Nonexistent loans: Two charters schools in Jacksonville have been paying interest to Newpoint Education Partners for loans that do not exist, according to a lawyer for the schools. San Jose Academy and San Jose Preparatory High School list loans totaling $235,000 made by Newpoint in 2014 and 2015. Gary Wheeler, the schools' attorney, says the boards never approved any loans. In Pinellas County, schools were paying back $1.8 million in loans that did not exist to Newpoint. And in Escambia County, Newpoint was indicted for grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white collar crime. WFLA. The Pinellas County School District is considering absorbing two Newpoint Education Partners charter schools. The schools, Windsor Preparatory Academy and East Windsor Middle Academy, would become a "project-based learning lab environment" if the schools agree to terminate their charters. Both schools were given termination notices in May. Gradebook. WFLA.

Daily recess: The Seminole County School Board is expected to approve a mandatory 20-minute daily recess for all elementary students, starting next fall. The Seminole and Osceola districts are the only ones in Florida to do so, according to Heather Mellet, a Winter Park mother who is part of the Recess for All Florida Students group. Orlando Sentinel. State Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, is asking for a state review from the nonpartisan Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability of school districts’ recess policies. “Recess in our schools has been diminishing and students have been suffering,” she says. “This is detrimental to the development of our children.” A bill to make recess mandatory failed in the Legislature this year. Politico Florida.

One-room school closes: Florida's last one-room school has closed. Manatee County's Duette Elementary began in 1930. The district hopes to keep the school open as a destination for field trips. Bradenton Herald. (more…)