Around the state: University of Florida records show administrators hired by former president Ben Sasse and allowed to work from home in other states spent more than $211,000 in travel expenses in 17 months, vaccine exemptions for children entering kindergarten in Florida tripled from 2013 to 2023 and most were for religious reasons, state economists are predicting budget deficits in 2026 and 2027 without changes in spending patterns, Broward’s school board is suing drug companies and pharmacy managers for alleged price-gouging on insulin, a senior vice president at Lake-Sumter State College in Leesburg has been appointed as interim president, and education unions are suing the state over a provision in a new state law requiring 60 percent of eligible employees to pay dues in order for the unions to remain certified. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: School board members have approved filing a lawsuit against several drug companies and pharmacy managers for allegedly colluding to raise the costs for insulin for the self-insured district. About $26 million has been spent in the past seven years to help employees manage diabetes, according to general counsel Marylin Batista, and the actual cost should have been $5,000 to $6,000 less for each affected employee, said an attorney advising the district. Law firms will be paid 25 percent of whatever is collected. Sun Sentinel. WLRN. The chair of three school district advisory committees should be removed for “defamation, the use of disparaging language, and the creation of a hostile work environment” in public comments about district police detective John Mastrianni, a district investigation is recommending. Nathalie Lynch-Walsh is a frequent critic of school management. Superintendent Howard Hepburn will decide whether to follow the recommendation. Sun Sentinel.
Pasco: Non-teaching school employees reached a tentative contract agreement with the district last week. For some of those workers, raises will be more than 5 percent. All base salaries will increase by 1.25 percent, with another 2.25 percent for those who have worked for the district at least a year. Another 1.9 percent bump will come from the district’s local-option property tax referendum revenue, and workers in hard-to-fill positions could receive up to an additional $2.25 an hour. The deal also covers the increase in required state retirement contributions and continues to provide a free employee health insurance option. Tampa Bay Times.
Volusia: A high school football game in Daytona Beach was delayed on Friday when a juvenile tried to sneak a gun into the stadium. It was detected by a security official who was checking bags. The boy ran away but was later arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property, resisting arrest and theft of a firearm. The Cocoa vs. Mainland game began about an hour late. WESH. WOFL. WKMG.
Clay: A vigil was held Monday and grief counselors will be available today for Keystone High School students and staff after one student was killed in a car accident over the weekend and another was critically injured in a separate crash last week. “Everybody is just sort of shocked and in shock and just heartbroken,” said principal Laurie Burke. WCJB. WJXT.
Leon: A 17-year-old Rickards High School student was arrested Friday and accused of bringing a knife to school. Resource officers said the girl smelled of marijuana, and they discovered the knife in a subsequent search of her backpack. Tallahassee Democrat. WTXL.
Flagler: School board members will discuss at today’s workshop meeting whether to move forward with a proposal to require heart screenings for student-athletes. The district has four options to consider: screenings every year for all student-athletes; screenings in 9th and 11th grades only; a single screening; and making the screenings optional each year during physicals. Each option would allow parents to opt-out. WKMG.
Jefferson: District teachers and other employees did not receive their paychecks on time last week. Administrators blamed the delay on a switch in payroll systems. Tallahassee Democrat.
Colleges and universities: University of Florida administrators hired by former president Ben Sasse and working from home in other states racked up more than $211,000 in travel expenses in 17 months, according to university records. Expenses included traveling to and from the UF campus and other work-related trips. Fresh Take Florida. Laura Byrd, a senior vice president at Lake-Sumter State College in Leesburg, has been appointed interim president by trustees. She replaces Heather Bigard, who resigned Thursday. Daily Commercial. Rollins College’s plans to build 30 units of faculty and staff housing were approved last week by Winter Park city commissioners. Orlando Sentinel. Audrey Alexander, Florida A&M University’s assistant director and administrative lieutenant of security, has been named the school’s police chief. Tallahassee Democrat. The College of the Florida Keys has received a $2 million donation from the Edward B. and Joan T. Knight Foundation to help build housing for students and employees on the Key West campus. Florida Keys Weekly.
State budget blues? State economists are projecting budget deficits after this year if lawmakers don’t step back from tax cuts and initiatives aimed at affordable housing, health care workers and the environment. Without changes, they warn, an estimated $2 billion surplus will become a $2.82 billion deficit by 2026 and rise to $6.94 billion by 2027. One of the factors cited in the changing financial picture is the growing cost of Florida’s universal school vouchers program. Politico Florida.
Unions file suit over law: Unions representing university professors and K-12 teachers have filed a new suit challenging the state law’s recently imposed requirements of having 60 percent of eligible members paying dues in order to retain certification. Collective bargaining is a “majoritarian process,” the suit contends, and the threshold is invalid under the state constitution. “Florida has no compelling interest in abridging the collective-bargaining rights of employees and labor organizations based on whether a super-majority of employees in the bargaining unit pay dues,” the lawsuit argues. News Service of Florida. More than 63,000 Florida public employees, including teachers, have lost union representation since the state’s new restrictions were put in place in 2023, according to an analysis of public records. Fifty-four public unions have been decertified under the terms of SB 256. WLRN.
Florida and school vaccines: Vaccine exemptions for children entering kindergarten in Florida rose from 1.5 percent in 2013 to 4.5 percent in 2023, according to an estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s the most among states in the southeast United States. More than 90 percent of the exemptions were for non-medical religious reasons. Axios. NPR.
Around the nation: Ten years after the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, black students still are being suspended by schools at much higher rates than white classmates, according to a review of school discipline data in several states. Associated Press. A record number of 121 ransomware attacks against K-12 schools and colleges were launched in 2023, according to an analysis by a cybersecurity and online privacy product review website. K-12 Dive. Two U.S. House representatives from Florida, Republican Anna Paulina Luna and Democrat Jared Moskowitz, have filed a bill that would establish a 3 percent cap on interest for federal student loans. Florida Politics. About a third of U.S. K-12 students are performing below their grade level, according to a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics. Scripps News Service. Axios. A North Miami Beach man has proposed a ballot measure in South Dakota that would require a “daily nondenominational prayer in public schools. Hillel Hellinger hopes the measure draws a legal challenge, and that the U.S. Supreme Court will then strike down the 1962 decision declaring prayer mandates in schools a violation of the First Amendment. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Opinions on schools: The goal of the way schools are funded should be to have a demand-driven education system where teachers can create schools and recruit students who will be reliably funded. This is hardly too much to ask; district and charter schools receive funding in exactly this fashion. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. The dumping of thousands of books at New College is a wakeup call for Floridians. Kathleen Coty, Tampa Bay Times. If you do the math: Ben Sasse will end up being paid about $3.58 million not to be president of the University of Florida, more than double the $1.4 million in base pay he got for the time he actually did the job. Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post. Why did the Brevard County School Board remove a library book that doesn’t violate the law? Because it has an inkling of homosexuality? Next, perhaps, board members can focus on books featuring blacks, Jews and Latinos. John A. Torres, Florida Today. Restricting books from students is a conversation that should happen between the parent and the teacher. It should not be the prerogative of the state. Michael Andoscia, Fort Myers News-Press.
