Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis has created a task force to audit colleges and universities and look for ways to cut the state workforce, a proposed bill would create strict reporting deadlines for chronically absent students, another bill repealing the requirement for later school start times in middle and high schools is among the top 10 issues for the legislative session that begins next week, weapons seizures in northeast Florida school districts are soaring, and a report from the Florida Policy Institute concludes that eliminating property taxes in the state would force a doubling of the sales tax to 12%. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A micro middle school in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood was born this year out of founder Saliha Nelson’s desire to give students a greater perspective of black history as well as fostering creativity and entrepreneurship. Urgent Academy Middle School for Film, Arts, and Creative technologies currently has seven students, but has plans to relocate to a larger building and possibly expand to include high school students. Miami Herald. A teacher at the Lincoln-Marti School in southwest Miami-Dade has pleaded guilty to child abuse for hitting a 2-year-old last December. Merlin Gutierrez, 21, was sentenced to two years of probation and is barred from teaching in public and private schools or entering a profession where she cares for children. WTVJ.
Palm Beach: A color guard volunteer at Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach has been arrested and accused of lewd conduct with a student. School district police said Tadarian Jamar Fields, 25, was arrested off campus Saturday. WPTV. WPEC.
Duval, northeast Florida: The number of weapons confiscated at schools in the Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Putnam school districts has soared in the past decade, according to school records. Jackson Short, Duval’s schools police chief, warned that the increase could be misleading. “We are getting better at finding the weapons and holding students accountable. You don’t know how many firearms or weapons you had in the schools in years past when the technology was not as good,” he said. WJAX.
Escambia: School board members recently voted to sell the historic John A. Gibson School building to the city of Pensacola for $260,000. The school opened in 1921 as a school for black children. It’s most recently been used as a Head Start center, but that ended after the school was damaged by Hurricane Sally. Pensacola News Journal.
Highlands: A 16-year-old student at Avon Park High School was arrested Monday and accused of having a weapon on campus. Deputies said the boy had a disassembled handgun and ammunition in his backpack. WFTS. WTVT.
Colleges and universities: Finances of the state colleges and universities will be audited by a Florida version of Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday. The task force will also review courses to “prune … some of the ideological stuff out” and staffing to cut any “bloat of personnel” who don’t “have a “meaningful impact” on students. DeSantis said he wants to cut 700 or more state government jobs by also eliminating 70 state boards and commission during the task force’s one-year tenure. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. USA Today Florida Network. Florida Phoenix. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Politics. WFLA. WTVT.
Top legislative issues: The 60-day legislative session begins a week from today, and the top issues include a reconsideration laws requiring later school start times for middle and high school students by 2026, bolstering educational opportunities in 31 rural counties, and a series of tax cuts that include a 14-day back-to-school sales tax holiday. News Service of Florida. WFSU.
Also in the Legislature: A bill has been filed that would set strict reporting guidelines for teachers of chronically absent students. Any student absent 10% of the time in the first nine weeks of the school year must be reported by the primary teacher, even if the absence is excused. The bill also sets guidelines for districts to follow in dealing with student absences. WPEC. A bill creating a pilot program that would teach students conflict resolution skills as a way to reduce violence in schools has been introduced in the Senate. Florida Politics. Another proposed bill would set up a system to assess and improve the effectiveness of mental health services for students in schools. Florida Politics.
Pension theft verdicts: Five people have been found guilty of stealing $1 million from the retirement accounts of 25 Florida school district employees. One of the five worked for a company that oversaw the employees’ 401(k) accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. Miami Herald.
Opinions on schools: Charter schools have largely succeeded on average in producing better academic outcomes in NAEP testing with significantly fewer resources. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. If Florida policymakers were to eliminate property taxes and replace them with higher consumption taxes (i.e., sales taxes), they would have to double the state’s general sales tax rate to 12 percent. It’s a risky proposition. Esteban Leonardo Santis, Florida Policy Institute.
