Voucher program data: Nearly 243,000 students have enrolled in 2,098 private schools through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scholarships under a universal school choice law that took effect this year, and 123,000 students are new to the programs, according to information released Thursday by Step Up For Students, which helps administer the state’s K-12 scholarship programs and hosts this blog. Sixty-nine percent of the new students were already attending private schools and 44 percent come from homes with an income of $120,000 or more, SUFS added in releasing some information that was sought by 31 research and advocacy organizations about the state’s program. “As we continue to analyze the data provided by Step Up For Students, what initially stands out is that roughly 7 in 10 new scholarship awards are going to students already enrolled in private school, at what FPI estimates is a $676 million cost to the state,” said officials from the Florida Policy Institute, which opposed the voucher expansion and also noted that the “money is going to subsidize tuition that families were already paying, an average of $8,000, that they can now use for other purposes.” FPI and the other organizations are still seeking other demographic information about the enrolled students, such as race and ethnicity. News Service of Florida. WMFE.
Around the state: State school districts have until the end of the month to submit their sex education lessons to the state for review, another 128 books in the Indian River County School District are being reviewed for sexual content, members of the Florida Senate staff have been meeting with statewide superintendents and school boards associations to discuss ideas on cutting regulations for public schools, Alachua school officials are being criticized for apparently creating a club for hand-picked black male students, Charlotte’s and DeSoto’s school districts are still waiting for payments from FEMA for damage done to schools by Hurricane Ian last fall, and Broward College President Greg Haile surprised trustees this week by announcing that he was resigning nearly a year before his contract expires. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Only one incumbent and five newcomers have filed to run so far for the five school board seats that are scheduled to be on the 2024 ballot. Steve Gallon III is the only incumbent to announce his intention to run for re-election to his District 1 seat, and he’s drawn no challengers so far. District 3 board member Lucia Baez-Geller has decided not to run again. Two Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees in 2022, District 5’s Daniel Espino and District 7’s Mary Blanco, have not indicated if they’re in the race, while Luisa Santos has suggested she will run for re-election but has not officially filed. Miami Herald.
St. Johns: Two school rezoning options to fill two new schools and ease overcrowding at others have been eliminated, school board members said at a meeting this week. No students living in the Shearwater and Rivertown neighborhoods will be moved into into the new schools next year. “We got so much feedback from those two groups (of parents) that it was obvious we didn’t want to move in that direction,” said school board member Beverly Slough. Still being considered is moving 400 students from Pacetti Bay Middle School to Sebastian Middle. Another meeting is scheduled Sept. 26, and the school board is expected to vote on the plan in November. WJAX.
Alachua: District officials are under fire for creating a club at Gainesville High School with 30 “hand-selected” black male students that was intended to better prepare them for graduation. The gathering violated district policy stating that clubs must be open to all eligible students, and may have violated state and federal laws by selecting participants based on their race and/or gender. The initial name of Club G.A.I.N. was discontinued after a parent complained, and Superintendent Shane Andrew now says the meeting was part of another statewide initiative that allows districts to select male students who are minorities, called Pre-Collegiate. The incident is expected to be discussed at the Sept. 19 school board meeting. Gainesville Sun.
Indian River: Another 128 school district library books have been challenged by the local chapter of the Moms for Liberty and are under review. Those that contain sexual content will be removed, school officials told the school board this week. Another 14 books are being reviewed for potentially containing critical race theory content. “That puts us in a good place of adhering to what is in state law and making sure that of the 100,000 books we have, they all are aligned with state law,” said Superintendent David Moore. TCPalm.
Charlotte, DeSoto: Nearly a year after Hurricane Ian damaged schools in Charlotte and DeSoto counties, the school districts are still waiting on $11.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover the damages. Charlotte is still owed $8.3 million and DeSoto $2.2 million, according to U.S. representatives Greg Steube and Scott Franklin. In a letter to FEMA, the representatives called the delay “unacceptable … These school districts have been waiting 7 months to have these funds obligated. FEMA and its Consolidated Resource Center have had the documentation in their offices since February 2023.” Charlotte Sun.
