Around the state: A day after being chosen as acting president of Broward College, Henry Mack III withdrew when he couldn’t reach a contract agreement with trustees, Flagler’s sheriff says the school district lost $719,000 when an electronic payment to a vendor was diverted, Osceola County School Board member Julius Melendez has been charged with serving alcohol to an 18-year-old girl and forcibly kissing her, a contract giving Palm Beach County teachers raises of 7 percent on average is approved by the school board, Alachua’s school board votes 4-1 to declare October as LGBTQ History Month, and for the first time a book has been removed from Alachua school bookshelves after a complaint. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Millions of dollars in donations from famous book authors will allow the free speech organization PEN America to open a Florida center in Miami before the end of the year to fight book-banning in the state’s schools and libraries. “PEN America’s new Miami-based office will allow us to respond faster and more effectively to censorship threats through grassroots organizing and targeted policy engagement,” said spokeswoman Suzanne Trimel. Among the authors involved are Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Judy Blume, Suzanne Collins and poet Amanda Gorman. USA Today Florida Network. Associated Press. The district has welcomed about 20,000 immigrant students within the past school year and has created programs to help support them. An English language immersion program was started over the summer, ESOL classes have been scheduled just for newcomers, and class sizes are being kept small so space will be available for as more immigrant students arrive. “I was them,” said Ponce de Leon Middle School teacher and mentor Yuneisy Morell. “I came from Cuba when I was 10. So my experience as an ESOL learner … I think I kind of channel that in the classroom. And it’s just showing them my experience and telling them — I did it. It’s possible.” WLRN.
Broward: District officials asked the Broward legislative delegation Wednesday for additional funding to create a school district police force, raise teacher pay and improve the district’s grade from the state from a B to an A. “It always starts with funding. Give us an opportunity to work our budgets a little bit more, so we’re supplying the best education for our children,” said Superintendent Peter Licata. “We’ve got to talk about how we fund our schools, making sure we’re funding the right places, make sure we’re supporting our schools to be the safest. Broward County should be the beacon for school safety as we look into our own police force, we’d really like some assistance on that.” WTVJ.
Orange: An Apopka High School science teacher has been arrested and is accused of sexually battering a teenager. Detectives said Dmitri Kostyunina, 50, gave the teenager chocolate gummies “that had a weird taste,” wine and more chocolate before sexually battering him at his home on Mount Dora. Kostyunina has been placed on administrative leave. WOFL. WKMG. WESH.
Palm Beach: A new contract that provides 7 percent raises for teachers, on average, was approved Wednesday by the school board. The deal between the district and the union also provides teachers with bonuses of $1,500 or 3 percent of their salary, whichever is higher, and improves starting pay to $51,500. School administrators and non-instructional staff will receive 5 percent raises and the same bonuses as teachers. The raises are retroactive to July 1. WPTV. WPEC. Every district high school will soon have metal detectors, Superintendent Michael Burke said Wednesday. Four high schools started the year with detectors, and Burke said the program is working well and will be expanded. WPTV. School board members are standing by their 2022 firing of a former Canal Point Elementary School teacher who cursed at a special education student and told a 3rd-grader that they were “stupid.” An administrative judge said Diane Baumann’s offenses didn’t warrant her firing, but his recommendation that she be rehired was rejected by the board Wednesday. WPEC.
Osceola: School board member Julius Melendez has been charged with serving alcohol to an 18-year-old girl and forcibly kissing her. Deputies said the investigation into the behavior of Melendez, 45, began in July after a complaint from the school district. The girl worked for Melendez, who was her manager at a cafe in Kissimmee, according to deputies. Melendez told the girl she could stay at his home after she said she was having trouble with her family. There, she told deputies, he served her drinks, touched her shoulders, arms and thighs without her consent, then “forcibly” kissed her. WFTV.
Volusia: A 15-year-old Deltona High School has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of fentanyl and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was caught vaping in a school bathroom, according to sheriff’s deputies. The boy ran from the school when he was confronted in the bathroom, but was later found in his home. WOFL.
