Around the state: An appeals court rules that the Duval school district violated a teacher's free speech rights by disciplining him for personal Facebook posts, a vendor who was dropped by Broward's school district two years because of alleged overbilling has been cleared to bid for the district's business again, about 700 walls are being built in Pasco classrooms because of the distractions of the open concept, Flagler school officials pay almost $280,000 to settle with three employees who contend they were wrongly fired, and the Florida Board of Education has renewed the contract of a company that helps administer state scholarships after it agreed to abide by the state's purchasing guidelines for parents. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: The technology director of Pinecrest Cove Preparatory Academy has been arrested and accused of possession of sexual performance by a child and promoting or attempting to promote sexual performance by a child. Deputies said Michael Rodriguez, 32, admitted to sending child porn to himself at school and then viewing it in his office because it was obscured from security cameras. WPLG. WFOR. WTVJ. A contract employee who teaches students to play instruments was arrested last week and accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Police said Tyree Jamar Love, 24, is charged with luring a child, offenses against students as an authority figure, and contributing to the delinquency/dependency of a child. WTVJ.
Broward, south Florida: Two years after a cap-and-gown vendor was dropped after allegations of overbilling, it has gotten the approval of the school board to do business with the district again. Indiana-based Herff-Jones is one of two vendors cleared to supply caps, gowns, rings and other services to graduating seniors. The district's audit review committee opposed the decision, saying Herff-Jones still owes the district about $96,000 for the alleged overbilling, which the company denies. Sun Sentinel. District officials said they are complying with federal restrictions against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and Superintendent Howard Hepburn said he doesn't expect to have to make changes. That opinion is not necessarily shared by school board member Allen Zeman, who said, "I am worried; 41% of our budget is from federal sources, which is a ton, and much of it is for the most needy students and schools." Sun Sentinel.
Central Florida: The cost of school buses has gone up more than 50% since 2020, according to officials in several central Florida school districts. Five years ago, said Marion County schools' supervisor of transportation Eric Ostanik, a new 77-passenger bus cost about $105,000. Now that same bus costs about $166,000. And because that district is so big and has so many miles for its buses to travel, he said, the bus warranties don't last as long. WKMG.
Palm Beach: The district has received the first of 40 new electric school buses. Five buses will be on the road this week, and the rest will be phased in. A grant of about $13.7 million is helping to offset the $19 million cost. WPTV. Palm Beach Post. A teacher at Barton Elementary School in Lake Worth Beach has pleaded guilty to arranging to meet what he thought was an underage boy for sex. Instead, police said, Joshua Hablo, 35, was greeted by a 30-year-old man pretending to be a child, and was arrested. He was sentenced to two years in prison. Palm Beach Post.
Duval: An appeals court has ruled that the district and school board erred in disciplining a math teacher over his personal posts on Facebook. Thomas Caggiano, who worked at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, posted derogatory notes about 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He was suspended without pay for three days and issued a reprimand, and subsequently retired. The court overturned that decision and also ruled that his pay should be reinstated from the time of his suspension. "The posts occurred outside of the school, on Caggiano’s own time and computer, and amounted to little more than harmless political chitchat," the court wrote. "They collectively amounted to the proverbial hill of beans." News Service of Florida.
Lee: A teacher at Island Coast High School in Cape Coral has been removed from the classroom and reassigned pending the outcome of a district investigation, officials said last week. The name of the teacher and details of the incident being looked at were not revealed by district officials. WINK.
Pasco: Walls are being installed in about 700 open classrooms throughout the district over the next two years. Fox Hollow Elementary School, which opened in 1991, was built without classroom walls as part of an "open schools" concept designed to promote collaboration. But some principals find the idea distracting to students. Superintendent John Legg said adding walls costs about $3,000 per classroom, which will come out of the district's capital budget. Principals will decide whether to add walls. Tampa Bay Times.
Brevard: The district's book review committee resumes March 12 to review three books after its work was paused nearly six months ago when two of the five members left. Being reviewed after challenges are Breathless by Jennifer Niven, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, and Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez. Florida Today.
Leon, Gadsden: A 15-year-old Nims Middle School basketball player has been arrested and accused of striking the opposing team's coach in the head after a game last week. The student faces a battery charge and will be disciplined by the school district. In an unrelated incident, dozens of students were involved in a brawl at Gadsden County High School. One student was injured and taken to a hospital. District officials are investigating. Tallahassee Democrat. WTXL. A 19-year-old student at Leon High School in Tallahassee was arrested last week and accused of having a weapon on campus. The senior smelled like marijuana in class and was sent to the office to be searched by administrators, who found a hatchet, marijuana and a glass pipe in the student's backpack. WTXL.
Bay: District officials say there's an increase in the number of students pulling school fire alarms, and they're blaming it on a social media challenge on the social media video game Roblox. WJHG.
Flagler: Three former employees have reached settlements with the district after claiming they were wrongly dismissed. Former school board attorney Kristy Gavin will receive $160,000, while former district negotiator Paul Peacock is getting $100,000 and Martha von Mering, who had been the district's exceptional student education director, settled for $19,500. Flagler Live.
Gilchrist: Roy Smith, the owner of Smith’s Septic Tank Service Inc. in Bell, has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the vacant District 3 school board seat. WCJB.
In the Legislature: A bill that would allow school districts autonomy in setting school start times has been assigned to be heard in three committees when the Legislature begins its 60-day session a week from Tuesday. SB 296 will be debated in the Education Pre-K-12, the Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations and Fiscal Policy committees. Spectrum News 13. Student minors could work at any time of day and more than 30 hours a week under a bill filed last week by state Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa. It would apply to student 14 and up. Florida Phoenix.
Scholarship company renewal: An organization that administers K-12 state scholarships won a contract renewal from the state Board of Education after it agreed to comply with Florida's Center for Students with Unique Abilities' purchasing guide. AAA Scholarship Foundation’s contract had been paused after it refused to reimburse some parents for purchases of items that had been approved by the state. Tampa Bay Times.
Around the nation: Just days after the U.S. Department of Education insisted its recent cuts would not affect the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing, it canceled the next round of exams for 17-year-old students scheduled for March through May. The 74. Education Week. Most Florida school districts have higher student-to-teacher ratios now than they did before the pandemic, according to an analysis of federal data. For instance, the ratio in the two largest school districts in Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward, each went from 17 students to 1 teacher in 2016 to 20:1 in 2023. Hillsborough, the third-largest district, went from a 12:1 student:teacher ratio in 2016 to 18:1 in 2023. Only two districts had ratios that declined: Alachua, which went from 20:1 in 2016 to 17:1 in 2023, and Lafayette from 17:1 to 16:1. The 74.
Opinions on schools: Education choice in Florida will continue to evolve in ways we cannot predict today. That’s because it will be responsive to the changing needs of families, not the product of top-down planners. Jeb Bush, Orlando Sentinel. Not only are the state and school districts spending money to fight legal battles over the restrictions and removal of books from schools, they're also losing them. And that's hurting the very people that we are supposed to be protecting — our children. Andrew Carswell, Independent Florida Alligator. If Florida were truly a "free state," it wouldn't needlessly be restricting students' reading options. Stephana Ferrell, Fort Myers News-Press.
