Amendment 8: A Leon County circuit judge says he is likely to decide today if proposed constitutional Amendment 8 will stay on the November ballot or be removed because it's misleading. At a hearing Friday, a lawyer for the state said the ballot title and summary are “a fair statement” of the amendment and that "the voters have a right to see this. It’s clear. There’s nothing misleading about it.” A lawyer for the League of Women Voters, which is challenging the amendment, says the ballot title and summary are “misleading” and “deceptive” because they don't explain that voters would be stripping local school boards of the authority to oversee charter schools. Florida Politics. WJCT. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida.
School security: A shooting between adults sparks pandemonium during a practice football game at Palm Beach Central High in Wellington on Friday night and raises questions about how even the greatly increased safety measures at schools are able to protect students. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says two suspects targeted the victims because of unspecified past dealings. A 29-year-old is in critical but stable condition and a 39-year-old, the father of one of the players in the game, is in stable condition. The district has announced some changes for this week's games. Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. WPLG. Miami Herald. Sun-Sentinel. The Pinellas County School District will show students videos this week that instruct them how to respond during a school shooting. All follow the run-hide-fight strategy. There are versions of the videos for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, in grades 3-5 and for middle-schoolers. Active-assailant drills are expected to begin soon in schools. Gradebook. (more…)
School security: After Manatee County officials declined to provide more money to protect schools, the school district is now planning to hire 44 armed security guards to be stationed at county schools. Deputy superintendent Ron Ciranna says the district will tap into the state's fund for its guardian program to pay for the guards, and he expects to present the plan to the school board May 22. Bradenton Herald. Pinellas Park City Council members agree to provide money for resource officers at the five Pinellas County schools in the city, but only for the 2018-2019 school year. Gradebook. Cape Coral city officials vow to work with the Lee County School District to place resource officers in every city school. WBBH. The Citrus County School Board is offering the sheriff $954,500 to provide school resource officers at all 22 schools. If the sheriff declines, the board will consider creating its own police department. Citrus County Chronicle. More details on the Brevard County School District's plan to hire "security specialists," which came as a surprise to many residents because the possibility hadn't been mentioned previously. Florida Today. Eighty-three people have applied to run the Pasco County School District's security department. Gradebook.
Superintendent admits error: Hernando County School Superintendent Lori Romano signs a settlement agreement acknowledging that her decision to fire all 47 teachers at a troubled elementary school was a violation of the contract the district has with the teachers union. Romano was reprimanded by the school board, and three of the teachers wrongly dismissed were given their jobs back. Romano has maintained that she had to fire all the teachers to prevent Moton Elementary, which has received D grades from the state the last two years, from being taken over by the state. Tampa Bay Times. All but 10 of the Moton positions have already been filled, Romano says. Tampa Bay Times.
Unaffordable housing: A teacher making the $49,013 median salary in Miami-Dade County can afford to buy just 9 percent of the homes in the area, according to new data from the online residential real estate site Trulia. That's down 9.7 percentage points in just the past year. The median price for a home in the metro Miami area is now $450,000, up 12.8 percent in the past year. The numbers are better in Tampa, at 34 percent, and Orlando, at 20 percent. Affordability is defined as a monthly payment at or below 31 percent of monthly income. Miami Herald. (more…)
Backlash on discipline backtracking: Broward County school officials face a torrent of criticism after the revelation that confessed school shooter Nikolas Cruz had been referred to a disciplinary program that promotes alternatives to arrests and suspensions. Superintendent Robert Runcie had previously denied any connection between Cruz and the PROMISE program. Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, called it a “stunning revelation” and says “the Broward County School Board has failed in its responsibility as an oversight body." School officials say Cruz apparently did not complete the three-day program. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Politico Florida.
Choice strategizing: School-choice advocates meet to discuss ways to get their message out during a time of polarization and a perceived "Trump effect" that could change the balance of political power in November. “Our coalition is holding together,” says Democratic pollster Deborah Beck. “It is under strain.” She says school choice may be losing support among urbanites and people of color. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says emphasizing civil rights could help shore up support. “I can’t think of a more crystalline example of social justice than enabling poor families to have the same rights and same power and same decision-making over their children’s education than rich people,” he says. “If that is not just, what is?” redefinED.
