Around the state: A Miami high school student has been diagnosed with measles to become the state’s first case of the year, a House subcommittee approves a bill giving parents the authority to decide whether to convert a public school into a charter, state leaders outline their goals for the legislative session that began Tuesday, more than 1 in 5 Florida black students are now attending a school of their choice, and Manatee County commissioners vote to turn off speed-detection cameras in school zones. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A teenager at Miami Palmetto Senior High School in Pinecrest has contracted the measles, according to a report from the Florida Department of Health. It’s the first case in the state this year, and the first in south Florida since a handful of cases were reported in February 2024 at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston. Measles can spread through the air and is highly contagious, especially in classrooms. Free immunizations will be offered at the school every day next week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. WFOR. WPLG. WSVN. WTVJ. WLRN. Tampa Bay Times.
Broward: Teachers and other school employees will get average raises of 3% after the school board approved a contract agreement between the district and the union. Pay for starting teachers goes up from $50,266 to $51,402, and the highest-paid teachers will be paid a base salary of $88,580, up from $86,209 last year. The raises are retroactive to July 1. Sun Sentinel. WSVN.
Duval: A school board vote to revise the policy governing teacher fraternization with students has been delayed to give more clarity and effectiveness to the proposed changes. The revision calls on teachers to avoid the appearance of impropriety, not send private messages to students, and requires employees to use district-approved devices and applications when communicating with students. WJXT.
Lee: District officials are offering incentives to fill 65 open bus driving jobs. Drivers would no longer need to have a high school degree to be considered, and the district will cover the nearly $200 cost of physical exams, fingerprinting and CDL licensing. WBBH. A fire was reported Tuesday night in the gymnasium at Fort Myers High School, with flames visible on the roof. The fire was quickly extinguished. No one was injured, and the school is open today. Fort Myers News-Press. WBBH. WFTX. WINK.
Pasco: A decision allowing teachers to count homework toward a student’s grade will take effect in the fall, Superintendent John Legg said Tuesday. He had wanted it to begin this spring, but reconsidered after teachers said they could use more time to prepare their courses and grading calculations, and that students were too far into the second semester to make the change effectively. Tampa Bay Times.
Manatee: Speed-detection cameras in 30 school zones will be turned off Thursday, county commissioners decided this week in a 5-2 vote. Some residents have regarded the cameras as a “money grab.” Since August, 55,243 citations for $100 apiece have been issued. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Your Observer. WWSB. WTVT.
Martin: A Pennsylvania company told the school board this week that it is ready to start leasing naming rights to county school stadiums. The first is expected to be Martin County High School’s stadium, which could generate as much as $7,500 a week, a representative from Tebo Partnerships said. Companies would be vetted before being allowed to buy the naming rights. TCPalm.
Colleges and universities: North Florida College President John Grosskopf announced this week that he is stepping down in December after 17 years of leading the school. Grosskopf will stay on as a professor. News Service of Florida.
Leaders outline priorities: Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders of the Senate and House offered somewhat different priorities for the legislative session that began Tuesday. The governor wants property tax and insurance reforms, new limits on ballot initiatives, the reversal of gun reforms enacted after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, an increase in teacher salaries, a continuation of sales tax holidays and more. Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, wants to revitalize the economics, infrastructure and education of rural areas and make government more efficient, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, proposes to tighten spending and help residents with soaring property insurance premiums. Politico Florida. USA Today Florida Network. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Politics. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Florida Phoenix. News Service of Florida.
Also in the Legislature: A bill that would exclude school boards, teachers and school administrators from votes over the conversion of public schools into charter schools was approved Tuesday by the House Education Administration Subcommittee. Only parents with children at the school would cast ballots, and a 50% vote would approve the conversion. Florida Politics. Students who walk to school along state highways, freeways, or expressways would be guaranteed school transportation under a bill approved Tuesday by a House subcommittee. WTLV.
Black students and choice: A great black migration is occurring in Florida’s schools, according to an update to the 2021 report, “Controlling the Narrative: Parental Choice, Black Empowerment & Lessons from Florida.” More than 140,000 black students, or more than 1 in 5 in the state, have left public schools to enroll in charter schools, in private schools using state choice scholarships, or outside full-time schools entirely using education savings accounts. In the past decade, growth of black enrollment in something other than a public school has grown 86%. And the latest achievement data shows they’re outperforming their peers in district schools. NextSteps.
Opinions on schools: The state of Florida has spent more than two decades experimenting with various policies to improve education, but these experiments have been done without much research and without the experts — the educators. And what do we have to show for it? Maybe it’s time to listen to the experts in our schools. FEA president Andrew Spar, Florida Politics.
