Around the state: No progress was made Tuesday in the state budget stalemate though the House extended the legislative session to June 30 if needed, Broward’s school board approves a cost-cutting plan, a sex education curriculum proposed in Broward schools is shot down by the state, New College settles a lawsuit alleging its trustees violated public records laws, and Waldo city officials will appeal the Alachua school board’s decision to close a charter school. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: The first step in Superintendent Howard Hepburn’s plan to cut the budget by as much as $100 million was approved Tuesday by school board members. They agreed to cut 104 school monitor positions, limit overtime, end their universal free lunch program and raise meal prices by $1. The next step will be closing and consolidating several schools. Hepburn said the district is facing a budget deficit of $76 million, with more than 8,000 students projected to take state scholarships and leave the public school system. WTVJ. Miami Herald. The district’s proposal for teaching sex education was turned down by the state, but school board members directed Hepburn to ask for permission to use another district’s curriculum that has already been approved so the information can be taught before classes end June 3. Sun Sentinel.
Palm Beach: Graduation ceremonies were held Tuesday for seniors from West Boca Community High School. Palm Beach Post.
Duval, northeast Florida: High school graduation ceremonies begin in Duval on Friday and continue through May 30. St. Johns County’s graduations will be held May 16-23, Clay County’s from May 22-27, Nassau’s from May 22-27, and Baker’s May 23. Florida Times-Union. A school resource officer was arrested last week and accused of domestic battery. Deputies said Kevens Louis, 30, who is not assigned to a particular school, faces charges of battery causing bodily harm, false imprisonment and felony domestic battery by strangulation. Jacksonville Today. WJAX. WTLV. WJXT. A Southside Estates Elementary School substitute teacher was arrested after authorities said they found multiple weapons and ammunition in his car. School officials said they were tipped that Abdiel Badillo-Martinez had a weapon in his car. WJXT.
Polk: High school graduation ceremonies will be held May 19-23 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. Lakeland Now. Hollis Hamilton Hooks, a financial advisor who was a school board member from 1992-1996 and again in 1999 for a year, has died in Lakeland at the age of 74. Lakeland Now.
Lee: Students at Gateway Charter High School graduated in a ceremony Tuesday. Fort Myers News-Press.
Pinellas: Increases in school lunch prices were approved Tuesday by the school board. Elementary school meals are increasing in the fall by 50 cents to $2.75, middle school meals by 40 cents to $3.15 and high school lunches by $1 to $4.50. It’s the first increase in the district’s meal prices since 2019. WFTS.
Lake: Locks for every district elementary classroom door will be switched out this summer. School board members voted this week to spend $196,000 on changing the locks to improve security. WESH.
Alachua: Waldo city officials say they will appeal a school board decision to close the Constellation Charter School over health and safety violations. The school board did not base the decision on all the facts, those Waldo officials contend. WCJB.
Bay: New Horizons Learning Center will be consolidated on the campus of Rosenwald High School in Panama City, school board members decided this week. The change allows for a sharing of behavioral supports, counseling services, academic interventions and credit recovery, said district officials. WJHG.
Colleges and universities: New College of Florida has settled a lawsuit alleging violations of the public records law by agreeing to pay $125,000 in legal fees, requiring trustees to use college-issued phones for official business, and getting training on the public records law. The court also will monitor the college for compliance. WGCU.
Budget stalemate: House Speaker Daniel Perez said Tuesday that Gov. Ron DeSantis was too “scared” to talk to him and House Republicans about how to cut taxes and reach an agreement on a budget. Perez also criticized DeSantis’ suggestion to give homeowners $1,000 off their property taxes as “apologizing for local government spending, which is the kind of irresponsible idea I associate with California policymakers.” The House did vote to extend the session June 30 if necessary, and Perez said the chamber now has “multiple pathways” to resolve budget differences with the Senate and avoid a government shutdown. Politico Florida. USA Today Florida Network. News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Politics. WFSU. Members of a committee appointed by the House to discuss property tax reform said Tuesday that they will take a measured approach as a way of addressing the anxieties of local government leaders wary of a loss in revenues. USA Today Florida Network. Florida Politics.
Laws in courtrooms: A request for a temporary restraining order against a new law putting additional restrictions on citizens initiatives was denied by a federal judge, who advised the group trying to get a Medicaid expansion on the ballot to merge their case with those who want a vote on recreational pot and refile the lawsuit. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. A temporary injunction against a state law intended to prevent children from attending drag shows was upheld this week by a federal appeals court, which ruled the law was “substantially overbroad.” News Service of Florida. Orlando Sentinel.
End of school nears: Most of the state’s school districts will end the academic year before the end of this month. Final days of school are May 22 or 23 for 16 districts, and between May 26 and 30 for 44 others. The remaining seven finish between June 2 and 5. USA Today Florida Network.
Around the nation: Boys have made gains in national 8th-grade algebra 1 tests since the pandemic while girls have not, widening an achievement gap that had narrowed before schools were closed for the COVID outbreak, according to a new analysis from the testing and research organization NWEA. K-12 Dive. Chalkbeat. Education Week.
Opinions on schools: Passing the federal Educational Choice for Children Act would extend the Florida educational choice model to every state, regardless of whether it has an education program. Moshe Matz, Sun Sentinel.