St. Johns: A former day-care employee has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of students in 2022. Anthony Guadalupe, now 20, worked at Chappell Schools’ Longleaf campus when he was arrested. His next court appearance is Dec. 6. WJAX. WTLV.
Sarasota: School board members continue to debate the viability of new school board districts to replace the ones that went into effect just two years ago. The board voted 4-1 to spend $39,000 for a consultant to recommend new districts. Kurt Spitzer and Associates will present its findings to the board Oct. 10. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A private elementary school that emphasizes self-paced, competency-based learning is set to open next year in the Sarasota community of Newtown. Star Lab will start with a kindergarten class, and add a grade every year until it’s K-5. Founder Alison Rini said the school will emphasize “learning and joy.” reimaginED. A student at Woodland Middle School in North Port was arrested Wednesday and accused of having a weapon on campus. The student was taken into custody without incident. Charlotte Sun. WWSB. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Escambia: New district teachers are receiving boxes of free school supplies this week through the Tools for Teachers store launched by the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation. Boxes include 12 bottles of hand sanitizer, 24 sticks of glue, six-dozen pencils, a box of bandages, six packs of coloring pencils, snacks, dry erase markers, five reams of paper, six rolls of paper towels, 100-gallon size zip lock bags, and six-dozen pencils, said Jo McArthur, executive director of the foundation. “It eases my mind because one, I don’t have to use my own money to go get stuff and that can take a toll on my bank account,” said Ferry Pass Elementary School 1st-grade teacher Lauren Kreis. “Number two, all these kids come from different homes, so it’s good that they have all the materials that they need to succeed.” WUWF.
Alachua: School board members voted 4-1 this week to proclaim October as LGBTQ History Month. Board member Kay Abbitt voted against the recognition, saying proclamations are “random” and that “we have more important things to do.” Colleague Sarah Rockwell said the disagreement surprised her. “Making this proclamation will not change some of the state statutes that make it harder for us to support our LGBTQ youth and faculty and staff members, but it does make a statement that as a board we care about those members of our community and we are going to do the best we can by them within the confines of the statutes,” she said. Gainesville Sun. For the first time, district officials have removed a book from school libraries after receiving a complaint from a parent. Crystal Marull, 44, a University of Florida professor and coordinator of the online Spanish program at UF, complained that the book Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out included passages that were sexually explicit. Marull also challenged four other books that were not removed by school review committees. WUFT.
Flagler: Sheriff Rick Staly said a thief stole $719,583 from the school district through an electronic funds transfer, and said the money is unlikely to be recovered because of the time lapse between the transfer and the discovery that it was fraudulent. The payment was made Sept. 22, and the vendor who was supposed to get the money called the district Oct. 2 to say the payment hadn’t arrived. The money was intended for a vendor working on the $22.6 million expansion at Matanzas High School. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Flagler Live. WKMG. WOFL. WESH.
Colleges and universities: A day after being named acting president of Broward College, Henry Mack III withdrew “following an inability to come to terms on his compensation and the duration of his contract,” according to a college spokesperson. College officials said Mack wanted a contract for a year paying $400,000, while the college offered a six-month contract paying between $250,000 and $350,000. Trustees then turned to the runner-up, Barbara Bryan, 67, a retired Broward College administrator who agreed to a six-month contract with an annual salary of $287,004. She started Wednesday. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Politico Florida. Florida Phoenix. WLRN. Florida Politics. News Service of Florida. Members of the state university system Board of Governors’ strategic planning committee were critical Wednesday of an anonymous analysis by two University of Florida business faculty questioning the viability of New College’s business plan. “I can’t function as a board member, and I don’t think any of us can, if we get into the habit of calling anonymous faculty to opine on the plans of other institutions. I can see where that becomes a slippery slope, and it can get really messy,” said committee chair Alan Levine. News Service of Florida. Florida Polytechnic University has announced plans to build its third academic building. Construction on the $15 million Gary C. Wendt Engineering Building begins next spring and is projected to be completed by the summer of 2025. Lakeland Ledger. Florida State University will start a woman’s lacrosse program in the spring of 2026, after a 2022 report that the school was out of compliance with Title IX laws. Associated Press.
