Around the state: Manatee County school Superintendent Cynthia Saunders has announced that she’ll retire at the end of the current school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis has mirrored much of former president Donald Trump’s political agenda but has created separation from Trump with his aggressive implementation of conservative positions on educational issues, two Lee County middle schools and one in Charlotte County will reopen Tuesday after being closed because of damage caused by Hurricane Ian, Collier County school officials said Ian caused at least $590,000 in damage to schools, and the recent upheaval in the Broward County school district will continue next week with the election of four school board members. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: In a time of upheaval for the school district, the school board will be shuffled again with four of the nine seats being decided in the general election Nov. 8. Four board members were suspended and replaced by Gov. DeSantis in August for their actions before and after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, two of the candidates in next week’s elections face questions that could lead to their removal from office, and Superintendent Vickie Cartwright was nearly fired last week before getting 90 days to show improvement. Sun-Sentinel. The Parkland school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, will be formally sentenced to life in prison without parole in a two-day hearing that begins Tuesday. But the families of his 17 victims will first get the opportunity to speak directly to Cruz in court. Associated Press. WPLG. WTVJ. A 28-year-old campus monitor at Coconut Creek High School is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, according to a recent message the district said it sent to parents. The employee, who was not named, has resigned, district officials said. WPLG.
Hillsborough: Two new magnet programs will be available to students in the fall of 2023: The Bowers Whitley Building and Construction Academy and DW Waters Medical Academy. “The whole point is that these two schools are opening as a response to workforce requests from our community of jobs that will exist in the next four years and beyond. … A lot of our students are going to be able to graduate high school and right into a job that they’ve already apprenticed for … that can pay anywhere from $50 to $60 to $70,000 a year out of high school,” said Robert Cox, the district’s supervisor of magnet programs. Spectrum News 9.
Palm Beach: A wrestling coach at Jupiter High School has been arrested and accused of grand theft for allegedly using school money to buy equipment for his own business. Deputies said Hans Rasmusson, 30, filed a request with the school district to send a check for $2,891.96 to a sportswear company. One of the orders was for the high school wrestling team, but the other was for Rasmusson’s personal business. WPEC.
Polk: A 13-year-old student at Boone Middle School in Haines City was arrested last week for threatening to blow up her school, according to police. She allegedly wrote “I am gonna blow up this school!!!” and “Date: 11.5.2022” on a bathroom wall. She said she did it because she was bored, according to police. WFLA.
Pinellas: A social studies teacher at Carwise Middle School in Clearwater was arrested last week after allegedly walking naked around a condominium complex in Palm Harbor. Jesse Schroeder, 39, told deputies he could not explain his actions. WFLA. A 62-year-old man was arrested last week for allegedly pushing and shoving a 12-year-old student at Mount Moriah Christian Fundamental Academy in St. Petersburg. Tommy Ward is a member of the church and does volunteer maintenance work at the church, said his brother Robert Ward, who is the pastor at the Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. WFLA.
Lee: Lexington and Diplomat middle schools will reopen to students Tuesday after being closed since Hurricane Ian hit the area Sept. 28, the school district announced Friday. Teachers are due back today to prepare their classrooms. “Their buildings have been remediated enough to pass the same nine safety criteria as all our other schools and will reopen next week,” the district said. Lexington Middle had up to 18 inches of flooding on the first floor, and Diplomat had roof damage that allowed water to get in the building. Fort Myers News-Press. WFTX. WBBH.
Collier: Hurricane Ian caused at least $590,000 in damage to schools, district officials said last week. Most of the damage was confined to fences, signs, and a few portable classroom roofs. About 240 students have been displaced, but about 93 percent of the district’s students were in school last week. Naples Daily News.
Manatee: School Superintendent Cynthia Saunders announced Friday that she will retire when her contract expires at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Saunders has been the superintendent since June 2018, and has spent the past 34 years in public education. “Her decency, dignity, discipline and dedication have been a blessing to Manatee County and to Manatee County’s public schools,” said school board chair James Golden. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WWSB. WTSP. SNN News. A new classical charter school is being planned to open in Bradenton in the fall of 2024. The Bradenton Classical Academy would open as a K-5 school and add a grade every year until it’s K-12. It’s associated with the Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative. An application is expected to be filed with the school board this month. SRQ Magazine.
St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River: The election of more conservatives to school boards in Martin and Indian River counties is expected to further emphasize the role of parents in education, though the newcomers vow they will work for and with everyone on behalf of students. Little change in focus is expected in St. Lucie County after all three incumbents were re-elected in the August primary. TCPalm.
Leon: The Southern Poverty Law Center is helping a parent appeal a charter school’s decision to remove her 6-year-old son from the school for allegedly striking a teacher last month. The boy was angry when the physical education teacher at the Florida State University School in Tallahassee took away a Pokemon card. The appeal contends the boy had no previous record of discipline problems, and that the administration is overreacting. WCTV.
Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton: The Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton school districts are among the 14 in the state that have been selected as academically high-performing school districts for the 2021-2022 school year by the Florida Department of Education. Districts are selected by maintaining or improving their previous academic achievements. Northwest Florida Daily News. WEAR.
Charlotte: Port Charlotte Middle School has been cleared to reopen for classes on Tuesday, district officials announced Friday. Construction will then begin work on a temporary facility that will, when completed, house students and staff until the middle school can be repaired or rebuilt. WFTX.
Flagler: District 2 school board candidates Courtney VanderBunte and Will Furry talk about their qualifications, goals if elected, budget cuts, new state education laws, evaluating Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt, the sale tax referendum, school security and more. Flagler Live. Flagler Live.
Nassau: County voters are being asked to approve an additional mill in property taxes to help the school district hire and retain teachers, fund health and safety efforts, and bolster athletic and art programs. If approved, the tax would raise an estimated $13.7 million a year, and a committee would be appointed to oversee spending. WJXT.
Colleges and universities: Stetson University in DeLand has opened Brown Hall for Health & Innovation, a $19 million, 40,000-square-foot, two-story structure that puts environmental and health sciences labs in one building. The classes had been spread across the campus. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Career program grants: Twenty-eight school districts and state colleges will receive $2.7 million in state grants to buy new equipment for career and technical education programs . Florida Department of Education.
Politics and education: While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has mirrored much of former president Donald Trump’s political agenda, he’s created separation with his aggressive implementation of conservative positions on such educational issues as race, sexual orientation, gender identity and more. USA Today Florida Network.
Around the nation: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today whether colleges and universities can continue to consider race as a factor in admissions. Hundreds of colleges use race in deciding admissions, but challengers contend that doing so violates equal protection principles. Los Angeles Times. NPR. CNN. The 74. Chalkbeat. School shootings had a profound impact in four communities, including one in Florida, in a single week. For the year, there have been at least 53 school shootings, nearly double the number in 2018, which included 17 students and employees being murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. “It tells us how many shootings, some of which we forgot about, we’ve lived through in the past few years,” said Janet Johnson, a Florida criminal defense attorney. “It’s hard to keep them straight.” CNN.
Opinions on schools: Making education savings accounts the default funding mechanism for K-12 education and eliminating residential assignment would establish a robust education marketplace that is parent-driven and student-centered. Jude Schwalbach, Real Clear Education. When it meets early next month, the Florida High School Athletic Association should take action to end a growing school controversy by eliminating the five menstrual questions and changing state registration procedures to match the more commonly used national model, which keeps personal health and medical matters where it belongs — between students, their parents and physicians. Palm Beach Post.
