Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis is hinting that he could veto $500 million in projects from the $115.1 billion state budget, Brevard’s school board is expected to vote on a plan to align its parental consent policy with state law, Florida State University approves using $22.5 million in auxiliary fees to pay student-athletes, Union County school officials are considering eliminating 34 district positions to balance the district’s budget, and Jefferson’s school board approves a plan to share three administrators with the neighboring Madison County School District. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Hillsborough: Construction projects are underway this summer at 70 district schools, including $16 million to renovate the underground HVAC system at Hillsborough High School. Funds generated by the voter-approved extra half-cent sales tax are paying for the work. WFLA. A former district high school teacher has pleaded guilty to running guns for a transnational criminal organization in Florida. Department of Justice officials said Monday that 46-year-old Shannon Lee Samlalsingh of Tampa purchased several weapons from licensed dealers but falsely stated on federal forms that she was buying them for herself when she was actually purchasing them for members of a Trinidadian criminal organization. She faces up to five years in federal prison. WFLA. WFTS.
Brevard: A proposal to align district policy with state law on parental consent over the recognition of student names will be considered by the school board today. Satellite High School teacher Melissa Calhoun’s contract was not renewed after she used a student’s preferred name without the consent of the student’s parents. The proposed change reads, “Parents who approve of their student being referred to by any name other than their legal name (such as a nickname) must fully complete the district’s electronic or hard copy parental consent form.” WKMG.
Volusia: Port Orange police officers will replace sheriff’s deputies as school resource officers at Creekside and Silver Sands middle schools, the city council recently decided in approving an agreement with the school board. The change will cost the city $76,000 a year, but city officials said they expect the deal to improve relations between students and police officers. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Alachua: Three of the school district’s top financial administrators have announced their resignations. Director of finance Brandon Esposito left last month, and assistant superintendent of finance Gabrielle Jaremczuk and budget director Deborah Parrish are leaving early next month. The departures of Jaremczuk and Parrish come less than two weeks after the district said it was facing a $20 million general fund deficit. Mainstreet Daily News.
Santa Rosa: Individual school start and close times for the 2025-2026 academic year have been finalized. Schools reopen Aug. 11, and the school year ends May 28, 2026. Pensacola News Journal.
Union: School board members meet today to consider a cost-cutting plan that could eliminate 34 district positions, said Superintendent Mike Ripplinger. WCJB.
Jefferson: Members of the school board have unanimously approved a plan for the district to share three administrative positions with the neighboring Madison County School District. Directors of exceptional student education, human resources and transportation will be shared, with Madison paying 60% of the costs and receiving 60% of each employee’s time and Jefferson 40%. “This will save us almost $160,000,” said Jefferson Superintendent Jackie Pons. Madison’s school board had already approved the agreement. WTXL.
Colleges and universities: Florida State University is the first state school to take advantage of a new rule that allows the transfer of previously untouchable auxiliary funds to pay student-athletes under a federal court settlement. FSU will use $22.5 million from unused pandemic funds and other sources. Politico Florida. A University of Florida law student who recently was named by his professor as best in his class for a paper he wrote arguing that the phrase “We the People” in the Constitution refers exclusively to white people has been suspended by UF over social media posts stating that that Jews must be “abolished by any means necessary.” Huffington Post.
Budget vetoes? Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted Monday that he could veto $500 million or more from the $115.1 billion budget approved last week by the Legislature after an extended session. “If some of the House leadership is saying that we’re spending too much and whatever, don’t I have to at least take $500 million off to get under what I recommended?” he said. DeSantis must make his cuts and sign the bill before the new fiscal year begins July 1. Politico Florida. USA Today Florida Network. The state budget “falls short of meeting the full needs of Florida’s students and educators,” the Florida Education Association teachers union charged in a statement Monday. WLRN.
New state laws: More than 170 laws were approved by the Legislature in the recently completed session, and most of them take effect July 1. Included are bills allowing charter schools to set their own codes of student conduct, teaching students about disability history and awareness, relaxing the requirements necessary to become a school social worker, making changes to teacher preparation programs, tightening the rules for using cell phones at schools, allowing home-schooled students to play sports at any public high school in their district, and more. WKMG.
Around the nation: A narrow majority of American adults say they support letting teachers lead Christian prayers during classes, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center. Fifty-two percent favor teachers leading “their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus,” while 46% are opposed. Miami Herald.
Opinions on schools: The American public school system does not do a terrific job on average in educating students, but it does a fantastic job in maximizing the political power and revenue of employee unions and their associated fellow travelers. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. The next phase of education choice should take the road untraveled, with experimentation and diversification, big schools and small schools, formal schools and informal schools, and parents making the decisions about where their child ends up. Robert Enlow and Michael Q. McShane, Education Next. Florida has become the blueprint for censorship in public education. Anna Muenchrath, Florida Today.
