New college rankings: The latest college rankings from U.S. News & World Report offer a mixed result for Florida’s schools. The University of Florida dropped from 5th to 6th in the public university category but also moved up a spot among all universities. Florida State University and the University of South Florida each dropped three spots among public schools but improved in overall rankings. Florida A&M moved up to 91st among public universities, an improvement of 12 spots, and is the top-rated historically black college or university for the fifth straight year. Florida Polytechnic in Lakeland was again named the top public regional college in the South, and No. 2 overall, and the private Rollins College was the top regional university in the South. These were the first ratings since Florida overhauled its university system, but also for the publication’s new methodology. FSU President Richard McCullough said the school’s decline was “odd” but reflected the “rankings chaos” in higher education. “I think it’s a wake-up call in terms of the outside world’s dependence on these rankings as a measure of quality,” he said. Tampa Bay Times. Tallahassee Democrat. Palm Beach Post. Independent Florida Alligator. Florida Politics. New York Times. The University of Florida is the state’s top public university in many rankings and first nationally in some. But it’s only the fifth most-expensive of Florida’s 12 public universities. Palm Beach Post.
Around the state: Palm Beach County’s superintendent said the school board will declare October to be LGBTQ+ History Month, Pasco school officials will review a celebrity author’s personal finance textbook after complaints that it contains Bible verses, Hillsborough schools continue to lose students even as the county’s population is growing quickly, a federal grant meant to promote “well-rounded educational opportunities” is paying the $126,000 a year salary of a new Florida Department of Education employee who has spent much of his time reaching out to conservative school board members, and Democrats acknowledge they’ve lost ground to Republicans on educational issues but don’t agree on what to do about it. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Four state legislators took a two-hour tour Friday of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building where 17 people were murdered in a 2018 shooting. State Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, who is in line to become Senate president after the 2024 election, was accompanied by his wife Missy Allbritton; state Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood; state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation; state Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, and an unknown number of family members of victims of the massacre. “We were asked to (tour the site),” said Sen. Albritton. “Anything that I could learn today that I felt like I could apply to school safety, I was open-minded to. I learned from some of the parents there and looked at the building itself and recognized what may be some places we can use for better security in the buildings that in itself based on the circumstances of that event would have saved lives.” Sun-Sentinel.
Hillsborough: Even as Hillsborough County’s population has surged, the school district continues to lose enrollment. Last week’s 20-day student count showed a decline of 1,581 compared to the 2022-2023 academic year. Meanwhile, enrollment in charter schools grew by 2,528 students and now accounts for 17 percent of district enrollment. Another 867 students who attended a public school last year have switched to a private school after the expansion of the state’s K-12 scholarship programs. Tampa Bay Times. An early release day scheduled for students Dec. 18 has been switched to a full school day to help the district recover some instructional time lost when schools closed for Hurricane Idalia in late August. WFLA.
Palm Beach: Superintendent Michael Burke said last week that October will be proclaimed as LGBTQ+ History Month at the Oct. 18 school board meeting. Many other districts, including Miami-Dade’s, have decided against such a designation over fears that they will violate a state law. Board members said they were trying to avoid “overreacting” to each new edict from the state. Palm Beach Post. WPEC. Superintendent Burke received a score of 4.8 out of a possible 5 points in his recent evaluation by school board members, giving him an “excellent” rating. Board members praised Burke’s commitment to the district, availability, and leadership skills, and his contract was extended through 2028. WPTV. School board members recently approved a program to provide teachers in dual-language departments with pre-translated instructional materials. Teachers had been doing the translations themselves. The district has 33 Spanish dual-language programs and two Haitian-Creole dual-language programs. WPTV.
Duval: Cheryl Grymes, a four-term member of the school board from 1992 to 2000 and again from 2012 to 2020, died last week after struggling with Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body dementia. In 2019, she helped push the school board to overcome city council resistance to a tax measure that eventually was approved by a 2-to-1 margin by voters. “I don’t think there will be another member who hit the heights that she did,” said board chair Kelly Coker, who followed Grymes as District 1 board member in 2020. Florida Times-Union. WTLV.
Polk: The track coach at Lakeland High School was arrested last week and accused of sexual battery of a 16-year-old boy on Aug. 26. Jarvis Young, 40, is charged with sexual battery by a custodian on a victim between 12 and 18, lewd and lascivious conduct by a person 24 or older on a victim 16 or 17, abuse of a child without bodily harm, interfering with the custody of a minor a third-degree, and having sex without informing a partner of HIV infection. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Young had been arrested in 2011 on similar charges, but the charges were dropped because the statute of limitations had expired. In a statement, Superintendent Frederick Heid said, “(The district) will be conducting a thorough investigation into how Young was allowed to become a coach for Lakeland High. … Furthermore, we intend to increase the frequency of our background checks and add extra measures to evaluate any past reports of inappropriate behavior.” Lakeland Ledger. Lakeland Now. WKMG. WFLA. WTSP. WTVT. WFTS.
Lee: Teachers have filed a grievance against the school district for being asked to cover additional classes without additional compensation this year due to a shortage of teachers. Union director Kerr Fazzone said teachers received a letter from the district Aug. 7 informing them that the $8.2 million in federal relief aid the district planned to use to pay teachers for extra coverage had all been spent paying teachers for coverage during the 2022-2023 school year. School officials have a week to respond to the filing. WINK.
Pasco: Eight county residents have filed objections to the school board’s adoption of the Foundations in Personal Finance textbook by Dave Ramsey, a financial advice personality, because it contains Bible verses and tells students what to think instead of how to think about personal finance, which is now a requirement for high school graduation. They said the text is a violation of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ insistence that schools educate, not indoctrinate. Board members appointed a Pinellas attorney to hear the arguments and recommend whether the board should reconsider its vote. Tampa Bay Times.
