School budgeting: The Duval County School Board approves a 1.695 billion budget, a decrease of about 2 percent – $40 million – from last year. Even with rising property values, homeowners will pay less in taxes for schools than they did last year. Florida Times-Union. The Brevard County School Board approves a tentative budget of $905 million. It calls for a slightly lower tax millage rate, but increasing property values will more than offset that decline. Florida Today.
Recess returns: Pinellas County elementary schools will have regular recess again this fall, though the amounts and schedules will vary from school to school. The requirement is for 20 minutes of recess for all grades, at least on days that don’t have the 50 minutes of required physical education class. Tampa Bay Times.
School phone fine: The FCC says it will fine AT&T Inc. $106,425 for overcharging the Orange and Dixie school districts for phone services. The company should have billed the districts through the agency’s E-Rate program, which provides affordable phone and Internet access to schools and libraries, according to the FCC. AT&T says it will fight the charges. Morning Consult. Gainesville Sun.
Policy opposed: Polk County School Board member Tim Harris opposes changes to the district’s anti-harassment because he thinks they will allow students to use whatever bathroom they want. Earlier this year he posted this message on Facebook: “My child’s safety in a public restroom is more important than a man who wants to dress up as a woman.” Lakeland Ledger.
Area superintendents: The Hillsborough County School District has a new administrative structure with eight area superintendents spread throughout the county. The goal of this decentralization is to bring decision-makers in the system closer to families and neighborhoods. Tampa Bay Times.
App makeover: Brevard school officials are upgrading their smartphone app to allow quick alerts to parents in emergencies, as well as keeping them posted on other school news. Florida Today.
School grades: Highlands County school officials say the percentage of county students considered economically disadvantaged has been increasing for five years, and is now the third-highest in the state at 75.91 percent. Only Dixie County (99.76 percent) and Okeechobee (79.22 percent) have more. The district received a C grade from the state. Highlands Today.
Mid-year transfers: Pasco County School Superintendent Kurt Browning says no more teachers will be transferred at mid-year, saying the transfers too often lead to students being taught by unqualified instructors. Exceptions will be made, but they must be approved by an assistant superintendent. Gradebook.
New offices: The Santa Rosa County School District is buying an old grocery store and will renovate it to house its administration officials. The building is expected to be ready by 2018, and the current home, the deteriorating Berryhill Administrative Complex, will be emptied. Pensacola News Journal.
Driver’s ed: Forty-seven students graduate from the first driver’s education class in the Bay County School District in nearly a decade. Panama City News Herald.
Breathalyzer okay: Nine students’ rights were not violated when they were required to take Breathalyzer tests at the 2014 junior/senior prom at Jensen Beach High School, a federal appeals court rules. News Service of Florida.
Football playoffs: Florida’s football state championships will remain at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium for the next three seasons, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association. Orlando Sentinel.
Notable deaths: Betty Hach, who spent 50 years as a teacher and counselor in the Miami-Dade County School District and worked until she was 80, has died at age 91. Miami Herald.
District sued: The Sarasota County School District is being sued by parents whose two children were allegedly sexually abused by other, unsupervised students. The attacks are alleged to have happened at Booker Middle School in 2013 and Brookside Middle School in 2014. The district had no comment. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Teacher found guilty: A Fort Pierce high school teacher is found guilty on 16 counts of inappropriately touching female students. Dan Allen Hussan, 70, was an English teacher at Westwood High School. Hussan will be sentenced Sept. 19, and could receive up to 15 years in prison on each count. TCPalm.
Bus driver fired: An Orange County school bus driver is fired after being accused of pulling a student’s hair and pinning her in her seat for four minutes. Rosa Dalger denies the charges and says she is being treated unfairly. Orlando Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: Manatee County has more students, more Title 1 students, more employees and more buildings to maintain than Sarasota County – and less money with which to do it. It’s not hard to see why Sarasota is an A district, and Manatee is a C district. Charlie Kennedy, Bradenton Herald. A tiny but significant change in the way school grades are calculated shows that policymakers in Florida are thinking about and leveraging the details of the system. Matthew Di Carlo, National Education Policy Center. The opportunity to positively affect the lives of others is what drew me to pursue a career in law enforcement, and also drew me to teaching. Jason Gines, Orlando Sentinel.
Student enrichment: The CodeMasters program, sponsored by the Florida Education Fund, Opa-Locka Community Development Corp. and the Children’s Trust, provides free summer programs at four Miami-area schools to teach coding and robotics to minority middle and high school students. Miami Herald. O.J. Semmes Elementary students will get lessons in robotics and programming concepts with a new robotics unit called KidBotLabs. Pensacola News Journal. An engineering program at the Manatee County Library aims at getting students interested in the profession. Bradenton Herald.
