Around the state: Student scores on the state progress monitoring assessments showed improvement in 2025, a Pinellas charter school announces it’s closing because of leasing issues, St. Lucie’s superintendent is proposing to merge three schools into a new K-8 school in Fort Pierce, Gadsden begins construction on a K-8 school in Quincy, and Miami is considering selling a historic theater to a charter school company founded by Pitbull. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Miami officials are considering selling the historic and recently refurbished Olympia Theater to the Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM) charter school group founded by musical artist Pitbull. The theater, which opened in 1926, recently hosted the Miami Film Festival. SLAM said the theater would be used as a school auditorium. Miami Herald. WLRN. WPLG.
Palm Beach: Wellington council member John McGovern said Wednesday he is running for the District 6 school board seat in 2026. Marcia Andrews holds the seat, but is retiring after 16 years on the board. McGovern is the only declared candidate so far. Florida Politics. A former teacher and basketball coach at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton was arrested this week and accused of touching a 17-year-old student inappropriately between August of 2022 and May of 2024. Charles Keith Mackrey, 51, left the school district more than a year ago, said school principal Kelly Mills Burke. WTVJ. WPTV. WPEC.
Pinellas: The Plato Academy charter school in Largo is closing its doors because it lost its lease and cannot find another, chief of schools Amy Hayes has told the Pinellas County School Board. “It is exceptionally sad as the Plato Academy Largo school is currently projecting a school grade of A,” she said. Plato had an enrollment of 305, and those students have been offered seats at its other six schools in the county. Tampa Bay Times.
Brevard: While student discipline referrals and out-of-school suspensions increased during the past year, school board members and Superintendent Mark Rendell say they are pleased with the recent changes in the discipline process. “The numbers are definitely moving in the right direction,” said Rendell. “We do have some work to improve on, so we’ll do that for sure.” Florida Today.
Volusia: The district has announced the hiring of an attorney for complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act, a director of strategic academic operations, coordinators for planning and business services and exceptional student education, and six assistant principals. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
St. Lucie: School Superintendent Jon Prince is proposing to build a $65 million K-8 school in Fort Pierce and merge three schools into it. Lawnwood Elementary, St. Lucie Elementary and Dan McCarty Middle students would all move to the school that would be built adjacent to McCarty, and the Dale Cassens alternative school would relocate into McCarty. Prince said the plan is to cut costs by combining schools rather than maintaining all three. WPTV.
Sarasota: North Port city commissioners have signed off on Imagine Schools taking on up to $60 million in tax-exempt funding to build a K-12 charter school that could accommodate up to 1,500 students when it opens in the fall of 2026. The decision comes a week after the school district announced it was delaying plans for a Woodland area high school and a Wellen Park K-8 school in North Port for financial reasons. Charlotte Sun.
Flagler: Budget deficits were the focus of the school board this week. The district has to close a $2.5 million deficit for the current school year, and a projected $330,000 gap for the next school year. Declining enrollment is part of the problem, with 432 students forecast to leave the public school system in August and use state scholarships to attend other types of schools. “We’re not in a great shape,” said board member Derek Barrs. “We’re still going to have to make some hard decisions coming up in the future here, and that’s the cold, hard facts.” Flagler Live.
Gadsden: Construction has begun on a new $60 million K-8 school that is being built on the grounds of James A. Shanks Middle School in Quincy. When it’s completed in the fall of 2026, it will consolidate students from Shanks, Stewart Street Elementary and George W. Munroe Elementary. WCTV.
Colleges and universities: The University of Florida law student who was suspended for posting a message on social media saying “Jews must be abolished by any means necessary” contends UF has violated his First Amendment right of expression. USA Today Florida Network. Former New College of Florida Foundation board members are demanding an audit of the foundation’s finances and threatening legal action against the school if their concerns about financial mismanagement are not addressed. USA Today Florida Network. Florida’s Board of Governors has signaled that it’s concerned about Florida A&M University’s operations after faulty financial and operational audit reports. Tallahassee Democrat.
Assessments improvements: Florida students improved their state progress monitoring assessments scores this past school year over the previous year, officials announced Wednesday. In reading, 57% of students scored at or above grade level, an increase of 4 percentage points. St. Johns County had the highest rate at 72% and Gadsden the lowest at 36%. In math, 58% of students scored at or above grade level, an improvement of 3 percentage points over 2024. Nassau had the highest rate, 78%, and Gadsden the lowest at 35%. Florida Phoenix. Florida Politics. Office of the Governor. WJHG.
Around the nation: About a third of families who home-school their children also have a child enrolled in a public school, according to data from researchers at Johns Hopkins University. And 9% of families who home-school their children also have enrolled a child in a charter school. That’s “evidence that there’s not this rejection of public schooling that people frame it as,” said Angela Watson, an assistant professor at the university. She called the finding a “big deal.” The 74.
Opinions on schools: The entire state of Florida should be declared an evacuation zone for human beings under 18. Not because ferocious hurricanes are bearing down, but because of the way its conservative “leaders” continue to endanger the youngest among us. Barrington Salmon, Florida Phoenix. At the University of Florida, actual history lessons about racism are censored while opinions promoting racism are celebrated. It doesn’t get much clearer than that. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. Civility is not weakness or passive submission. It is an active choice to engage, converse, listen, debate, persuade and allow oneself to be challenged. It’s time for K-12 education to embrace this essential work. Frederick J. Ryan Jr., The 74.
