School funding: Florida Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, approves a study of the school funding formula’s district cost differential (DCD). The request for the study came from Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, and Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, who contend that the DCD has cost school systems in their districts and around the state millions of dollars since it was adopted in 2004. The DCD directs extra money to districts with a higher cost of living. The study will be conducted by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability and the Office of Economic & Demographic Research. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Retention suit motion: The Florida Department of Education is asking a circuit court to dismiss a lawsuit that challenged the state’s third-grade retention law and how it was implemented by several school districts. The Florida Supreme Court recently refused to hear the case, saying the plaintiffs would have to file suits at the county level. Now the DOE says the plaintiffs didn’t exhaust their administrative options before filing the suit in Leon County, and that students who refuse to take the state’s standardized tests have no right to an option of a portfolio review. Gradebook.
Charter schools: A new state law requires local school districts to share local property taxes collected for capital improvements with charter schools. But there’s an exception that will leave a handful of charter schools without any public funds. The amount to be shared hinges on how much debt a district has. Charters in districts with a lot of debt may get no money at all, while charters in districts with little debt will. So districts with little debt and charters in districts with heavy debt are both asking for relief. Tampa Bay Times.
Cities buy their way in: Affluent cities in Miami-Dade County increasingly are starting their own charter school systems or buying seats for local students in magnet programs at other public schools. The practice can increase public school options, but some critics worry it will lead to racial and economic segregation. Steve Gallon, a member of the school board, says such proposals “could result in the creation of systems and structures that could impede such access to poor children and those of color to a world-class education based on their ZIP codes.” Miami Herald.
Tax credit scholarships: More than 100,000 Florida students are now getting tax credit scholarships from the state to attend private schools. The scholarships, to which corporations donate in return for tax credits, is the largest such program in the United States. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the program. Associated Press.
Teacher turnover: The Lake County teachers union thinks the school district is too quick to terminate teachers, which leads to a yearly crush of job openings. About 9 percent of the district’s 2,900 teachers are new hires. Between 2011 and 2014, the average turnover rate around the state was 4 percent. “It’s at-will employment on steroids,” says Stuart Klatte, president of the Lake County Education Association. “Some of (the teachers not renewed) were award-winning math teachers. Many had two or three years of experience.” Daily Commercial.
Student/interns: A private high school is opening in Miami in 2020 at which students pay at least part of their own tuition through professional internships. Cristo Rey is a nonprofit Catholic network of schools, with 32 in the United States and one in Tampa. Most students are Hispanic or black, and low-income. School officials say the internship program is a way to pay tuition and get students to learn skills and see themselves in the kind of jobs that require college. Miami Herald.
Children in poverty: Thirty-one percent of Marion County’s children live in poverty. The effect of that is widely felt in the school system, with a need for free meals for hungry children, a lack of readiness for school that must be addressed before standardized testing of 3rd-graders, a need for teachers to develop individual approaches to deal with the wide range of abilities of students, and a shortage of school supplies. Ocala Star-Banner.
Medical marijuana: Leon County is struggling to decide how to draft a policy that deals with medical marijuana use in schools. The expanded use of the drug was signed into law in June, but state officials have yet to provide any guidance on how school districts should deal with it. Alan Cox, assistant superintendent who oversees health services at LCS, says implementation of the law is “a bicycle that’s still being built.” Tallahassee Democrat.
School impact fees: School impact fees on new construction would decline under a proposal being presented to the St. Johns County School Board and county commissioners this week. The fee on a 2,000-square-foot home would drop from $6,581 to $4,510. Fees on homes over 3,751 square feet would increase. St. Augustine Record.
Schedule change: Budget concerns prompt Volusia County school officials to back off a promise to bring an eight-block schedule to Atlantic High School this year. Under the plan, students would have attended the same set of four classes Mondays and Thursdays, and another four-class set Tuesdays and Friday. Each class would be 90 minutes. Wednesdays, students would take all eight classes. Instead, students will attend the traditional schedule of seven periods a day. A letter went out to parents July 25, and many are unhappy with the last-minute change. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Back to school: School districts prepare for new state laws and see local changes as the school year nears. Sun-Sentinel. Bradenton Herald. St. Augustine Record.
Driver’s education: Driver’s education in Santa Rosa County schools will be all classwork after a car dealer decided to stop leasing cars to the district. Pete Moore Chevrolet officials say they’re withdrawing from the program because of the risk of students driving on public roads. No other dealer is willing to lease cars to the district, which may consider building a closed driving course. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Personnel moves: Antonio Burt, who led the effort to improve several failing elementary schools in Pinellas County for almost two years, is hired as assistant superintendent to turn around a group of low-performing schools in Shelby County, Tenn. Gradebook.
Transfer policy: High school coaches in northwest Florida worry about the effect the state’s open-enrollment law will have on their programs. Pensacola News Journal.
No charges for principal: Prosecutors say Lake Minneola High School principal Linda Shepherd-Miller won’t be charged for not immediately reporting an alleged sexual relationship between the band director and a student. Shepherd-Miller heard about the relationship from a parent in mid-June, but didn’t confront Jon North until July 18. North admitted the allegation and resigned. He was arrested the next day. Orlando Sentinel.
Employee arrested: An employee at a Jupiter school is arrested and accused of molesting a 4-year-old. Leonard White, 34, is charged with lewd and lascivious behavior. Palm Beach Post.
Complaint against teacher: A criminal complaint is filed against a Kenwood Elementary School teacher for abusing students. Marlynn Stillions is alleged to have “inappropriately” sprayed disabled students in the mouth with vinegar as punishment in 2016. The Okaloosa County School District investigated an allegation against Stillions, but was unsuccessful in trying to discipline her. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Opinions on schools: Citizens of Florida must pay close attention to the work of the Constitution Revision Commission and be prepared to inform citizens. We must stop the movement to allow profiteering off of public education in our state. Mark J. Castellano, Fort Myers News-Press. Tips from an expert for parents about school lunches. Michael Joe Murphy, Orlando Sentinel. Parents don’t expect too much from schools, do they? Robert Urban, Orlando Sentinel. Will an educator seriously injured while driving drunk discuss with his students how he was hurt, and what he may have learned about how a normally responsible person can become so very stupid and dangerous with the help of enough alcohol? Tom Lyons, Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Don’t transgender students have it tough enough without worrying about what bathrooms they can use? Nell Toensmann, St. Augustine Record. The problem with the views of some people backing “competency-based education” is that they legitimize the idea that students should learn on their own in front of a computer screen, attended to only by inexpensive educational technicians who have little or no understanding of the subject that a student is presumably learning. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Student enrichment: Teachers in Clay County launch a drive to give 40,000 free books to low-income children in the school district. Florida Times-Union. More than 700 teachers received free supplies from the Duval Teachers Supply Depot. Florida Times-Union.
