Around the state: Lawmakers are already looking ahead to the top education priorities for the 2026 legislative session, the state budget calls for a back-to-school tax holiday every August, Broward’s inspector general is looking into the school district’s plan to put a laptop in the hand of every student, Leon’s school board approves a policy governing the use of artificial intelligence, Bay schools will implement a dress code in the fall for the first time since 2018, and Bethune-Cookman University trustees select a new president. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: District officials are proposing that Key Biscayne residents be drafted to teach some classes at the city’s K-8 center. The school is losing enrollment and teachers, and the district’s chief academic officer, Lourdes Diaz, suggested looking for city residents with expertise who might be interested in teaching classes a day or two a week. WLRN. A custodian at Van E. Blanton Elementary School in Miami has been arrested and accused of pushing a coworker down a school stairwell. After Delvin James Sheffield, 46, was arrested, a search of his backpack revealed a loaded 45-caliber semi-automatic handgun. WPLG.
Broward: A district proposal to hand every student a laptop by the start of the school year Aug. 11 is now in question after the Broward Office of the Inspector General began reviewing the technology contracts. Superintendent Howard Hepburn recently withdrew a plan to ask the school board to approve the purchase of 50,000 laptops as part of a five-year, $115 million contract with HP Inc. and $2.7 million in contracts with smaller companies. The district has almost 247,000 devices on hand, but there are concerns that many are outdated and won’t be functional. “After learning about technology procurement concerns, the superintendent pulled the item and referred it to the Office of the Inspector General,” said district spokesman John Sullivan. Sun Sentinel.
Orange: A former engineering teacher at Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando has been arrested and accused of inappropriately touching a student. Jared Tatum, 31, is charged with lewd touching of certain minors and attempted sexual battery on a victim over 12, police said. The student filed a complaint May 7, and Tatum was fired May 16, said school officials. WFTV. WKMG.
Polk: A new K-6 elementary charter school will open in the fall of 2026 at the site of the former Kingsford Elementary in Mulberry. It will be the third elementary school in the McKeel Academy charter school system. Kingsford was closed in 2021, and the school board approved the transfer of the property to McKeel earlier this month. Up to 414 students may attend the new school, and it will feed into the McKeel Academy of Technology. Lakeland Ledger.
Volusia: A 6th-grade teacher at UBIC Academy in Holly Hill, a Christian K-12 school, has been arrested and accused of possessing child pornography. The name of David R. McKeown, 47, has been removed from the school’s staff website. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WFTV. WKMG.
Marion: Incoming interim superintendent Danielle Brewer says the district has frozen hiring and spending as the first step in cutting into a projected budget deficit of $64.7 million for the next school year. All department budgets have been reduced by 20%, class sizes have been increased by two students at every level, ratios for paraprofessionals were adjusted, seven-period days were cut back to six at three middle schools, and half the committed fund balance has been released for other uses. Ocala Star-Banner.
Leon: A policy on the use of artificial intelligence in the district by teachers and students has been approved by the school board. It allows AI use for research, data analysis, translation and helping students with disabilities, and sets punishments for using AI to cheat. Tallahassee Democrat.
Alachua: The city of Alachua’s Education Task Force has developed a strategic plan that would promote home visitation programs to families with children up to 5 years old, help establish a community partnership school at either Mebane Middle or Alachua Elementary, and more. ETF members say they’re trying to schedule a meeting with district school officials to discuss the plan. Mainstreet Daily News.
Bay: A new school dress code will take effect in August for the first time since Hurricane Michael hit the area in 2018. All K-12 students, except those at Haney Technical College and the Margaret K. Lewis School for special education students, will have to wear specific pants, T-shirt and polo shirt with colors of their schools, solid covered skirts, dresses, shirts or outerwear such as jackets, and closed-toed shoes. WJHG.
Indian River: About 15 school district positions are being eliminated for the next school year, saving about $1.2 million. Superintendent David Moore said, “We need to be more efficient,” and pointed out that $7.3 million in administrative salaries and benefits have been cut from the budget over the past six years. TCPalm.
Citrus: A $3.5 million budget deficit is projected for the school district for the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Scott Hebert says there will be no layoffs, but hiring will be frozen for now. Citrus County Chronicle.
Bradford: Superintendent Will Hartley is lobbying legislators to include $132 million in the 2026-2027 state budget for the district’s proposed junior-senior high school. He said a legislative special facilities committee ranked the project as the second most critical in the state, behind one in Lafayette County. WCJB.
Colleges and universities: Albert Mosley has been named the president of Bethune-Cookman University by trustees. He had been president of Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa, for the past three years. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WKMG. Central Florida Public Media. A white nationalist and anti-Semitic law student at the University of Florida was recently named best in his class for a paper he wrote arguing that the phrase “We the People” in the Constitution refers exclusively to white people. New York Times.
Book battles accelerate: Several advocacy groups and authors of books removed from Florida school libraries are asking the Legislature’s Joint Administrative Procedures Committee to investigate the state’s recent demand for those removals without following the review process called for in the law. USA Today Florida Network.
Back-to-school tax holiday: If Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the proposed state budget into law, the back-to-school tax holiday will be held every August for the entire month. Clothing, school supplies costing less than $50, and personal computers costing less than $1,500 would be exempt. USA Today Florida Network. News Service of Florida.
Next legislative session: The 2025 legislative session just ended but the next one starts Jan. 13, and lawmakers are already talking about the education issues that could become priorities. Among them: the possible reduction or elimination of property taxes that fund schools, student absenteeism, school bus eligibility, the school grading system, a new teacher pay model and more. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: Reports on rising student absenteeism demonstrate the significant shift in attitudes about student attendance and how little Florida has done to get children back into the classroom. John Hill, Tampa Bay Times. Tallahassee politicians were forced to abandon their plans to gut funding for AP classes in public schools after they ran into something they rarely encounter in this state — a wall of public opposition. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. Our school district’s results teaching reading by grade-level left too many students behind and failed to challenge others who were ready to move forward. So we decided to group students by reading ability instead of by grade. It wasn’t easy. But it was necessary, and the results have been worth every bit of the effort. Jessica Berg, The 74.
