Hiring freeze: The Hillsborough County School District is freezing teacher hiring as part of its austerity measures. The current 140 vacancies will be filled by educators who have been working outside of a classroom. The district is trying to save $130 million this year, in a budget of $2.8 billion. The Gibson Consulting Group is being paid $818,000 to help the district find ways to cut spending. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA.

Contract agreements: The Palm Beach County teachers union and district officials agree on a contract that calls for an average raise of 3 percent for teachers. The starting teacher salary is bumped to $41,000, and the top of the pay scale goes up by about $1,700 to $78,645. Palm Beach Post. Manatee County school officials announce tentative contract agreements with the teachers' and service employees' unions. The agreements call for raises and no increases in health insurance costs for employees. Bradenton Herald.

Improvement ratings: The Florida Department of Education releases its school improvement ratings for alternative and special education centers. Gradebook.

Audit committee: If voters approve a sales tax increase for Manatee County schools, the district will give an audit committee an important role in tracking how the projected $30 million a year is spent. The audit committee will be made up of mostly retired certified public accountants who are volunteers. The school board says it will also consider sharing some of the proceeds with charter schools. Bradenton Herald. (more…)