High school NIL approved: Florida high school athletes can now be paid for the use of the names, images and likenesses, the Florida High School Athletic Association decided Tuesday in a unanimous vote. Athletes and their parents will have to “negotiate any NIL activities independent of their school, school district, or the FHSAA,” and the policy change allows students to hire agents. The changes take effect for the 2024-2025 school year. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Times-Union. Palm Beach Post. WKMG. WFTV. WTVT. WFSU. Florida Phoenix. MaxPreps. The FHSAA also voted in favor of creating eight-team championship divisions for all team sports, starting in the fall of 2026. MaxPreps rankings would be used to create the divisions, and there would be no changes to other divisions. Florida Times-Union.
Around the state: A Broward school employee whose transgender child was at the center of a controversy by playing high school volleyball for a girls team could be fired, a Pinellas review committee labels a book as “pornographic” and bans it from school bookshelves, a Flagler County School Board member says she will resign before November, Palm Beach County’s school board will begin discussing options for later middle and high school start times, and a Lee County charter school announces it is delaying opening a year to August 2025 because of financial issues. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: The mother of a transgender student at Monarch High School whose participation on the girls volleyball team caused controversy could be fired from her job next month. Jessica Norton, an information management specialist at the Coconut Creek high school, was one of five administrators placed on leave after it was discovered that her child played on Monarch’s volleyball team. The other four were eventually cleared, but Norton could be fired for violating a state law banning anyone born male from playing girls sports. Norton and her child filed a lawsuit against the state and the district in 2021 that is still pending. Sun Sentinel. WSVN. Activities of school board members, district employees and the superintendent would fall under the investigative authority of the Broward Office of the Inspector General if voters approve the change to the county charter Nov. 5. Sun Sentinel.
Hillsborough: Six more schools will get new principals after the school board approved their appointments Tuesday: Wendy Rauld at Farnell Middle School, Keisha Dixon at Greco Middle, Theresa Bode at Chiaramonte Elementary, Cynthia Crim at Palm River Elementary, Christina Copeland at Shaw Elementary, and Michelle Pryor at Shore Elementary. Tampa Bay Times.
Palm Beach: Three options to comply with a state law requiring later start times for middle and high schools will be discussed at today’s school board workshop meeting. By the fall of 2026, the law says, middle schools may start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Option 1 starts elementary schools at 7:30, high schools at 8:45 and high schools at 10:15. Option 2 leads off with middle schools at 8, high schools at 9:15 and elementaries at 9:45. Option 3 has high schools starting at 8:30, elementaries at 9 and middle schools at 10:20. A final decision isn’t expected until next May. Palm Beach Post.
Duval: A graduation ceremony was held Monday for seniors at Englewood High School in Jacksonville. Florida Times-Union.
Pinellas: A district book review committee made up of parents and educators unanimously voted Tuesday to declare Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk as pornographic under Florida law. It’s a novel about a teen model who is disfigured by a gunshot to the face and struggles with her looks and identity. The decision means the book, which was challenged by school board member Stephanie Meyer, has to be removed from all school libraries. Tampa Bay Times.
Lee: The Optima Classical Academy at Gladiolus in Fort Myers has delayed its opening from this fall to August 2025. Friday, parents were informed by email that the delay is due to “economic challenges” and the effects of Hurricane Ian. WINK.
Collier: Construction has begun on Bear Creek Elementary School, which is expected to open in the fall of 2025 in Golden Gate Estates just east of North Naples. “This is really going to take off the pressure sitting on Corkscrew Elementary and Laurel Oak Elementary, where they’re significantly overcrowded,” said Superintendent Leslie Ricciardelli of the $83 million school, which will accommodate about 1,000 students. WINK. WBBH.
St. Johns: County commissioners have approved a plan to build a K-8 charter school in the south part of the county. Brinkhoff Charter School will be operated by Renaissance Charter Schools Inc. No opening date for the 960-student school was announced. WJXT.
Clay: A 19-year-old who was one of the youngest staffers in the 2022 re-election campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced his bid for the District 2 school board seat. Matthew Mitchell joins Robert Alvero, Sharon Flowers and James Hughes in the race. If elected, Mitchell would be the state’s youngest-ever school board member. Florida Politics.
Alachua: A decision in the 1950s to put a dump in the backyard of Joseph Williams Elementary School on the east side of Gainesville continues to reverberate 50 years after the dump was closed, with alumni, former school employees and members of the community calling for the school to be torn down, the dump site cleaned up and a comprehensive study of the toxins’ effect on students’ health conducted. District officials contend the school is safe, and say there are no plans to close it. The Intercept. More than 16,500 drivers were clocked at 10 mph or more over the speed limit in 18 county school zones during a recent study. An information campaign has begun to make drivers aware that speed detection cameras are going into school zones, and $100 tickets will be mailed to offenders starting July 1. Gainesville Sun.
Flagler: School board member Sally Hunt said this week that she will resign her District 1 seat sometime between now and November. Gov. DeSantis will appoint a replacement to fill the final two years of her term. Records show Hunt bought a house in Peachtree, Ga., last November. Her departure, and decisions by Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro not to run for re-election, ensures the majority of the five-member board will be new. Flagler Live.
Putnam: Seniors from Q.I. Roberts Junior-Senior High School in Florahome were awarded diplomas at a recent graduation ceremony. Palatka Daily News.
Colleges and universities: Florida Atlantic University trustees agreed Tuesday to form a 15-member committee by January to begin the search for a new president. The search was suspended nearly a year ago after accusations of impropriety in the process. Palm Beach Post. The University of South Florida and the Manatee County school district are partnering to offer paid internships to increase the number of elementary school teachers. “You have to prepare those individuals in the field just like you would prepare the nursing profession in the field,” says Cheryl Ellerbrock, dean of education for USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. WLRN. University of South Florida trustees have approved a contract with a construction company to build a 35,000-seat, $340 million on-campus stadium, with groundbreaking set Oct. 18 and completion expected in 2026. Tampa Bay Times.
Free summer meals: The Marion, Brevard, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia school districts are offering free breakfasts and lunches to children 18 and under this summer through the federal Summer Food Service Program. WUFT. Central Florida Public Media.