School security: The Brevard County School Board is expected to decide tonight whether to move forward with a security program that trains and arms school employees who volunteer. Teachers and students don't want to arm school employees, while parents narrowly support the idea, according to a survey by the Brevard County School District. That split was reflected in the discussion at Monday's town meeting in Titusville. Florida Today. The Broward County School Board is expected to decide today whether to ask voters to increase property taxes to raise money for school security. The tax would generate $93 million a year. School officials say some of it would be used for teacher bonuses. Sun-Sentinel. Palm Beach County school officials are trying to get a handle on how to proceed in protecting their schools. They say sprawling schools built with open campuses will make the creation of a single point of entry expensive. WPTV. The Manatee County School District will pitch a compromise plan to the county commission today to pay for putting a resource officer in every school. WFLA. The Pasco County School District has received 125 applications for one of the 53 armed security guard openings. Fifty-six people have applied for the job as director of safety and security. Gradebook. (more…)
House tax package: The Florida House is expected to introduce a $332.7 million tax relief package today. About 46 percent of the total - $154 million - would come in the form of credits for companies that contribute to the tax credit and Gardiner scholarship programs. Another $74.5 million would be for a 10-day sales tax holiday for back-to-school purchases of clothes, school supplies and technology, and three separate seven-day periods for buying hurricane supplies. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the tax credit and Gardiner programs. News Service of Florida.
Medical marijuana: The Broward County School District is working on a policy to deal with students who are approved to use medical marijuana. Students would not be allowed to carry the drug or store it at school, but parents or a caregiver could come to campus to administer it as long as they have medical clearance. School staff would not be permitted to handle the drug. Palm Beach County allows the drug to be administered by nurses, who are supplied by the county health department, while Miami-Dade prohibits medical marijuana on campus, citing the conflicts in state and federal laws. Sun-Sentinel.
Turnaround schools: Polk County school officials choose a Kentucky company to begin operating six persistently struggling schools this fall if they don't get a school grade of C or above from the state this year. Educational Directions would charge the district at least $387,500 per school for the first year, then $225,000 to $250,000 per school for each additional year. The school board will vote on the recommendation Feb. 27. Bartow Middle, Garner Elementary, Griffin Elementary, Kathleen Middle, Lake Alfred Polytech Academy and Lake Marion Creek Middle have each received grades of D or F for the past three years, prompting the state to require the district to close them, turn them into charter schools or hire an outside company to operate them. Lakeland Ledger.
Retention policies: The Orange County School District is considering having teachers build portfolios for all third-graders throughout the school year. Doing so would address a Leon County judge's concern that districts provide options for promotions to students who do poorly on state tests or opt out of them. The move comes even as the district appeals Judge Karen Gievers' decision that the state and six districts wrongly based promotion solely on state testing. Orlando Sentinel. The Pasco County School Board plans to adjust its student retention policy for third-graders to follow a judge's recent ruling even as it, too, appeals the decision. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning's memos says: "If teachers have evidence that a student who has refused to take the third grade (test) should be promoted based on IRLA (independent reading level assessment) evidence documented through SchoolPace and other independent performance samples, then the student should not be required to take an alternate assessment or attend reading camp." Gradebook.
Help for children: The Miami-Dade County School District is joining with other agencies in using data to identify children most at-risk of getting involved with violence. The coalition, named Together for Children, has identified 2,000 students who will get extra attention and guidance. The students are identified using six benchmarks: poor school attendance, behavioral issues, low test scores in math and reading, and math and reading skills that are below grade level. Miami Herald.
Teacher certification: Two influential south Florida legislators are advocating changes in the criteria for teacher certification. House representatives Manny Diaz of Hialeah and Michael Bileca of Miami, both Republicans, say altering the requirements could lead to more teachers with expertise in specific fields. Both say these types of teachers need more guidance with planning lessons and managing classrooms than with educational theory. redefinED.
District spending: The Hillsborough County School Board approves a $2.78 billion budget. Board members do have questions about the details, and Superintendent Jeff Eakins says he will provide answers later. When Eakins became superintendent, the district faced a $100 million shortfall. The budget would keep the district's reserves at $146 million. Tampa Bay Times. The Manatee County School Board unanimously approves a $692 million budget. Bradenton Herald. Major construction projects push the Indian River County School District budget to $51.9 million, an increase of more than $13 million from last year. TCPalm. The Marion County School Board approves a $522 million budget that includes about $150 million for building repairs and debt. The district plans to boost salaries by 3.6 percent. Ocala Star Banner. The Bay County School Board approves a $357.6 million budget, a $30 million increase over last year. Panama City News Herald. (more…)
