Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis has threatened to veto any legislative tax cut plan that includes lowering the state sales tax, Duval’s school board approves changes in the district’s sex education curriculum, the Polk school district is proposing to close its virtual school, Pasco schools want to open courses to home-schooled students for a fee, and some prominent conservatives are opposing the hiring of the lone finalist for the University of Florida presidency. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A behavior technician who worked in a Miami classroom has been arrested and accused of sending thousands of inappropriate text messages to a 12-year-old student. Carolina Marie Trueba, 28, who works for a private company contracted by the school district, was arrested in late April and charged with offenses against students by authority figures. WSVN. A 19-year-old Palmetto Senior High School student has been arrested and accused of having a stun gun on campus. WSVN. WTVJ.
Hillsborough: A K-8 school where artificial intelligence drives learning is opening in August in the Carrollwood area of Tampa. Alpha Schools, which started in Austin, Texas, dedicates the first two hours of the day to personalized lessons using AI, and then turns to hands-on projects and developing skills such as writing, financial literacy and leadership. WTSP.
Palm Beach: An employee at Boca Raton Middle School was recently arrested and accused of trying to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex. School officials said termination proceedings have begun against Stephon McCray. WPEC.
Duval: Changes in the district’s sex education curriculum were approved this week by the school board. Parents will still be allowed to opt out of the courses, and schools can split students by gender for the sex ed lessons. Jacksonville Today. WJXT. The school board approved a $300,000 settlement to a lawsuit over the sexual assault of a 6-year-old by an older child at an elementary school summer camp in 2023. Florida Times-Union. A longtime school district program hiring women- and minority-owned businesses was dropped by the school board. Florida Times-Union. A kindergarten teacher at IDEA River Bluff School in Arlington was arrested this week and accused of child abuse. Authorities said Terri Baldwin, 39, dangled a student upside down, injuring the boy’s head. WJXT.
Polk: District officials said they are ending several programs, including the Polk Virtual School, in order to save about $5.6 million a year. The K-12 Polk Virtual had just 462 full-time and 502 part-time students. Also being terminated is the high school diploma alternative Fresh Start program, a high school diploma alternative, and the REAL Academy is being consolidated from three sites to two. Lakeland Ledger. School board members also approved a five-year contract extension for Superintendent Frederick Heid, and finalized the hiring of James Greene as the district’s general counsel. Lakeland Ledger.
Pasco: District officials are creating a program offering classes in local schools to home-schooled students for a fee of about $1,000 a course. “We are basically becoming a vendor,” said Pasco Superintendent John Legg. There are about 5,500 home-schooled students in the county, and they are eligible for state scholarships that allow them to use the money to buy needed services. The program is expected to start in the fall. Tampa Bay Times.
Brevard: A camera-based speed detection program in 15 Palm Bay school zones has been suspended for the rest of the school year. Police said Wednesday that the program “has experienced several issues which have caused concern and do not meet the standards we expect for any program implemented in our community.” Spectrum News 13. WOFL.
Leon: Attorneys general in Florida and 19 other states filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear arguments in the case of the school district acknowledging a student’s gender identity and using preferred pronouns without the parents’ knowledge during the 2020-2021 school year. A three-judge panel of the court ruled in favor of the school district in March. News Service of Florida. The school district’s staffing budget is going up by $6 million next year to cover raises and higher insurance costs, Superintendent Rocky Hanna said. Tallahassee Democrat. Seven high school graduation ceremonies will be held between May 15 and May 24 at either the Donald Tucker Civic Center or Lee Hall Auditorium. Tallahassee Democrat.
Alachua: Despite budget cuts, the school district’s program to help the county’s more than 900 homeless students is continuing. Federal law requires districts to provide access to transportation, basic services and education to students without stable housing access. Joram Rejouis, director of project development, said the district is continuing services by collaborating with local agencies. “We’ve been working with some partners who were able to find housing or temporary relief for some families,” he said. “We are reaching out.” WUFT.
Martin: Sheriff John Budensiek is asking the school district for an extra $2.1 million to fund the school resource officer program. “They’re proposing a 63% increase, and that hit us from out of left field a little bit,” said school district spokesman Derek Lowe. Negotiations are continuing. The contract lapses at the end of June. WPTV.
Charlotte: School board members will ask voters in November 2026 to renew a 1% local option sales tax that was first approved in 1994. If the tax is passed, it will be used to build career and technical education facilities and modernize existing facilities. Charlotte Sun.
Colleges and universities: Santa Ono’s initial reception as the sole finalist for the University of Florida presidency was mostly positive, but some prominent conservatives are questioning his handling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as the University of Michigan president. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a declared candidate for governor in 2026, said Ono “has no business being the president of the No. 1 university in the state of Florida. We need to do better.” Ono has won the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Tampa Bay Times. Politico Florida. Florida Politics. A National Science Foundation’s $871,000 teaching grant at the University of West Florida has been canceled after the state DOGE contended it contained a “social justice” component. Politico Florida. Andrea Brvenik will be acting president at Pasco-Hernando State College until an interim can be named to replace former president Jesse Pisors, who resigned last week. Hernando Sun.
Tax veto threatened: If the Legislature sends him a tax relief bill that lowers the state sales tax, Gov. DeSantis said Wednesday, he will veto it. Senate and House leaders said last week they had agreed to the framework of a budget bill that includes $2.8 billion in tax cuts, with the bulk of it coming from a reduction in the state sales tax. The governor said the tax rate would drop from 6% to 5.75%, and he said it would be “dead on arrival” because it would kill his wish to give homeowners a one-time $1,000 property tax rebate and unfairly benefit tourists over state residents. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. USA Today Florida Network. Tampa Bay Times. Florida Politics. Key details of a budget plan have not yet been worked out, said state Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Palm Harbor. No decisions have been made on allocations, the amount of money allotted for each area of the budget, he said. Negotiations continue with the Legislature back in session next week. News Service of Florida.
Opinions on schools: The Legislature decided to deal with the state’s teacher shortage by deleting the words “teacher shortage” from Florida statutes. It’s a fascinating way to deal with problems. Maybe if we also remove references to “cancer” and “hurricanes” from state laws, those problems will magically disappear as well. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. The climate of fear on university campuses gives the government precisely the result it wants. Administrators and faculty members alike practice anticipatory obedience to avoid even the appearance of wokeness, stifling the sort of open and civil discussions that lead students to develop their own views. University of Florida professor Anna Peterson, New York Times. Broad claims of success often made by teachers and school administrators about the benefits of banning cellphones in schools don’t match the data. Stetson University professor Christopher J. Ferguson, RealClear Investigations.
