Around the state: A new public charter school is opening in North Port, parents in Duval are concerned about free lunches ending, the Scripps National Spelling Bee starts today and misspending allegations plague New College of Florida. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Duval: Parents in this school district are voicing concerns after the district said it was ending universal free lunches at 37 schools after reviewing its budget. Beginning next school lyear, DCPS will cut free lunch provided through the Community Eligibility Provision for 37 schools, which provided universal free meal, regardless of school or need. News4Jax.
Sarasota: The Imagine School at North Port is building a new K-12 public charter school. The goal is to bring expanded educational options to the growing city. Imagine Schools are national nonprofit public charter schools that prepare students for lives of leadership, good character and to be contributing citizens in their communities. “For North Port, which, as much as our city is growing, to have these choices available for our families kids, I think, is a great thing, and they have become a integral part of our community,” said North Port Mayor Phil Stokes. Fox4Now.
Spelling bee: The Scripps National Spelling Bee will include 12 Florida contestants this year of the 243 spellers who are competing. Two contestants are from southwest Florida: Nicasio David from Ft. Myers and Sophia Jolie Schoenrock from Marco Island. Preliminaries will begin today, quarterfinals are Wednesday and the semifinals are Thursday. The Scripps National Spelling Bee has resulted in a Florida winner twice in a row, with Dev Shah in 2023 and Bruhat Soma in 2024. The bee is also marking 100 years of competition. The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. The bee is now held just outside the nation’s capital. The bee was canceled from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II, and again in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC Miami. Naples Daily News.
Student security: Officials who keep Tampa Bay area schools secure say the state’s newest school safety law revisions will ease the strain that last year’s version imposed across campuses statewide. Signed into law on Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the update will give schools more flexibility in which doors and gates they must keep locked and when. Concerns were raised by school officials about the 2024 requirements before they became law because they say the wording forced them to keep all access and entry points staffed or locked. “The intent was one way, but the way the law was written didn’t offer the flexibility that lawmakers thought it did,” said Mike Baumaister, chief security officer for Pasco County schools. Tampa Bay Times.
Colleges and universities: The state has ended a program that allowed some immigrant students to pay in-state tuition. NPR. New College of Florida has come under fire over questions regarding how the school has paid for its sports program and the president’s salary. Four alumni have threatened to sue the school’s leadership, alleging they have inappropriately used restricted donations to fund their salaries and projects. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, Manny Díaz Jr., the state’s education commissioner, said on Friday that he would be “willing to have a conversation” about serving as interim president of the University of West Florida. The school’s Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to formally accept the resignation of President Martha Saunders, who announced she is stepping down, and to name an interim replacement. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: A professional learning community (PLC) is a structured, collaborative group of educators who come together regularly to discuss their teaching practices. They take collective responsibility for student learning by working toward shared goals and relentlessly focusing on the evidence they collect and analyze from students. Research strongly suggests that PLCs can positively impact both teacher practice and student achievement. Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher, The 74th.
