Around the state: Three bills are filed for the legislative session aimed at providing more services for autistic and developmentally disabled students, a presidential order would yank funding for schools that allow transgender students to play on girls’ and women’s school sports teams, a Sarasota schools’ task force is working on creating a black history course, and a contract agreement for teachers is reached in Escambia County but remains elusive in Alachua. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Hollywood city commissioners are considering an ordinance that would put restrictions on where private schools can open. Industrial and manufacturing districts would be off-limits, and the schools would have to be in standalone buildings on a lot of an acre or more. City Commissioner Kevin Biederman said the ordinance is needed to protect the public school system. “Allowing a school on every corner, you are not creating community, you are dividing community,” he said. Florida Daily.
Tampa Bay area: Two charter schools are participating in a state-sponsored trial using artificial intelligence to help teachers create lesson plans and students to follow them. Pepin Academy charter school in East Tampa and Dayspring Academy in Pasco County are participating, and both teachers and students have favorable impressions. Dayspring business teacher Jamie Hickey said it’s like having a personal assistant, and 9th-grader Mya Rogers said, “I still have to put in the work, but it helps guide my work. It helps me get my work done faster.” Tampa Bay Times.
Orange: A music teacher at Hunters Creek Middle School in Orlando has been arrested and accused of convincing two out-of-state children under 10 to perform sex acts. Local authorities were contacted by Maryland State Police and arrested Italo Brett Bonini. He’s been placed on administrative leave. WFTV. WOFL. WESH.
Lee: An instructional support worker at Island Coast High School in Cape Coral has been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct with a student. District officials said Genesis Zayas, 23, has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. WINK. WBBH. Fort Myers News-Press.
Marion: A 9th-grader at Lake Weir High School in Ocala has been arrested and accused of having a weapon on campus. Police said the boy was arrested after showing the knife to other students. WCJB.
Sarasota: A task force set up by the school district to create a course in black history has begun the process. Members will include the district’s three social studies historical specialists, retired teachers, NAACP Sarasota president Trevor Harvey, a student and representatives from the black community. Charlotte Sun.
Escambia: School workers’ unions and the district have reached a contract agreement that includes raises and retroactive pay. Teachers would get bumps ranging from $800 to $3,000 a year and the minimum salary would increase from $47,500 to $48,300. Support employees would get a 2% raise and a 1% cost-of-living adjustment. The deal has to be approved by workers and the school board. WKRG.
Alachua: Negotiations on a contract remain at a standstill, and teachers attended this week’s school board meeting to plead for fair raises. The district’s offer of a 1.6% raise was rejected last month by the union, and the district did not make an updated offer in a subsequent meeting. The board meets March 12 with Superintendent Kamela Patton to revisit the talks. Gainesville Sun. WUFT. School board members voted to cut the cord on a phone system that allowed residents to call into board meetings with comments. The district has spent $7,000 a year for the phone, and each call costs “well over $100,” said board chair Sarah Rockwell. “We also have had a lot of technical issues with the phone system.” Independent Florida Alligator. Mainstreet Daily News.
Wakulla: The school district’s graduation rate in 2024 dipped slightly from 2023, but at 97.1% is still the 3rd-best in the state and is well above the state average of 89.7%. WTXL.
Monroe: The process of replacing retiring Superintendent Theresa Axford has begun. A website will be set up to handle applications, conduct a survey, get input from students and post the applicants’ written responses and videos. Community meetings will be held Feb. 12 and 13 to collect input, and comments will also be accepted at the Feb. 25 school board meeting. A new superintendent is expected to be in place by July 1. Key West Citizen.
In the Legislature: Children with autism would have access to specialized summer programs and additional services at charter schools that serve them exclusively under a bill filed for the legislative session that opens March 4. SB 112 would also expand a health-care grant program established last year to include free screening, referrals and related services for autism. It was filed by state Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida. Matching bills just filed by central Florida Democrats would require schools to have emergency plans to follow when autistic students and those with intellectual disabilities wander away from school. SB 460 was filed by state Sen. Kristen Arrington, and HB 345 by state Rep. Anna Eskamani. Florida Politics.
Around the nation: Transgender athletes would be barred from competing in girls’ and women’s school sports under an executive order issued Wednesday by President Donald Trump. “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” as the order is titled, requires agencies to withhold federal funds from schools that don’t comply with the new Title IX rule that defines sex as the gender present at birth. Associated Press. New York Times. K-12 Dive. Education Week. The president’s push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education would have a significant effect on Florida. DOE handles financial aid and funding, which includes grants to lower-income students and work-study programs, oversees accreditation agencies and investigates allegations of discrimination in colleges. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: School board members can play a leading role in ensuring that schools are responsive to student needs and parent concerns. But they can’t do that unless they turn their attention to the things that really matter, such as students’ academic and outcome data. Danielle M. Gonzalez, The 74.