Collier: A nurse at Pelican Marsh Elementary School in North Naples is being credited with saving the life of a school resource officer who suffered cardiac arrest last month. Robert Reu collapsed in his office, but nurse Susan Becker and other employees responded immediately. Reu was shocked four times with a defibrillator, and four of his ribs and his sternum were broken as Becker and others worked to revive him. He woke up in a hospital four days later. “You’re thinking, what happened? I don’t remember anything; feeling bad? Wow, I’m alive. I was just thankful I was still alive,” Reu said. WBBH.
Lake: A recent state audit noted that the school district was not fully carrying out state-mandated mental health training. At the end of June, 31 percent of district employees and 17 percent of students still hadn’t received the training. Superintendent Diane Kornegay acknowledged the rates aren’t as high as she’d like. She said high teacher turnover and student absenteeism are barriers to better rates, but the district is making adjustments to meet the requirements. WFTV.
St. Lucie: The school district and Florida Atlantic University are ending their partnership in the Palm Pointe Educational Research School, a K-8 charter laboratory school created with FAU in 2006. The school will be converted into a traditional public school starting next fall, something Superintendent Jon Prince said is necessary to deal with enrollment growth and puts off having to spend millions to build a new school in the Tradition area of the county. FAU will receive $2.7 million to end the property lease agreement with the district, and use the money to bolster its other K-12 schools. TCPalm.
Escambia: School board members approved a $797 million budget last week that is about $15 million higher than last year’s spending. While the tax millage rate was lowered, higher property valuations will still mean tax increases for most homeowners. Highlights of the budget include raising starting teacher pay to $47,500 and setting aside funds to renovate Myrtle Grove Elementary School. Pensacola News Journal. Construction began Friday on three new classrooms at Pensacola Catholic High School. The project has been discussed for five years, but an increase in enrollment this year from 660 to 710 moved the work to the top of the list. School officials credit an expansion of state scholarships for much of the increase. “With the scholarships and people wanting to come, we suddenly grew from last year to this year,” said principal Sister Kierstin Martin. “I think that was a big factor in the sudden jump in our enrollment.” WEAR.
Suwannee: Six district schools were locked down Friday after three students reported seeing a “suspicious” man carrying what appeared to be a long gun. When they tracked down the man fitting the description, officers discovered he was a school bus driver carrying an umbrella. School dismissal was delayed for about a half-hour. WTXL. WCJB. WCTV.
Colleges and universities: Interim New College of Florida president Richard Corcoran said a federal disability civil rights investigation into the college predated the conservative takeover of the school. He also defended that takeover, saying “the school’s leadership was absolutely, politely, and kindly said, a mess.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WUSF. Florida Phoenix. WFTS. At a meeting this week, Florida’s Board of Governors will consider whether to eliminate reports related to “representation by race and sex in student enrollment, senior-level administrative positions, and faculty rank and tenure status” that universities are now required to file. Florida Phoenix. A Hillsborough County judge’s decision to certify a class action in a lawsuit over the University of South Florida’s collection of student fees collected during the pandemic, when classes were held remotely, is being appealed by USF. News Service of Florida. Penny Schwinn, Tennessee’s former commissioner of education, has been hired as the University of Florida’s first vice president of PK-12 and pre-bachelor programs. Gainesville Sun.
Feds pay for state ‘outreach’: A federal grant meant to promote “well-rounded educational opportunities” is paying the $126,000 a year salary of a new Florida Department of Education employee who has spent much of his time reaching out to conservative school board members. DOE officials would not say how Terry Stoops’ work is consistent with the purpose of the grant. After the story was published, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Cry more.” Orlando Sentinel.
National Merit semifinalists: More than 16,000 U.S. National Merit Scholarship semifinalists were announced last week, with hundreds from Florida. Here are school district lists of honored students. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando. Lee.
Around the nation: Many Democrats acknowledge that they’re running behind politically on educational issues, with public schools struggling and Republican-backed school choice expanding. That combination has convinced them that the Biden administration needs to develop a liberal version of school choice. “We’ve lost our advantage on education because I think that we’ve failed to fully acknowledge that choice resonates deeply with families and with voters,” said Jorge Elorza, the CEO of Democrats for Education Reform and its affiliate Education Reform Now think tank. But not all Democrats agree on that solution. Politico Florida.
Opinions on schools: Most parents will spend their scholarship money from the state carefully because they are spending on one of the most precious things possible: their children’s education. David Head, Orlando Sentinel. The Classic Learning Test seems designed to swaddle home-schooled students and graduates of private, religious schools from the proper goals of a modern, expansive education, including the ability to evaluate competing points of view or understand cultures that aren’t based in Judeo-Christian, historically male viewpoints. Orlando Sentinel. Allegations by the College Board that the new Classic Learning Test does not test math at the same level as the SAT should be examined by impartial experts, and not simply dismissed. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow. Republican lawmakers in Florida are keenly aware that the vitality of public schools must not be compromised in the quest for educational flexibility. The goal of recent legislation isn’t just to empower parents but also to revitalize the state’s backbone of education: public schools. Brian Burgess, The Capitolist. The goal of education policy is to educate the child, not to protect a specific institution. Every dollar these programs spend goes toward providing students with the tools they need to succeed in life and become productive citizens. In a society that is becoming increasingly diverse, choice allows families to pursue their values without imposing them on others. Rabbi Moshe Matz and Sister Magda Elkadi Saleh, Fort Myers News-Press.
