Around the state: An 18-year-old Gulf County high school football player collapses on the field during a game Friday and later dies, enrollment continues to decline in Broward and the issue of closing schools is again on the table, a bill is expected to be filed for the next legislative session to repeal Florida’s “gun-free zone” for state college and university campuses, Leon County’s Health Department reverses a decision to stop providing health-care workers for schools, Lee’s school board approves a $2.9 billion budget, and Alachua schools are still trying to fill 49 instructional jobs. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Getting an A grade from the state this year has not reversed the trend of declining enrollment for the district, and Superintendent Howard Hepburn is expected to soon recommend closing at least five schools. Opening-day attendance of 200,240 at district-run schools was 2,676 lower than last year, leaving at least 45,000 seats in the district than students. Tuesday, the school board will vote on changing the procedure for closing schools, and eight community meetings will be held from Sept. 16-26 to help narrow the list of 44 schools under consideration. Changes would begin in the 2025-2026 school year. Sun Sentinel.
Hillsborough: Two former employees at Progress Village Middle School in Tampa have been arrested. Teacher Bennie Leverett is accused of child abuse for allegedly putting a student in a chokehold in January. He resigned in March. Ex-assistant principal Tashiska Fabian is accused of not reporting the incident to the child abuse hotline or law enforcement and telling a student who captured the incident on video to delete it. She has been fired. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP. WTVT. WFTS.
Orange: A 15-year-old student at Jones High School in Orlando was arrested Friday after police said he had an unloaded pellet gun on campus. Police said the gun did not have any markings to distinguish it from a real weapon, and that the incident caused “unnecessary fear among his peers, their parents and teachers.” WOFL. WFTV. WESH.
Palm Beach: Parents and members of the community are being asked to provide feedback on the school district’s options for changing school times to comply with a state law that takes effect in 2026. An online survey offers three choices. Option 1 sets elementary school times from 7:30 a.m. to 1:35 p.m., middle schools from 10:15 a.m. to 4:50 p.m., and high school hours from 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Option 2 calls for elementary hours to be 9:45 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., middle schools from 8 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., and high schools to be in session between 9:15 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. Option 3 has elementaries from 9 a.m. to 3:05 p.m., middle schools from 10:20 a.m. to 4:55 p.m., and high schools from 8:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. WPTV.
Lee: School board members approved a $2.9 billion budget last week, which is an increase from the tentative $2.7 billion spending plan approved a month ago. It includes a decrease in the property millage rate but higher revenue because of increased property valuations and new construction. Cape Coral Breeze.
Pasco: District officials are asking for parent volunteers to review science textbook options for schools. Parents and teachers would assess the options over a two-month period and make recommendations for the school board’s consideration. WMNF.
Marion: Panic buttons have been added to school employees’ lanyards this year. Pressing the button three times is a call for help to school staff, and pressing it eight times sends a message directly to first responders. District spokesman Kevin Christian said the same brand of panic buttons was used by workers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., during last week’s shooting, and that teachers on campus say that it saved lives. WCJB.
Leon: County Health Department officials have reversed course and are now agreeing to provide up to eight registered nurses for district schools through June 2025. On Aug. 21, the department notified the district that it intended with withdraw from a tentative staffing agreement to provide eight registered nurses, a licensed practical nurse and 25 school health assistants servicing the district. But the two agencies met Aug. 27 and another agreement was reached to keep staffing in place through the current school year. Tallahassee Democrat.
Alachua: District officials said last week that there are 27 classroom teaching positions and another 22 instructional jobs still unfilled. More than 100 instructional staff members resigned over the summer, with 16 of them retiring. Long-term substitutes are being used until the positions can be filled. Mainstreet Daily News.
Bay: Bass fishing is now a team sport at Mosley High School in Lynn Haven, the first school in the county to adopt the sport. Students on the team will fish against other schools around the state. About three-dozen are expected to join the team, and the first tournament is Sept. 21 on nearby Deer Point Lake. WMBB.
Sumter: A district school bus slammed into a car Friday morning just northwest of Wildwood, seriously injuring the car’s driver. Florida Highway Patrol troopers said the 68-year-old woman ran a stop sign at the intersection of County Road 222 and 223 and drove right into the path of the bus. The bus driver had minor injuries, but none of the 14 students aboard were injured. WFLA. WFTS. WTSP. WKMG.
Gulf: An 18-year-old football player from Port St. Joe High School collapsed and died during a game Friday night against Liberty County High in Bristol. Port St. Joe High athletic director Tim Davis said senior defensive back Chance Gainer was running toward a play on the other side of the field when he “just went to the ground suddenly.” He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Blountstown, where he was pronounced dead. “We got the news about an hour later that he had died,” Davis said. “The game had about four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the decision was made to go ahead and finish it so the Port St. Joe coaches could inform the players together.” After that happened, he said, “The scene was heartbreaking. Parents came down on the field to comfort their kids. Such a helpless feeling.” District schools will be closed Tuesday in Gainer’s honor. Tallahassee Democrat. USA Today Florida Network. Associated Press. Port St. Joe Star. WJHG. WMBB.
Colleges and universities: A bill to repeal Florida’s “gun-free zone” for state college and university campuses will be filed for the 2025 legislative session, state Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, has vowed. “If you have the right to carry across the street from a college campus, why shouldn’t you have that right on the college campus?” Fine asked. “We’ve seen that the government can’t protect everyone, everywhere.” Tallahassee Democrat. Palm Beach State College is receiving a $4.1 million federal grant to train students as mechanics for electric vehicles, starting in 2026. A facility with garage bays, classrooms and labs will be built on the school’s Lake Worth Beach campus. Palm Beach Post. WLRN.
Weapons and schools: State records show that more than a third of reports of weapons possession in K-12 schools are not being reported to law enforcement. Some school districts say a change made in coding during the 2022 school year may be causing the discrepancy. WPTV.
Around the nation: What are the presidential candidates’ positions on such key education issues as school choice, book restrictions in schools, college affordability and more? NPR. Moms for Liberty, the conservative activist group, has adopted a unique legal strategy to fight against a Biden administration rule that would include protections for gender identity and sexual orientation in federal Title IX regulations. Education Week.
Opinions on schools: One of the ways Florida can address the budget deficits projected for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 is by reinstating income eligibility limits for the school voucher program so that the wealthiest state residents do not receive private school tuition subsidies. Florida Policy Institute. The Florida Department of Education needs some help understanding what the word banned means and coming up with material for sex education classes. Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel. The old pattern of shared governance in which faculty, students and local administrators had more say in academic affairs won’t return unless enough Floridians make it clear that blind obedience to political agendas and authoritative control over what is taught and who actually teaches it isn’t the same as quality education. Palm Beach Post. With the University of Florida football team being routed in its opener and the cleanup of the mess left by the former president, it’s been a depressing start of a new school year. Mark Lane, Daytona Beach News-Journal.
