Around the state: Florida students improved their scores in the mid-year standardized testing progress report, NAEP test results show a further decline in reading and little change in math among Florida’s and the nation’s 4th- and 8th-graders, legislators approve a bill denying in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students and then adjourn their special session, and teacher of the year awards were announced in the Miami-Dade, Pasco, Okaloosa and Flagler school districts. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Vivian Ventura, who teaches orchestra at Southwood Middle School in Miami, has been named the school district’s teacher of the year. WSVN.
Palm Beach: A dispute over control of the G-Star School of the Arts charter school in Palm Springs has moved into the courtroom. School founder and former CEO Greg Hauptner was fired in April by the school board and banned from the campus after he claimed there was a covert plan that would have “destroyed” the school and was accused of helping his wife set up two competing charter schools. WLRN.
Duval: At a recent town hall held to discuss the district’s plans to deal with a projected $100 million budget deficit, Superintendent Christopher Bernier told parents and other residents that the crisis has developed over at least the last five years. Pandemic spending masked the problem, he said, and district officials compounded the issue by using the temporary funds for recurring expenses. He’s proposing to consolidate schools, cut transportation to magnet schools and change schedules. The final town hall is Thursday. Jacksonville Today.
Pasco: Betty Skoglund, a biology teacher at Land O’Lakes High School, has been chosen as the school district’s teacher of the year. Also honored were Josh Borders of Stewart Middle School as principal of the year, assistant principal of the year Joel Quina of Mitchell High School, and school-related employee of the year Lindsey Pahlck. Tampa Bay Times.
St. Johns: The newest charter school in St. Augustine opens this fall. Treaty Oaks Preparatory Academy expects to have 975 students in grades K-6, and plans to add 7th and 8th grades later. School officials said the learning approach is village-model, with students working in collaborative, large community groups before moving to sessions with smaller groups. St. Augustine Record.
St. Lucie: The school district is updating its zoning policies to help fill Legacy High School, which opens in the fall for up to 1,500 students. Other zoning changes are aimed at giving students the option of attending a high school closer to their homes. WPEC.
Marion: Dozens of community members spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting in favor of keeping the historic Fessenden Elementary School in Ocala open. Fessenden opened in 1868 to educate newly freed children, and became part of the school district in the 1950s. Board members are considering a proposal to close the school and repurposing or selling it, but insist no decisions have been made. WCJB. WESH.
Sarasota: Parents and students at the Pine View School in Osprey are criticizing the school’s implementation of a weapons detection system. They say the process is making students late for class and that having students congregate in line outside is dangerous. District officials said the screening process will improve over time, and that the system will be installed at more campuses. WWSB.
Okaloosa: Katrina Brownsburger, a 10th-grade English and debate teacher at Fort Walton Beach High School, has been named the school district’s teacher of the year. Northwest Florida Daily News. Get the Coast. A Bible teacher and soccer coach at Rocky Bayou Christian School in Crestview has been arrested and accused of molesting a student under the age of 12. Aaron Gleason has been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, and been placed on administrative leave. Mid Bay News.
Flagler: Brandy Anderson, a civics and social studies teacher at Indian Trails Middle School in Winter Springs, has been named the school district’s teacher of the year. Also honored was employee of the year Brande Martz, Wadsworth Elementary’s in-school suspension monitor. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Colleges and universities: Applicants for the fall 2026 semester at the University of Miami will have to submit standardized test scores such as the SAT or ACT for the first time since 2020. “While we recognize the value of changing the policy during the pandemic, we have decided to go back to including this information as our data show that standardized test scores can be a predictor of academic success,” said UM’s chief academic officer Guillermo Prado. WLRN. English composition was the most popular dual-enrollment course taken by high school students in the fall of 2024 with more than 19,000 students, according to state data. Second was college algebra with 8,722. Bridge to Tomorrow.
Tuition bill approved: Legislators passed a $500 million immigration bill Tuesday that cuts off in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students who have been receiving the rate break for the past decade, then adjourned the special session. The bill now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who criticized it as “weak, weak, weak” and hinted he may veto it. DeSantis called the session, but Senate and House leaders defied him by adjourning it immediately on Monday and then holding their own session to fashion a bill with the help of President Trump. Politico Florida. USA Today Florida Network. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Politics.
Progress monitoring report: Florida students improved their performance in mid-year progress monitoring, Florida Department of Education officials said Tuesday. Overall, the percentage of students scoring at Level 3 or higher on the latest statewide assessment tests was 45%, up 3 percentage points over the same period last year and 6 points higher than the results from the first year of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking tests in reading and math. Florida Department of Education.
Around the nation: Reading scores were down and math scores largely unchanged in the latest results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing, and Florida scores were the lowest on 20 years. Average reading scores fell 2 percentage points for U.S. 4th- and 8th-graders. Math scores of 4th-graders improved 2 points, but were unchanged for 8th-graders. “We are not seeing the progress we need to regain the ground our students lost during the pandemic,” said Peggy Carr, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. The 74. Education Week. Chalkbeat. K-12 Dive. NPR. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal loans and grants. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan’s stay lasts until Monday afternoon, and only affects existing programs. Administration officials insisted the freeze doesn’t include programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans, Pell grants and food stamps. Associated Press. Politico. Chalkbeat. The National News Desk.
Opinions on schools: The school choice movement cannot ignore the difficulties families face in exercising that choice. It is time to match the growing quantity of choice options with resources and tools to help parents navigate them. Andrew Campanella, The 74. What impresses me most about Indian River County Superintendent David Moore is his leadership — positivity, commitment, no excuses, you name it — and focus on serving students in an evolving educational environment where competition to attract students to your school is as fierce as it ever has been. Laurence Reisman, TCPalm.