Sales tax holiday: Florida's back-to-school sales-tax break weekend begins today and ends Sunday. Buyers will not have to pay the sale tax for some clothes, footwear and accessories costing less than $60, and most school supplies up to $15. WFLA. Florida Today. Florida Department of Education. Orlando Sentinel. Palm Beach Post. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Gainesville Sun. Panama City News Herald. Keynoter. Highlands Today. Sunshine State News. WUSF.
Resource officers: The Marion County School District will begin looking for options on providing resource officers in schools in 2017-2018 and beyond. The school board approved a deal this year with the Ocala Police Department to share costs for officers. But next year the district would have to pay the full cost for officers in middle and high schools, which would increase the district's bill by almost 50 percent to $1.25 million. Ocala Star Banner.
Zika and schools: Miami-Dade school officials worry that the spread of the Zika virus is going to cause disruptions as about 400,000 students return to school Aug. 22. Health officials have advised people to wear long-sleeve shirts and use insect repellant. But long sleeves aren't popular in Florida in August, and districts regard insect repellant as a medication, and not to be brought to school. Miami Herald.
That extra hour: Only the highest-achieving students at the state's 312 lowest-performing schools will be exempt from the state-mandated daily extra hour of reading instruction. Students who scored at Level 5 on the Florida Standards Assessments are permitted to opt out. All other students are required to participate. Gradebook. Orlando's Carver Middle School is finalizing its turnaround plan even while those who work there don't accept the Florida Board of Education's assessment that the school is in crisis. Carver has received D's and F's in each of the past five years, and almost 80 percent of its students failed the Florida Standards Assessments math and language arts exams. Orlando Sentinel. (more…)
Desegregation case: The plaintiffs in a 50-year-old Pinellas County desegregation case are asking a federal court for help in enforcing the settlement. They allege the district is not fulfilling its commitment to provide safe schools for black students, isn't treating them fairly in discipline cases, isn't hiring and retaining black teachers, and is failing to increase the number of black students in magnets and special programs. The legal move sets into motion a process that includes negotiations between the sides, mediation and, if necessary, the appointment of a special overseer to report to the court. Tampa Bay Times.
Resume-padding: Anthony Hamlet, who was recently named to lead the Pittsburgh school district, embellished his achievements as Palm Beach County school administrator. His resume is at odds with the facts on lifting a school's grade from an F to a C, on raising a school's graduation rate by 13 percentage points, and on his district responsibilities. Hamlet called questions about his resume “a few percentage-point discrepancies” and of little consequence in the full context of his career. A Pittsburgh official says Hamlet “set himself far apart from the pool” in several ways beyond his resume. Palm Beach Post. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Supplemental pay scheme: Eastside High School paid almost $15,000 in supplemental pay over three and a half years to four staff members who did nothing to earn it and who simply passed it along to football coach Jeffrey Parker. Principal Jeff Charbonnet told a committee investigating the payments that he approved the payments after the district rejected it, and knew the money was going to Parker. Gainesville Sun.
Retention confusion: Parents and school districts in central Florida are battling over the insistence of the districts that third-grade students have test results to be promoted. One, Rhonda Nickerson, says her 9-year-old daughter got straight A's, but is being retained. Some parents say the retention threat should apply only to students with reading problems, not youngsters with no Florida Standards Assessments score but with good grades and reading skills. State official disagree, saying the retention law applies to everyone. Orlando Sentinel. Four third-graders in Palm Beach County with great grades are being retained because they didn't take the FSA, and their parents refused the district's portfolio option because it's made up of a series of tests. “If the teacher has taught the standards and the report card grades the standards, why can’t they use the report card?" asks Cindy Hamilton, an Orange County mom who cofounded the Opt Out Florida Network with Sandy Stenoff. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
