Storm threatens schools: For the second time in less than two weeks, a hurricane is threatening to damage schools and disrupt class schedules on the west coast of Florida. Hurricane Milton is projected to be a major storm when it approaches land somewhere between Tallahassee and Naples by Wednesday. On Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded his declaration of a state of emergency to 51 counties, and some districts began announcing closures on Sunday. Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and DeSoto school districts are closed today through Thursday. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota are closed today through Wednesday, Glades, Hernando and Citrus are closing Tuesday and Wednesday, and Polk and Okeechobee on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Brevard and Marion schools are closing Wednesday and Thursday, and Osceola schools are closed Wednesday. Many colleges around the state are also canceling classes for part of the week. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. USA Today Florida Network. Orlando Sentinel. Tallahassee Democrat. CNN. NPR.
Around the state: The latest recommendation by Broward’s superintendent would keep nine schools with low enrollments open next year in revised forms, 19 Duval County teachers have been removed for misconduct from 16 schools since the beginning of the school year, Lee schools have announced two makeup days for instructional time lost when schools were closed for Hurricane Helene, a Bethune-Cookman University search committee is recommending that interim president William Berry be hired as the permanent school leader, and a longtime Pinellas teacher who was about to retire was one of 12 county residents who died during Helene. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A biology teacher at Howard D. McMillan Middle School in southwest Miami-Dade has been reassigned pending a district investigation after he was seen on a video sniffing a female student’s shorts. “I feel bad for the little girl, and I feel bad for those parents of that little girl. She is going to be traumatized,” said the grandmother of one student. WSVN. A cafeteria worker at Coral Park Elementary School has been suspended pending an investigation after parents complained that she created an “abusive atmosphere” at lunch every day. More than a dozen parents spoke against the worker’s actions, which allegedly included “whistling in their ear, throwing away their food while they’re eating, sitting them away from other kids to humiliate them,” and more. WTVJ.
Broward: Nine schools with the lowest enrollments would remain open next year under the latest plan submitted by Superintendent Howard Hepburn. Five elementary schools would convert to K-8, one elementary would become an early learning center for preschoolers, and another would become a magnet school. One middle school would become a 6-12 collegiate academy, and another would share its extra space with the city of Dania Beach. The latest recommendations will be discussed at the school board’s meeting Tuesday. Sun Sentinel.
Palm Beach: Academic calendars for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years were approved last week by the school board. The first day of school next year is Aug. 11, 2025, and the last day is May 29, 2026. The following school year begins begins Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, and ends on May 27, 2027. Schools are closed a week for Thanksgiving and spring break both years, and two weeks over the winter holidays. Palm Beach Post.
Duval: Nineteen teachers have been removed from 16 county schools since the beginning of the academic year, according to a district report. The most recent was last week, a health teacher from LaVilla Middle School for allegations of inappropriate sexual communications with a student. WJAX. WJXT. Once the plan to close schools beginning next year is voted on by the school board Nov. 4, district officials will turn their focus into closing the rest of the gap between revenue and spending. “We have to right-size our school district, we have to get our finances into control and … we have to stop dipping into our savings account,” said Superintendent Christopher Bernier. Florida Times-Union.
Lee: School officials have announced makeup days for classroom time lost when schools were closed for Hurricane Helene. “To maintain instructional continuity,” district officials said last week, students will go to school on Monday, Oct. 14, and Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Another adjustment will likely be required after this week, since the district has announced schools will be closed today through Thursday. WINK. School superintendent candidates Denise Carlin, a Republican, and Democrat Victor Arias talk about school security, teacher hiring and salaries, student achievement and more. Fort Myers News-Press.
Pinellas: A teacher who planned to retire Sept. 30 was one of the 12 county victims of Hurricane Helene. Donna Fagersten, 66, had worked two decades for the school district, most recently at Ponce de Leon Elementary in Clearwater. She left her ground-floor level condo during the storm to stay with a neighbor across the street who lived on the fourth floor. When water began to rise, she started back to her condo to check on her cat. She never made it, and was found unresponsive in a flooded parking garage. Tampa Bay Times.
Brevard: Three students were arrested Friday after a handgun was found at Rockledge High School. The three are 15, 17 and 19 years old. Rockledge police did not say what charges they face. Florida Today. WESH. WKMG.
Seminole: A teacher and coach at Lake Mary High School has been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. Social studies teacher and girls assistant soccer coach Richard Colon, 55, is charged with transmitting harmful or obscene materials to minors and using a computer to seduce a child. He’s been placed on administrative leave. Orlando Sentinel. WKMG. Spectrum News 13. WOFL.
Escambia: Voters are being asked Nov. 5 to renew a half-cent sales surtax to raise money for school improvements for the next 10 years. The tax has been in place since 1997 and generates about $40 million a year that’s used for building new schools, renovating existing ones, buying land, improving school properties and upgrading technology. WUWF.
Alachua: A recent audit by the state found that the district failed to comply with state-required fire and emergency drills, did not provide records showing that school resource officers completed mental health crisis intervention training, failed to complete investigations into two allegations of employee misconduct, haven’t posted proposed, tentative and official budgets on its website, and more. A district response is required by Oct. 11. Alachua Chronicle.
Flagler: School board chair Will Furry said last week that the board will operate with four members until Gov. DeSantis appoints a replacement for Sally Hunt, whose resignation took effect last week. Furry wants an appointment to be made “as quickly as possible.” In November, newly elected board members Janie Ruddy and Lauren Ramirez will be sworn in to replace outgoing members Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro. Until then, 2-2 votes on board business will mean a rejection. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Okeechobee: A free tutoring program for Osceola Middle School students has ended after the instructors discovered the federal funding for it had run out. Assistant superintendent James Stanley said a letter to parents that included tutoring dates for the 2024-2025 school year was a “miscommunication” that was later clarified in a note to parents. WPTV.
Colleges and universities: A Bethune-Cookman University search committee is recommending that William Berry, the provost who has been the interim president since July 2023, be appointed to lead the school on a permanent basis. A vote by trustees is expected in a couple of weeks. Daytona Beach News-Journal. The faculty union at the University of North Florida has filed a grievance against the school over its use of peer comparisons as a factor in determining tenure. WJAX. Florida Polytechnic University President Devin Stephenson, who has been on the job 90 days, says he expects the school to grow from 1,770 students to 3,000 by 2030 and eventually 5,000, even while cutting the acceptance rate from 46 percent to 22 percent. Lakeland Now. Lakeland Ledger.
Around the nation: How do the education platforms of presidential candidates Kamala Harris, the Democrat vice president, and Donald Trump, the former Republican president, compare? Florida Phoenix.
Opinions on schools: It’s time for Gainesville and the Alachua County School District to get their act together and install a new playing surface at Citizens Field, an iconic football field that has become a catastrophe. Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun.
