefty price tag would make it a political longshot. Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat. As the Alachua County School Board and interim superintendent navigate the zoning for a new school and a potential comprehensive rezoning in the coming years, there is an opportunity to further diversity in schools. The research suggests that doing so will promote positive outcomes for all students. F. Chris Curran, Gainesville Sun. The 2020 Advanced Placement exam results demonstrate that the severe underrepresentation of black students in engineering, computer science and physics begins even before students set foot on the state’s college campuses. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
