Around the state: Florida State University trustees have eliminated 432 of the school’s 571 general education courses to comply with a state law restricting what classes can fulfill general education requirements, the Alachua school district’s claim that changing state standards on teacher evaluation scores forced them to move seven teachers from two struggling schools is refuted by the state, some St. Johns County parents say their children with disabilities are still being unnecessarily restrained even after the district promised changes in a settlement with the federal government, the revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now available for students trying to get help paying for college, and Lee County schools announce their principal and assistant principal of the year. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A fire was reported Sunday in the cafeteria at Lillie C. Evans K-8 Center in the northwest part of the country. No one was injured, and the fire was under control by early afternoon. Fire officials are investigating the cause and extent of the damage. The school is closed this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. WFOR. WSVN.
Broward: A teacher at a private school in Plantation has been arrested and accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student last summer in Deerfield Beach. Deputies say Candace Brown, 35, who works at the private Sawgrass Adventist School, is charged with lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious conduct and transmission of material harmful to a minor by electronic device. Brown has been removed from campus, says Frank Runnels, vice president for education and superintendent schools of the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Miami Herald. WTVJ. WPLG. WFOR.
Lee: School officials announced Friday that Carl Burnside of Dunbar High School has been named the district’s principal of the year. Jill Cooke of the North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts was chosen as assistant principal of the year. Both are now eligible for statewide awards. Finalists and winners of those awards will be announced in the spring. Cape Coral Breeze. WINK. Lehigh Acres Christian School may have to close its doors by Dec. 1 if it can’t fix water and sewage problems noted by the Florida Department of Health during an inspection earlier this month. Pastor Robert Roper, who runs the Lehigh Acres Christian School that is housed at Lee Boulevard Baptist Church, has asked the DOH and Florida Department of Education for more time to fix the issues. WFTX.
St. Johns: Some parents of students with disabilities say their children are still being restrained unnecessarily in schools a month after the district agreed to improvements ordered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. District officials said restraints are used only as a last resort. “If there is an imminent risk of serious injury to the student or to somebody else, that is when we would implement a restraint,” said George Freeman, the district’s special education program specialist. WJAX.
Lake: A 59-year-old Eustis man was arrested Friday and accused of trying to run over three middle school students as they were waiting for their school bus in Umatilla. When Arthur James Young failed, he got out of the pickup truck and grabbed another student, deputies said. He’s been charged with aggravated assault, child abuse and kidnapping. WESH. Orlando Sentinel.
Santa Rosa: A New Jersey teenager has been sentenced to two years in prison for making “swatting” calls to Milton High School in 2022. The then-17-year-old from Guttenberg, N.J., was arrested a year later and charged with making a false report using firearms in a violent manner and interfering with school administration. “(The boy) stated the hoax was intended to garner media attention,” according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. WEAR.
Alachua: An official with the Florida Department of Education’s Bureau of School Improvement is contradicting the school district’s claim that it was forced by the state to remove seven teachers from Rawlings and Alachua elementary schools in October. District spokeswoman Jackie Johnson said at the time that the DOE updated its teacher evaluation scores after the July deadline and required the district to remove the teachers whose scores were considered too low. Dustin Sims, the lead state executive director for BSI, said in an e-mail to an Alachua resident that the evaluation score standards have not changed since July 29. Mainstreet Daily News.
Flagler: The Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman law firm of south Florida has been hired to provide legal advice to the school board. It replaces Kristy Gavin, who was fired in January after 17 years as the board attorney. Weiss Serota will be paid $310 an hour for partners, $235 for associates, and $115 for paralegals. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Putnam: A school under construction that is opening in the fall of 2026 for students in grades 3-6 has been named Palatka Intermediate School. The new school is part of the district’s revitalization program. Putnam County School District.
Colleges and universities: More than 430 general education courses of the 571 offered have been removed by Florida State University trustees trying to comply with a state law that prohibits courses on “identity politics” or “theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the U.S.” Theories of African American Studies, Critics of Religion and American Multi-Ethnic Literature to Feminism and Globalization, the Evolution of Human Sexuality and LGBTQ History were among the courses removed. “We’re living through an era of Legislature-driven higher education reform,” said FSU provost and executive vice president of academic affairs Jim Clark. Tallahassee Democrat. Florida International University professors are calling the state’s involvement in such curriculum decisions “censorship” and “political meddling.” Miami Herald. Central Christian University, a private university in Windermere run by the family of former state Rep. Carolina Amesty, will still be allowed to operate after the Florida Department of Education’s Commission for Independent Education gave it a provisional license. The school had advertised degree programs without state authorization. Orlando Sentinel.
Around the nation: The revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now available for students trying to get help paying for college. Last year’s rollout of a new form was plagued with technical issues, resulting in significant delays. The Hill. CNN. NPR. Chronicle of Higher Education.
Opinions on schools: The whole takeover of New College was sold as freeing college students from the clutches of being fed political indoctrination by ideologues. Now, outright political indoctrination is a for-credit course there. Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post.