Citrus: In 2018, the Citrus County Education Foundation opened a free store on the campus of Withlacoochee Technical College to help teachers “shop” for classroom items that they otherwise would have bought at a regular store with their own money. The Suncoast Credit Union Supplies 4 Success started with a few shelves of materials in a small room, but has grown to a large former classroom with rows and rows of folders, crayons, glue, pencils and paper as well as clothing and toiletries for students in need and a special room with items for homeless students. “In a lot of ways it’s sad that we need something like this, but we’re so happy that we can do this,” said Tiffani King, the foundation’s assistant director. Citrus County Chronicle.
Colleges and universities: Broward College President Greg Haile surprised school trustees Wednesday night by announcing that he was resigning nearly a year before his contract expires. Thursday, the trustees asked him to reconsider and decided to hold off on accepting or rejecting the resignation. Haile, 45, has been president of the school since 2018, and gave no reasons for his decision. His letter mentioned three new trustees who were appointed in February by Gov. DeSantis, and some trustees have expressed concern about a decline in enrollment from 28,000 in 2018 to 21,000 last year and questioned Haile’s decision this summer not to renew the contract for John Dunnuck, senior vice president of finance and operations. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. WSVN. Indian River State College has announced plans to build a data campus on 205 acres in Okeechobee that was previously used by the Okeechobee School for Boys. Okee-One will be used as a learning space for students and employers for IRSC alumni and local residents. TCPalm. Stetson University has received a $15.4 million gift from Mary McMahan, who died in June at the age of 90. The money will be split between the Volusia County students scholarship program McMahan and her late husband Richard created and an endowment for the music school. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Sex ed lesson plans due: School districts have until Sept. 30 to submit the sex education lesson lessons they plan to use this school year. A memo from the Florida Department of Education dated Sept. 8 informed districts to submit instructional material used to teach reproductive health, any sexually transmitted disease including HIV/AIDS, and all materials that include instruction on human sexuality. The memo also reminds superintendents that the law requires districts to teach that “biological males impregnate biological females by fertilizing the female egg with male sperm; that the female then gestates the offspring; and that these reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable.” This is the first year districts have to submit their plans to the state for a review. Tallahassee Democrat.
Cutting regulation: Members of the Florida Senate staff have been meeting with statewide superintendents and school boards associations to discuss ideas on cutting regulations for public schools. As the universal school choice bill was being written, superintendents were asked what changes could be included in the bill that would help them. The answer was to loosen up on the regulations that charter and private schools don’t have to follow. “Just give us a fair chance. That’s all we ask,” said Bill Montford, CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. Among the suggestions being considered are lifting the requirements on testing, school grades and other areas that apply to school districts but not charter schools or “high performing” districts, killing the state’s per-student station cap on school construction, giving districts more flexibility on the window to adopt new instructional materials, and reconsidering the state’s mandatory 3rd-grade retention rule. The state Board of Education has until Nov. 1 to make recommendations to revise the law. Tampa Bay Times.
Florida schools honored: Six Florida schools and two national networks with a strong presence in the state have been selected as quarterfinalists for the Yass Prize that reward innovation in education, with a focus on underserved populations. They are: Career Academy of the Palm Beaches; Center for Creative of Education, West Palm Beach; G-Star School of the Arts, West Palm Beach; CREATE Academy, Mount Dora; Eco-Collective Farm School Inc., Melbourne; Indi-ED, St. Petersburg; Cristo Rey Network; and the Optima Academy Online, a national VR-school based in Naples. Each wins $100,000 for making the quarterfinals. Thirty-two semifinalists win $200,000 each and advance to the final round Dec. 13, where one school will win $1 million. reimaginED.
Around the nation: Educational enterpreneurs around the country are struggling with local laws that prevent them from starting alternative schools such as microschools. reimaginED. The federal money schools received during the pandemic is almost gone, and there won’t be any more. That’s going to lead to a “funding cliff” in school budgets. How much is unknown, but education experts say high-poverty schools are likely to take the biggest hit. Chalkbeat.
Opinions on schools: While women outnumber men on campuses, their numbers dwindle in engineering and computer science, majors that lead to high-paying jobs. Here’s what we can do. Paul Cottle, Tampa Bay Times.
