Around the state: Broward’s school board votes to close at least five schools by the fall of 2025 and pay charter schools $108 million in a legal settlement, Seminole school board members approve a list of 17 construction projects that will be done if voters renew the county’s 1-cent infrastructure sales tax in November, Miami-Dade’s school board asks district officials to analyze the new rules allowing student-athletes to be paid, Alachua’s school board is considering a proposal to make 50 percent the lowest score a student can get on an assignment, and the mother of a Broward transgender student says the district’s investigation into her participation on a high school girls sports team destroyed her daughter’s life. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: School board members asked Superintendent Jose Dotres at Tuesday’s meeting to analyze the Florida High School Athletic Association’s new rule allowing high school student athletes to be paid for use of their name, image, and likeness. The board wants to know how the rule will work and if existing policies need to be amended. Board member Steve Gallon said the rule is “out there with no guidance,” and he’s worried about the “potential for exploitation.” Miami Herald. Activists gathered outside Tuesday’s school board meeting to protest what they call the diversion of public funds to finance school voucher programs. Miami Herald. A Christian advocacy group played a prominent role in writing the school board’s policy allowing prayers to open board meetings, according to emails obtained by national progressive watchdog group True North Research. Axios.
Broward: School board members voted 7-2 Tuesday to close at least five schools by the fall of 2025 because of declining enrollment and to save millions of dollars. The names of the schools are expected to be revealed in September. Miami Herald. WPLG. WSVN. WTVJ. A settlement that will pay $108 million to charter schools by 2027 also was approved by the board. The charters had sued, alleging they hadn’t received their fair share of money from a voter-approved tax for teacher pay and school security. Miami Herald. The mother of a transgender student who created an uproar by competing with the girls high school volleyball team told the school board Tuesday that the district’s outing of the child and subsequent investigation has destroyed her life. Jessica Norton, an information management specialist and a coach at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, said, “District leadership tried to ruin my life, but instead destroyed the life of an innocent 16-year-old girl, then destroyed her high school career and her lifelong memories and experiences.” Norton could be fired for violating a 2021 state law by allowing her daughter to play. Sun Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. WFOR. WTVJ.
Hillsborough: School board members are moving forward with a new cell phone policy that bans elementary and middle school students from using their phones during the school day, and allows high schoolers to use their phones only at lunch. A notice of the change will be published soon and parents will be notified shortly and asked for their input. A final board vote is set for July, with the policy in place by the time schools reopen in August. Spectrum News 9. WFLA. Administrator Melody Mendoza has been named principal of Dunbar Elementary, a science magnet school in West Tampa, starting July 1. She replaces Cynthia Crim, who is now the leader of Palm River Elementary. Tampa Bay Times.
Palm Beach: All school district offices, summer schools and local colleges are closed today for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. WPTV.
Duval: District officials told school board members Tuesday that the mental telehealth program that was expanded into 20 schools this past academic year will be in 30 this fall. The district’s mental health plan has to be submitted to the state by Aug. 1. WJXT.
Pasco: Five schools are getting new principals: Jennifer Jaworski at Anclote Elementary in New Port Richey; Amy Denney-Haskedakes at Pine View Elementary in Land O’Lakes; Tammy Berryhill at Richey Elementary in New Port Richey; Wendy Lane at Cox Elementary School in Dade City; and Jodi Legg at Woodland Elementary in Zephyrhills. Tampa Bay Times.
Seminole: Seventeen school construction projects are on a district to-do list if voters renew the county’s 1-cent infrastructure sales tax in November. The district’s share of the 10-year tax is projected to be $325 million. Eleven elementary and four middle schools made the list, along with Lake Howell and Winter Springs high schools. About $18 million of the revenues would go toward buying laptops and tablets. Orlando Sentinel. A revised student code of conduct that creates penalties for students who submit artificial intelligence-generated work without credit or consent got the school board’s tentative approval Tuesday. WKMG.
Alachua: A school district proposal to raise the lowest possible score for students on any assignment to 50 percent, even if no work is turned in, drew a mixed reception at a school board meeting. The idea is part of the district’s proposed student progression plan. WCJB. A complaint against Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe for having city staff work on the project to convert three public schools in the city into charters and violating the Sunshine Law has been dismissed by the Florida Commission on Ethics. Commissioners said there was a lack of legal sufficiency “adequate to allege a violation of the code of ethics or other laws within the commission’s jurisdiction.” Mainstreet Daily News.
Walton: County commissioners agreed Tuesday to back a $40 million bond that will help Seacoast Collegiate High School in Santa Rosa Beach expand. The campus is home to both the high school and Northwest Florida State College’s South Walton Center, and the expansion will add three buildings — one for the high school students, one for the college students, and one for a mix of the two. The expected completion date is August 2025. WJHG.
Sumter: Wildwood city commissioners have voted 4-1 to provide crossing guards for The Village Charter School in the Middleton neighborhood after the school agreed to pay half the costs. The Villages News.
Colleges and universities: A Leon County judge has rejected a motion to dismiss from the Atlantic Coast Conference in a lawsuit brought by Florida State University over its attempt to leave the ACC. County Judge John C. Cooper said the ACC can be sued in the state because it does significant business in Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Tampa Bay Times. Northwest Florida State College trustees have chosen senior vice president Cristie Kedroski as the interim president, starting July 6. She steps in for Devin Stephenson, who is leaving to become president of Florida Polytechnic University. Kedroski will be paid at a rate of $250,000 a year. Trustees also agreed to spend nearly $70,000 to hire a firm to help with the presidential search. News Service of Florida. Mid Bay News. Florida A&M University is receiving $50 million from the state budget to improve student graduation and retention rates, recruit and retain faculty, support the school’s nursing program, expand the engineering college and more. WFSU. WTXL.
Around the nation: Thirty-five states, including Florida, have laws saying students have a right to attend high school until they’re at least 20. But an undercover investigation testing the enrollment practices of more than 600 U.S. high schools found about 300, including at least eight in Florida, that refused to admit a register a 19-year-old Venezuelan transplant who spoke little English and whose education had been interrupted. “I’m not surprised that (older immigrant students) are routinely rejected,” said Adam Strom, founding director of Re-Imagining Migration. “I’m surprised by how high the percentage is. That’s shocking.” The 74.
Opinions on schools: Florida needs to do a better job of making the teaching profession more attractive so it can retain the strong math and science teachers already in public school classrooms. If the state can keep more of these teachers in the profession by paying more and allowing them to teach with the necessary rigor required, the shortage will not be as severe. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
