Around the state: In what could be the last round of non-partisan school board races in Florida, expect Republicans and Democrats to use school board results in the Aug. 20 primaries to say they have momentum heading into the November general election. Gov. Ron DeSantis began taking an active role in school board races two years ago by issuing endorsements. State Democrats countered with their own endorsements. Florida historically had partisan school board elections, but voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1998 to make the races non-partisan. School board races will appear on the Aug. 20 ballot, with runoffs carrying over to November. News Service of Florida.
Education innovation and homeschooling: Forest schools, microschools and worldschooling are just a few of the unconventional education models that are changing the face of traditional schools. From parents dissatisfied with conventional education to those just craving a different experience for their kids, learn the ins and outs of atypical educational options that are increasingly popular. Associated Press.
Experts say parents considering homeschooling their children can find resources online. CBS News Miami.
Broward: Pembroke Pines officials agreed to allocate School Resource Officers at all of the public schools in the city from Monday through December while they continue discussions on how to cover the cost. Local10.com.
Families of three students murdered during the 2018 massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and a wounded former student have reached multimillion-dollar settlements in a lawsuit against the shooter, though their attorney concedes it is highly unlikely they will ever receive much money. The parents of slain students Luke Hoyer, 15, Alaina Petty, 14, and Meadow Pollack, 18, each reached $50 million settlements with the shooter, while wounded student Maddy Wilford agreed to a $40 million settlement, according to recently filed court records. WSVN.
Osceola: School district officials are testing sensors to monitor bus activity that bus drivers can’t see after a child in neighboring Orange County was killed after crawling under a stopped bus to retrieve a football just before the bus began to move. Four sensors are installed on the outside of the bus: one on the front, two on the side and one underneath the bus. After dealing with a shortage of 50 bus drivers, the Osceola County School District said they are starting the school year with 250 full-time bus drivers for 250 bus routes. Spectrum News 13.
Palm Beach: When schools reopen on Monday, every high schooler in the county will walk through a metal detector, and every student of all ages will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch. Palm Beach Post.
Hillsborough: A custodian is accused of having a gun at King High School near Tampa, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. School administration officials notified the sheriff’s office Wednesday morning that a gun was found in a maintenance closet. Detectives traced the gun back to Michael Difabio, 58, who was a custodian at the school, according to the sheriff’s office. Difabio, who had worked at the school since 2023, resigned at the time of his arrest. WFLA.
Literacy and attendance will be big focuses in Hillsborough County during the next year. Returning elementary and middle school students will have access to cell phones only before and after school unless a teacher allows them for instructional use. High school students will be allowed to use their phones during lunch. There’s also an increased emphasis on bus safety. Every bus will be equipped with cameras capable of issuing tickets if you drive past the engaged stop arm. WFTS.
Orange: More than four years after COVID-19 first disrupted classroom learning, the lingering impact of those lockdowns is coming into clearer focus. Research and testing data show students across the country are not scoring as high on standardized testing as they did before the pandemic. “Their grades are great, but the standardized testing is showing a different story,” one parent said. “My daughter knew all the multiplication and division, but struggled with addition and subtraction, and that is a direct impact of the pandemic that learning loss that happened there.” WESH.
Indian River: Superintendent David Moore sat down with 12News to discuss pressing issues for his district. Topics included the district finishing with another “A” rating, teacher openings, school safety, the literacy rates, the book banning controversy and the new law about making sure all gates and doors are manned at all times on campus. 12News.
Lee: The Lee County School District is testing out a vape detector pilot program in five schools. Estero High School, Cape Coral High School, Fort Myers High School, Lexington Middle School and Caloosa Middle School are trying them out in the bathrooms. The program is paid for by JUUL following a settlement for $5 million targeting kids in their ads. Fox4Now.
Bay: Bay District Schools and the Bay Education Foundation have announced the launch of the Adrianna Swearingen Teacher Resource Store, located at Rutherford High School. Each new teacher will receive a $100 coupon on their first day of Foundation Training to use in the store. The store offers items such as noise-canceling headphones, digital timers, colored paper, wiggle stools, fidget toys, sensory strips, bulletin board supplies, industrial-sized boxes of crayons and a host of other basics. Panama City News Herald.
