Around the state: New superintendents in Broward and Brevard talk about their plans for their school districts, exploding growth is straining the St. Lucie and Hernando school districts, Pinellas selects a developer to build affordable apartments for school employees in downtown St. Petersburg, work experience can be used as an alternative certification substitute to postsecondary education requirements for public employees under a bill signed last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Palm Beach County School Board is asking the state Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling that the district has to make retroactive payments to charter schools of revenues from a tax hike approved by voters in 2018, and Miami-Dade school board members are considering requiring schools to notify board members if they plan to ban or restrict books. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A proposal to require schools to notify the school board and district staff when a complaint results in the reassignment or removal of a book will be considered by board members. It was filed after the Bob Graham Education Center K-8 school barred elementary students from accessing four books and the poem read at President Biden’s inauguration. Board chair Mari Tere Rojas said it’s “imperative that (the board and district) have an open line of communication” with parents and teachers, but also the media. “I found out about this like the rest of you,” she told told her colleagues last week about hearing the news from the media. “So anything we can enhance (the process) as we move forward is extremely important and beneficial to everyone and that’s what I believe this item is doing.” Miami Herald.
Broward: Newly named Superintendent Peter Licata talks about his plans for the district, which include improving it from a B-graded school by the state to an A, and pushing academic achievement while staying within Florida’s new laws on what can and can’t be addressed in classrooms. “We’re protecting our children first, and we’re protecting our teachers, but we also want to give them the opportunity to understand that there are certain things that shouldn’t be exposed to children at a certain age,” Licata said. “We know that, but let’s make sure we’re within those guidelines and make sure that we don’t reduce the availability of great educational materials.” WPLG.
Hillsborough: School board members meet Tuesday to discuss the appointment of an interim superintendent. Addison Davis, the superintendent for the last three-plus years, announced last week he was resigning, effective July 14. WFLA. Tampa Bay Times. Seventy-three district students have won scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. That’s three times the number who won the grants last year, said Davis. Patch.
Orange: The Rev. Randolph Bracy Jr., director of the Bethune-Cookman University School of Religion, a former NAACP Orange County president and founder of the New Covenant Baptist Church of Orlando, has died at the age of 78. WESH. WKMG. Florida Politics.
Palm Beach: The school board is asking the state Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling that the district must make retroactive payments to charter schools of revenues from a tax hike approved by voters in 2018. Ballot language specifically excluded charters from receiving any money, but two charters challenged that and won, and a later ruling approved retroactive payments. News Service of Florida. A new coalition dubbed WAR, standing for woke and ready, is protesting book bans by filing challenges to classic books such as The Great Gatsby, The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare and more. “The lack of any racial characters in those works shows there is a neglect of black children,” said Leah Gaines with the Coalition for Black Student Achievement. The NAACP’s Lynn Hubbard added, “The importance of this is to show how ridiculous the banning of books is and that a whole full-rounded education is necessary for all of our children.” It was the second time last week that books were challenged as a way to prove a point. WPTV. WPBF.
Duval: School board members are considering a series of changes to the district’s student code of conduct to align their policies on reporting crimes and use of bathrooms with state laws, and make the dress code more gender-neutral. The district was criticized by the state for failing to report at least 50 cases of alleged teacher misconduct since 2020, and a statewide grand jury said the district didn’t report more than 500 student crimes. WJCT.
Pinellas: District leaders have selected a developer to move ahead on turning a 1920s-era downtown St. Petersburg building into affordable apartments for teachers and other school workers. “To attract and retain the best teachers and district employees, we must proactively provide accessible and appealing housing choices,” said Superintendent Kevin Hendrick. The building will have 225 apartments, with 113 will be reserved for district employees who earn 90-120 percent of the area’s median income. Rents will range between $1,263 and $2,160. Tampa Bay Times. Just days after the school board approved Konrad McCree’s reappointment as principal at Bayside High School in Clearwater, he has been removed. “He is getting demoted,” said Superintendent Hendrick. “I have no comment as to why.” McCree was appointed to lead the 200-student alternative school in 2021. He’ll be replaced by Erin Savage, who just left Lakewood High after public criticism of her performance. Tampa Bay Times.
Lee: Parts of Fort Myers Beach Elementary School are now being demolished almost nine months after Hurricane Ian pounded southwest Florida. Historic parts of the school are being rebuilt, and other parts are being torn down. The school was built in 1947. Fort Myers News-Press.
