Note: Due to the arrival of the storm and the strong possibility of widespread power and Internet outages, no roundup will be published Thursday or Friday.
School district closings: More than two-thirds of the state’s 67 public school districts are closing as Hurricane Milton approaches the west coast of Florida, with landfall of the major storm expected late tonight somewhere south of Tampa Bay. Districts affected include Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, Collier, Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Hardee, Highlands, Alachua, Bradford, Marion, Lake, Sumter, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Flagler, Brevard, Dixie, Suwannee, Gilchrist, Nassau, Levy, Hamilton, Columbia, Lafayette, Putnam, Volusia, St. Lucie, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach. Florida Department of Education.
Colleges closing: Some colleges around the state also are suspending classes this week because of the storm. Schools affected include the University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, New College of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida A&M University’s satellite campuses, Stetson University, University of Tampa, Eckerd College, Florida Polytechnic University, Saint Leo University, Florida Southern College, Flagler College, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Miami, Nova Southeastern University, Palm Beach Atlantic, Rollins College, University of North Florida, Edward Waters University, Jacksonville University, St. Petersburg College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Indian River State College, Ringling College of Art and Design, Santa Fe College, Daytona State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Florida SouthWestern State College, Palm Beach State College, Valencia College, College of Central Florida, Eastern Florida State College, Hillsborough Community College, Seminole State College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota, South Florida State College, Polk State College, Broward College, Miami-Dade College, Florida State College at Jacksonville and St. Johns River State College. Florida Department of Education.
Around the state: An injunction against a 2021 state law intended to crack down on violent demonstrations on college campuses and elsewhere has been overturned, a court rules that the Brevard school board’s restrictions on public comments during meetings violate the First Amendment, Broward school officials are now considering keeping underenrolled schools open and using the extra space in other ways, students who use one of the state’s scholarship programs will now be able to sign up for online classes offered by Brevard Virtual School, and all Monroe County schools now use cafeteria trays molded from paper and wooden forks in paper wrappers after an initiative pushed by a school’s 5th- and 7th-graders. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: “Shrinking” schools and using the extra space for district offices or other government or community agencies is the latest alternative to simply closing underenrolled public schools. School board members have been hesitant to close schools despite declining enrollment, but seemed to like the idea of partial closures when it was introduced at Tuesday’s meeting. “Our directive was to close schools. It didn’t mean you have to close it completely to reduce the district’s footprint,” said board member Debbi Hixon. Sun Sentinel.
Brevard: School board restrictions on public speakers at board meetings violate the First Amendment, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. Moms for Liberty, the conservative activist group, filed the challenge at the rules the board approved targeting “abusive,” “obscene” and “personally directed” speech. “Sometimes speaking at these meetings is the primary way parents interact with their local leaders or communicate with other community members. No one could reasonably argue that this right is unlimited, but neither is the government’s authority to restrict it,” the panel concluded. News Service of Florida. Students who use one of the state’s scholarship programs will now be able to sign up for online classes offered by Brevard Virtual School. It’s the first school district in Florida to offer the option. “We knew that our families who have been with us for many years would be the exact same families who would be interested in what the scholarship offers,” said Heather Price, the principal of Brevard Virtual School. “We either need to get on board or we’re going to lose folks who love us, and who we love.” NextSteps.
Alachua: A senior at the Frazer School in Gainesville tied for first place in last weekend’s Math Prize for Girls competition held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Katie He was one of six girls tied for first out of 280 competitors from the United States and Canada, and won $15,000. Gainesville Sun. Mainstreet Daily News.
Indian River: Voters are being asked Nov. 5 to renew a half-mill school property tax that’s used for technology, recruiting teachers and improving school safety and security. First approved in 2008, the tax generates about $11.2 million a year and has boosted the average teacher’s salary from $48,358 in the 2018-2019 school year to $55,892 for the 2022-2023 academic year. If it’s renewed, it will run through June 30, 2029. TCPalm.
Monroe: Thanks to an initiative of 5th- and 7th-grade students at the Key Largo School last year, every county public school now uses trays molded from paper and wooden forks in paper wrappers, which are compostable, instead of styrofoam trays and plastic utensils, which are not. “They don’t get enough credit for what they did. This was a big deal,” said school board chair Sue Woltanski. Florida Keys Weekly.
Protest injunction overturned: An injunction against a 2021 state law intended to crack down on violent demonstrations on college campuses and elsewhere has been overturned by a three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A lower court granted the injunction in 2021, declaring that the interpretation of the word “riot” was unconstitutionally vague and could have been used against peaceful protestors. “The Supreme Court of Florida has explained, for a protestor to be criminally liable under the statute, the state must prove that the protestor acted with violence or intended to assist another’s violence. Peaceful protest is categorically outside the statute’s bounds,” the three-judge panel ruled this week. News Service of Florida.
Around the nation: The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to review an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision in June that prohibits public funds from going to a proposed Christian charter school. The state’s high court ruled that providing money to a private religious charter school, where students practice religion as part of the curriculum, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Attorneys for the school argued that it is a private contractor and not an arm of the government. If the U.S. Supreme Court accepts the case, many legal experts expect it to rule for the school. “I believe that if the Supreme Court decides to review it … they will reverse the Oklahoma decision and allow the religious charter school,” said Harvard University law professor Martha Field. The 74.
Opinions on schools: It’s clear that educational policy design — including how to define “universal,” whether funding varies based on family income, and which private schools can receive funds — matters greatly in shaping the outcomes of universal private school choice programs. Liz Cohen and Bella DiMarco, FutureEd.
