In the Legislature: Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones joined Rep. Allison Tant in filing a bill for the 2022 Legislative session aimed at providing schools, parents and faculty more time to assess whether a child needs federally funded special services and programs classified as Exceptional Student Education, or ESE. Jones filed SB 236, a companion to Tant’s HB 15. Both bills would extend Florida’s cutoff for ESE assessment from age 5 to age 9, or when a child completes second grade. Florida Politics.
Around the state: One university hopes to gain entry into the American Association of Universities, federal money has been awarded to one county after defying an order from Gov. Ron DeSantis, community members are being sought to help advertise for a new superintendent, and some school districts are seeing a decline in COVID-19 cases. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, college and universities:
Broward: The U.S. Department of Education announced that it is awarding more than $420,000 to the Broward County School Board to cover state financial penalties that targeted school board members salaries. The purpose of the grant money is to pay for the salaries of eight Broward board members who voted for a student mask mandate that allows exceptions only for medical reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the DOE awarded $150,000 to Alachua County to cover salaries of four school board members there. Tampa Bay Times. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Florida Politics.
Duval: The Duval County School Board is fighting back against a state executive order that jeopardizes how the district handles its mask mandate. The board voted 4-3 on Tuesday to allow its general counsel the ability to explore or move forward with litigation challenging a rule issued last week by Florida’s new surgeon general. School Board members say the move is about more than just its existing mask mandate, but a statement in favor of home rule. The Florida Times-Union.
Lee: The school district here is asking for input from community members to help advertise nationwide for a new superintendent. The superintendent is appointed by the Lee County school board. More than 97,000 students attend Lee County schools, including charters. Interviews of finalists for the position are planned for the third week of January 2022. Ft. Myers News-Press. Greg Adkins, who served as superintendent from 2015 through May 2021, announced his retirement in April. Ken Savage, who is serving as interim, was appointed by the school board in June. Ft. Myers News-Press.
Polk: The school board here heard reasons for both optimism and concern about the COVID-19 threat during a Tuesday work session. Superintendent Frederick Heid reported on a steady decrease in cases among staff members and students in the district in the past three weeks. Four health officials invited to speak at the session described the dangers of transmission in schools. Some school board members drew attention to the deaths of district employees. Lakeland Ledger. Principal Daraford Jones sat down with student leaders in a peaceful setting to listen to concerns after unrest at Kathleen High School. Meanwhile, an assistant football coach and history teacher was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on charges that he “knowingly conspired and engaged in a disruption or disturbance” at the school, “interfered with the educational processes of approximately 2,000 students and interfered with the orderly conduct of students on the school campus,” according an arrest affidavit. Lakeland Ledger.
Brevard: A decline in COVID-19 cases and quarantines has occurred in Brevard Public Schools. On Tuesday, the district reported 30 new COVID-19 cases (27 students and three employees), and 52 more students and employees quarantined from Friday to Monday. The district began tracking COVID-19 data for its twice-weekly dashboard on Aug. 2, the week before school began. Florida Today. At Brevard Public Schools’ second bargaining session with the Brevard Federation of Teachers for next year’s contract, disagreements emerged about the district’s drug policy, documentation required for specialized plans with students who have disabilities, and recordings of teachers on security cameras. Florida Today.
Leon: In the first two months of the school year, five Leon County students have been separately charged in connection to bringing a gun on campus. For comparison, in the entirety of the 2020-21 school year, there were only two gun on campus incidents. Tallahassee Democrat.
Citrus: Students and staff are mourning the loss of a football player who died on Tuesday. In a social media post, officials said the Citrus High School student collapsed during football practice, was rushed to a hospital, and later died. The school will provide counseling, support and services to students and staff, Principal Laura Mason said on the school’s Twitter account. WTSP. ABC Action News. The Citrus County School District has received a total of $23.5 million in federal stimulus funding. Citrus County Chronicle.
Kids vaccines: Pfizer submitted research to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine in children, but the shots may not be available until November. Fox 13. WEAR. The 74.
Mask creativity: For kids, masks can be a disturbing visual reminder that they’re living in a global pandemic. But the design world has stepped forth with a slew of cute and cool masks for kids. NPR.
University and college news: The University of South Florida has set its sights on getting into another prestigious club, with the objective of receiving an invitation to the American Association of Universities. The AAU is a group of 66 major research universities in the United States and Canada. Last month, when the Board of Governors approved USF’s request for an extra $50 million from the Legislature, USF said it would spend most of the money on hiring hundreds of new faculty members, with the goal of getting into the association. “Membership in the AAU, in its most basic sense, is a recognition that Florida universities are nationally prestigious, and thereby so is Florida’s entire State University system,” USF said in its formal request. Tampa Bay Times. The Henry is a 23-story high rise that is fully and exclusively occupied by students attending University of Tampa nearby. While the university doesn’t own or operate the property, it refers students searching for off-campus housing to The Henry. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: There is now an unprecedented amount of K-12 federal dollars for people and programs to remedy the huge academic, social and emotional toll that COVID-19 imposed on young people and their families, with 90% going to school districts. Bruno Manno, reimaginED. Being able to send your child to a school where you feel comfortable that they are getting what they need is a must. Debra Manning, reimaginED. Some who have questions about mandatory vaccines for COVID-19 have extended that to vaccine mandates that have been around for decades for things like polio, measles and the mumps. Sen. Manny Diaz recently said he wanted to “review” existing vaccine mandates for Florida students. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel.