Gadsden: With schools re-opening on Monday, the Quincy Police Department is implementing a comprehensive action plan to ensure the safety and security of our students. The plan, designed to address school zone safety and the anticipated rise in property crime during school hours, involves a coordinated effort between the patrol division and the criminal investigation division. WTXL.
Santa Rosa: Three new candidates are vying to steer the Santa Rosa County School Board in a new direction by challenging the District 2 and District 4 incumbents. District 2 incumbent Elizabeth Hewey is running for re-election against Mariya Calkins, founder of the Santa Rosa County Moms for Liberty chapter, and attorney Oscar Locklin, a longtime Santa Rosa County resident with a family name spanning generations. District 4 incumbent Charles Elliott is running head-to-head against accreditation consultant Angie Straughn. All five candidates have made supporting and compensating teachers and prioritizing student learning and safety pillars of their campaign. Pensacola News Journal.
Brevard: As a new school year begins Monday, changes coming to the school district include an expansion of the armed Guardian program, as well as more the beginning phase of adding 17 new career and technical education programs throughout Brevard over the course of five years. The district will also be working to tackle early literacy with a new initiative, dubbed the “Mighty Moves Initiative,” based in the science of reading. Florida Today.
Treasure Coast: Schools with only one way to enter. Metal detectors. Badges that can call for help. With public schools across the Treasure Coast beginning the new year next week, school districts continue to implement ways to keep students and faculty safe. at school. TCPalm.
Alachua: Construction and renovations at Westwood Middle School are now complete. Check out photos of a tour. The Gainesville Sun.
Clay: The Clay County School Board voted 5-0 to adopt a $661 million tentative budget during a public hearing on July 30. The new rate represents a decrease from last year’s rate of 6.404 but is still 1.54% higher than the rollback rate, which would have raised the same amount of revenue as the year before. The total taxable value of properties in Clay County for the next fiscal year was assessed to be $20.5 billion, an increase of 6.83% from last year. Next year’s budget is expected to be $661 million. Clay Today.
Duval: The Duval County School Board has revised its “out-of-sight” cell phone policy under the Student Code of Conduct for the upcoming school year. In the policy’s update approved just shy of a week before school doors open, the school board now requires students to keep their phones off and inside their bookbags or purses while in class unless a teacher or faculty member instructs them otherwise. News4Jax.
Colleges and universities: A consultant told Florida A&M University’s trustees as they began their search for a new president that successful university leaders take a business-executive mindset to the job while, in her experience, candidates are less often emerging from within academia. FAMU trustees hope to name a new president in June 2025. Florida Phoenix. WFSU.
The U.S. Department of Education will use a phased rollout to launch the 2025-26 form to apply for federal financial student aid, which will make the application fully available two months later than usual. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid — known as FAFSA — will be available to hundreds of students on Oct. 1, gradually ramping up to be available to all by Dec. 1. The staggered approach is an attempt to fix any problems before the form is open to everyone. The phased rollout came after the 2024-25 form, which got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020, witnessed its share of hiccups and glitches during the soft launch in December and past the official debut in January. Florida Phoenix.
Around the nation: A middle school teacher from Houston is being called a hero after he saved a 15-year-old girl who was being sexually assaulted by confronting and scaring off her attacker. Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators say the incident happened just before midnight last Sunday on Houston’s east side. Dramatic video shows David Garza, a middle school teacher, rush out of his apartment and into action after he says he heard a young girl yelling for help. “I looked out the window, and I saw a man beating up a woman on the ground. He was trying to take her clothes off,” Garza said. He says he didn’t think twice about going to get his gun and confronting the attacker. Authorities are searching for the attacker. WCJB.
The state of school choice in America: “Those highly responsive public schools view parents as allies and see education as a team sport. Public schools that are responsive to parents tend to hold onto their enrollments and, in some cases, grow them. We all should want the children of our country to be in schools that effectively serve their needs. That’s what public education, whether provided by a public or private school, should be all about.” Rick Hess and Patrick Wolf, Education Week.
