Enrollment growth: Florida's school population is expected to grow from 2.77 million this year to 2.9 million in the next five years, a rate that is straining the resources of many school districts. St. Johns County is growing the fastest, with a 20 percent increase expected by 2020-2021. Other districts, such as Hillsborough and Pasco, anticipate an 8 percent increase in the number of students in that time. Tampa Bay Times.

School expulsions: The Sarasota County School District expelled the second-highest number of students in Florida between 2010 and 2014. More than 350 were kicked out of school - more than Miami-Dade, Broward, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Volusia, Charlotte, Manatee, Collier, Hernando, Indian River, Santa Rosa and St. Johns counties combined. And generally, punishment disproportionately fell on students of color. Polk County was the only school district to expel more, with 446 over five years. Sarasota-Herald-Tribune. The Miami-Dade County School District has drastically cut out-of-school suspensions with an alternative program called the Youth Engagement Program. It's an intensive counseling program for misbehaving students, with an emphasis on participation in civic activities. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Polk County School District has cut down on the number of expulsions, from a state-high of 155 students in 2012-13 to 89 last year and only 30 so far this year. But out-of-school suspensions have gone up. Lakeland Ledger.

Smooth testing: The state's standardized testing, which ended Friday, went smoothly this year, according to the Florida Department of Education. More than 3 million computer-based exams and  650,000 written exams were taken. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook. As far as state officials can determine, the percentage of third-graders who opted out of state testing declined slightly, from 0.11 percent in 2015 to 0.10 percent this year. Palm Beach Post. (more…)