Pasco: The private Saddlebrook Preparatory School, which has been accepting boarding students interested in improving their tennis and golf games since 1993, announced it is opening enrollment to academic-only local students who won’t board at the school. About 75 students are now enrolled at the school. “A lot of local residents are looking for a local private school option … and we believed … that these locals should at least take a look at Saddlebrook Prep,” said Rob Riehle, the marketing director for the Saddlebrook Resort. Neighborhood News.
Brevard: New Superintendent Mark Rendell, who started the job June 1, said his goals are to strengthen reading among students in grades 3 and below, improve discipline, fill vancancies, support students and make teachers feel valued. “We need to think of (education) like the one-room schoolhouse,” he said. “That’s the mindset we have to have, is we need to support that one teacher and that group of students.” Florida Today. WKMG.
St. Lucie: District officials are trying to keep up with rapid enrollment growth in the south part of the county. St. Lucie had 18 percent more people in 2020 than it had in 2010, and most of them are moving in and around Tradition. “All schools in the (Tradition zone) are just packed to the brim with students,” Superintendent Jon Prince recently told the school board as it discussed how to handle the explosive growth. Every school in the area is already at capacity, and developers are planning several thousand more homes in the area. Construction on a new high school and a K-8 have begun, but neither will open for several years. In the meantime, rezoning could rebalance school enrollments. TCPalm. WPEC.
Hernando: More than 12,000 homes or apartments are planned for construction in the county over the next 10 years, and that could add 7,800 students to schools. District officials predict that growth will push several schools over capacity soon, which will require redistricting, adding classroom space where possible, or building new schools. Paying for that growth could also pose a challenge. Impact fees are well below the maximum the state allows, but the county commission has been reluctant to raise those fees. Another option is asking voters to increase their taxes. Suncoast News. Hernando Sun.
Colleges and universities: Florida A&M University has named Allyson Watson as its new provost and vice president of academic affairs. Watson had been the interim provost for the past six months. Tallahassee Democrat. WTXL. Alexandria Suarez, an assistant state attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit, has been nominated for a seat on the College of the Florida Keys District Board of Trustees by Gov. DeSantis. The Florida Senate has to confirm the appointment. Office of the Governor. A former assistant professor at Florida A&M University was convicted last week of sexually abusing a child under the age of 12. Gari Tookes, 38, worked at FAMU from 2018 to August 2021. Tallahassee Democrat.
Education bills signed: Work experience can be used as an alternative certification substitute to postsecondary education requirements for public employees under a bill signed last week by Gov. DeSantis. It applies to schools, universities and other public agencies. The Capitolist. The Florida School for Competitive Academics for students in grades 6-12 will be established in Alachua County for the 2024-2025 school year after the governor signed H.B. 5101 last week. The school is intended to “provide a rigorous academic curriculum, and the secondary purpose is to prepare students for regional, state, and national academic competitions in all areas of study, including, but not limited to, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” News Service of Florida. Also recently signed was a bill that will give Hernando County voters the choice of making their school superintendent an elected position. If voters approve the measure in 2024, it would take effect for the 2028 general election. Hernando Sun.
Around the nation: Six states, including Florida, passed universal or near-universal school choice laws this year that begin in the fall. That brings the total to eight states where almost all students can use public money to attend private schools. “Private school choice is not a new thing, but what we’re seeing now is very new,” said Bella DiMarco, a policy analyst at FutureEd. “This is really the universal year.” Education Week. Florida Phoenix. About 25 percent of college teacher preparation programs are failing to properly teach all five of the key components of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension, according to a study from the National Council on Teacher Quality. And 100 programs are still using the widely debunked “three-cueing” method for teaching reading, which prompts students to guess at words by looking at a picture or the first letter of the word. Chalkbeat. School health workers say they have had little training in how to help LGBTQ+ students at a time when discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity are increasingly restricted or prohibited in schools. Education Week.
Opinions on schools: In interviews for the Broward superintendent’s job, Peter Licata projected a sense of calm and confidence that will be needed to stabilize a system that has coped for too long with dysfunction, turmoil and questions of competence. What Broward needs is a fresh start, a new beginning, a sense of turning a corner. Sun-Sentinel. New College of Florida interim president Richard Corcoran has made it known that launching a sports program is part of a master plan to attract students to a liberal arts school far more familiar with frisbees than footballs. At first blush, bringing sports to NCF seems a ridiculously poor idea borne out of financial desperation. Chris Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Warnings from the progessive left that educational choice programs will “destroy public schools” and that calls for more educational choices represent an “assault on American democracy,” progressives are missing out on opportunities to shape the debate over the future of American public education. Chad Allen, The 74.
