Around the state: Several people were reportedly injured during a security scare at a vigil for Israel on the University of Florida campus on Monday night, Duval’s public school enrollment is down by about 10,000 students this year, Hillsborough teachers and the district reach a contract agreement, an accrediting agency is faulting Broward College for failing on 22 of 40 areas measured, substitute teachers in Miami-Dade now need just a high school diploma or a GED, and a radio personality’s personal finance textbook and materials were approved in Pasco County schools even after district reviewers decided not to recommend them for use. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Requirements to become a substitute teacher in the district have been lowered for the second time in the past six years. Prior to 2017, subs had to have completed at least 60 hours of college credit, which is nearly equivalent to an associate’s degree, and be at least 19 years old. In 2017 the standards were lowered to 18-year-olds with 30 hours of college credit. Over the summer, the district outsourced hiring of management of subs to Kelly Education Services, and the standard was again lowered, this time to anyone 18 or older who has a high school diploma or passed the GED exam. The shift in standards coincides with a shortage of both teachers and subs. Miami Herald.
Hillsborough: A contract agreement has been reached between the school district and the teachers union that will provide increases at each step level and bonuses ranging from $500 to $2,500. The increases are retroactive to July 1, and the deal still must be approved by union members and the school board. WFTS. WTSP. Locally grown produce is starting to make it to school lunches in district schools through a partnership with the nonprofit Locally Grown. Last week, 50,000 ears of sweet corn was served in schools, and this month the district is planning to serve locally grown green beans. Locally Grown president Jenna Kaczmarski said the program is still in its pilot stage, and the group wants to provide more opportunities for students to garden or farm on a small scale. WUSF.
Duval, northeast Florida: Public school enrollment is down by about 10,000 students this year after two years of steady growth, say Duval school officials. They attribute the decline to the state’s new universal school voucher program. Neighboring northeast Florida school districts still reported enrollment growth, but at lower rates than in the past. St. Johns school enrollment was up 8 percent in 2021, but just 3 percent this year, and Clay County added just 25 students this year after an increase of 650 in 2022. WTLV.
Pasco: A personal finance book written by radio personality Dave Ramsey was approved for use in the district even though a review team of academics and parents found problems with it and did not recommend its use, according to a review of district documents. Three of the four reviewers concluded that the textbook and materials didn’t meet the district’s standards. The materials were also approved by the state this year after being rejected last year. Starting this year, students must complete a half-credit course in financial literacy as a requirement for graduation. WUSF.
Osceola: Teachers union officials meet with the school district today to continue negotiations over how much to raise coaching supplements. Average hourly pay for head football coaches is less than $10 an hour, according to the union, and the $4,111 supplement they receive is the lowest amount for their sport compared with others in nearby Orange, Seminole, Lake, Volusia and Brevard counties. An increase would “address their increased workload and certificates earned,” say union officials. Orlando Sentinel.
Sarasota: A pilot project is using play-based phonics to try to improve reading scores for about 17,000 Sarasota and Manatee students who are performing below grade level. Rocket Phonics is a Sarasota-based nonprofit started by a California physician who was trying to help his then 5-year-old daughter. WUSF.
St. Lucie: A 14-year-old boy riding his bicycle to his Port St. Lucie school bus stop Monday morning was seriously injured when he was hit by a car. Police said the boy was not wearing a helmet when he was traveling in the opposite direction as the car on a road with no sidewalks. He was flown to a hospital. TCPalm. A former teacher at Port St. Lucie High School and assistant principal at the Somerset College Preparatory Academy charter high school in Port St. Lucie was arrested Monday and accused of sexual battering a high school student. The charges against Ovidio Rivera, 53, stem from an incident that took place six years ago at Port St. Lucie High, police said. WPTV. WPEC.
Okaloosa, Walton: Construction has begun on renovations of buildings at Longwood Elementary School in Okaloosa County, and on a dual enrollment and workforce development center in Walton County in a partnership between Northwest Florida State College and Seacoast Collegiate High School. Northwest Florida Daily News.
Charlotte: Four county high school students have been named commended students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are: Oliver Hegarty of Charlotte High School, Gabriel B. Deguzman of Port Charlotte High, and Beau Charbonneau and Wiley Paver from Lemon Bay High. Charlotte Sun.
Flagler: A 16-year-old student at Matanzas High School was arrested last week and charged with battery on a school official after biting a school employee who tried to break up her fight with another student. The employee was bitten several times on the forearm by the student, breaking the skin. WOFL. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WKMG.
Monroe: At today’s meeting, shool board members will consider approving revisions to the five-year capital plan. Some projects would be moved up on the schedule and some would be done later than previously scheduled. The order of the work depends heavily on the collection of funds from the half-cent tax and millage approved by voters, district officials say. Key West Citizen.
Colleges and universities: A security scare at a candlelight vigil for Israel at the University of Florida on Monday night led to as many as 30 people being hospitalized when the crowd of 1,000 quickly dispersed and some people were knocked to the ground and trampled. Gainesville Sun. Main Street Daily News. WCJB. WJXT. Broward College failed in 22 of 40 areas measured in an April review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accrediting agency. The deficiencies ranged from a lack of credentials for dozens of faculty and administrators including former president Gregory Haile, to a lack of student resources and oversight from its board of trustees. The agency is visiting the college again this week to see if progress has been made in correcting the issues, and will decide in December whether to issue sanctions, such as a warning or probation. Sun-Sentinel. Nine acres of bayfront property that Manatee County commissioners planned to donate to the University of South Florida may now go to New College for student housing. Negotiations with USF stalled, prompting the commission’s reconsideration. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida State University sororities and fraternities would not be permitted in the central urban district under a proposed amendment to the land development code. The move was prompted by complaints about the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity’s move into the East College Avenue community. Tallahassee Democrat.
Around the nation: The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board has approved a contract to open the first religious public charter school in the country. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s application was approved in June but has already been challenged in court. The school is scheduled to open in 2024. KFOR. There are about 900,000 fewer babies in the United States now than there were five years ago, according to 2023 State of Babies Yearbook published by the nonprofit organization Zero to Three. The decline in the birth rate is having an effect on K-12 enrollment and budgets, which is leading districts to close schools or consider doing so. K-12 Dive.
Opinions on schools: Banning books is not about literature. It’s about denial and repression, and every Floridian who believes in freedom has a duty to speak out against it. Sun-Sentinel.
