Around the state: Broward charter schools would receive $108 million in a settlement being considered today by the school board, Florida professors fight back against the state’s argument that it can control what is said in university classrooms, a new superintendent in Broward meant a different outcome for six high school administrators who were scheduled to be punished for letting a transgender student play for the girls volleyball team, school renovations are planned or underway in Leon, Santa Rosa and Dixie counties, and about $10,000 worth of playground equipment just installed at a Jacksonville school for children with autism was stolen last weekend. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Charter schools would be paid $108 million by the school board as a settlement of a legal fight over money the district has received from a 2018 referendum for teacher pay, safety and security and mental health. The charters sued last October after contending they weren’t given their fair share of the $455 million collected over four years. School officials were trying to settle the suit when the state Board of Education intervened in March to say the district was out of compliance with state law by withholding money from charters. Approval of the settlement is expected at today’s board meeting. Sun Sentinel. Six Monarch High School administrators faced three-day suspensions after a transgender student was allowed to play with the girls volleyball team last fall. But then there was a change in superintendents and the new superintendent, Howard Hepburn, overruled that decision. All six were cleared, though one has been recommended for termination. A district spokesman wouldn’t explain the reason for the change. Sun Sentinel.
Duval: Members of the community continued to vent during a meeting Monday against the district’s master facility plan that could close up to 30 schools. Declining enrollment has left dozens of schools with open seats, and the district has proposed the closings as a way to reduce a projected $1.4 billion budget gap. Supporters wore shirts with their school’s colors but the same message: Save Our School. “We want the school board and the staff and superintendent to hear that we are not going away, and we will be a part of this process,” said Colleen November, an Atlantic Beach Elementary parent. WTLV. Playground equipment that was just installed at a Jacksonville school for children with autism was stolen over the weekend. Staff members of the Growing Together Behavioral Center reported the theft Monday morning at the school’s new location on Art Museum Drive. Police valued the equipment at up to $10,000, which makes the crime grand theft. WTLV.
Lee: Shirley Watson, a longtime teacher and administrator who became the first black principal of Sanibel Elementary School and the first principal of Sunshine Elementary School in Lehigh Acres, has died at the age of 98 in Kentucky. Mama Shirley, as she was affectionately called, also taught in Hillsborough, Broward, Manatee and Collier counties. Fort Myers News-Press.
Marion: District 1 school board member Allison Campbell and her Aug. 20 opponent, former school board member Beth McCall, answer questions about their qualifications to hold office and what they hope to accomplish if they win a four-year term. Ocala Gazette.
Leon: A $44 million renovation has begun at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee. The three-year project has “been a long time coming,” said principal Zelena O’Banner. “The first step will be completing the cafeteria.” Work on the new gym starts once the cafeteria is finished, followed by construction of a two-story classroom building. Upgrades are also scheduled for Nims Middle and Hartsfield Elementary schools. Money from the half-cent sales tax and the school capital fund is being used to pay for the work. WTXL. Tallahassee Democrat.
Santa Rosa: If Walton County commissioners approve backing a $40 million bond at today’s meeting, Seacoast Collegiate High School in Santa Rosa Beach can move ahead with an expansion plan to house an additional 200 freshmen and sophomores and offer dual-enrollment courses from Northwest Florida State College that would be open to students in both Santa Rosa and Walton counties. The expansion would open in the fall of 2025. WMBB.
Flagler: Flagler is one of five Florida school districts testing cameras placed on the back of school buses to record details of vehicles illegally passing buses that are picking up or dropping off students. When buses stop, lights flash and an arm with a stop side pops out. Violators are mailed tickets. A report from the National Association of State Directors or Pupil Transportation Services says drivers across the nation illegally pass stopped school buses more than 242,000 times a day. WTLV. WJXT.
Dixie: Ruth Rains Middle School in Cross City will be undergoing $7 million in repairs that will close the school and move students when schools reopen in August. Rising 6th-graders will stay at their current elementary schools, and 7th- and 8th-graders will move to a middle school wing of Dixie County High School. WCJB.
Colleges and universities: Professors suing the state over the speech restrictions outlined in the state’s “Stop WOKE Act” are pushing back against the state’s argument to an appeals court that it can censor what professors say in college classrooms. Because public university professors are employees of the state, attorneys for the state argued Friday, “the government can restrict professors on a content-wide basis and they can restrict them from offering viewpoints that are contrary.” Leroy Pernell, a law professor at Florida A&M University, said, “This type of approach is something we don’t associate with a free country. This shouldn’t be expected in an educational system.” No ruling on the appeal is expected for months. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. A doctoral program in computing is being added to the University of North Florida this fall. Courses will focus on intelligent systems and cybersecurity. Jacksonville Today. Northwest Florida State College trustees are expected today to choose a firm to help search for a new president. Devin Stephenson was chosen in April to become president of Florida Polytechnic University. News Service of Florida.
Around the nation: A federal judge in Kentucky has blocked the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules that extends discrimination protection to gender identity. “At bottom, the (education) department would turn Title IX on its head by redefining ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity.’ But ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ do not mean the same thing,” wrote Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky. Florida Phoenix. Social media should be tagged with a warning label that it “is associated with significant mental health harms in adolescents,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. Education Week.
Opinions on schools: A great many teachers have had it with administration and bureaucracy and yearn to run a school of their own. Our policies must avoid anti-competitive provisions if we are going to give them the opportunity they deserve. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. Books that have been banned tell stories of teen problems and resolutions. They offer teens ways to improve behavior through discussions at school and home. They invite and encourage parental discussion and involvement in their students’ education. Christopher Adams, Florida Today. While America’s historic status owes much to the contributions of higher education, the current level of politicization poses a significant threat to its core mission. This begs the question, for what purpose? Frank A. Fear, Fort Myers News-Press. Statewide, a big slice of property taxes earmarked for education capital expenses is unfairly allocated only to local school districts. Parents who send their children to charter or private schools receive a fraction of local property taxes designated for schools. It’s time to make equitable funding our policy for every student, in Florida and across the United States. Erika Donalds, Tampa Bay Times.
