Around the state: Florida's Board of Education approved regulations that could allow a significant expansion of charter schools, criticized the Alachua school board for leadership failures that have risen to a "crisis level," approved the conversion of a Newberry school into a charter school, and indicated that a Gainesville High School teacher could lose her teaching certification for giving a student a "most likely to become a dictator" award. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A district audit concludes that the school officials insufficiently vetted the company they contracted with for a school bus camera program that photographed drivers illegally passing stopped buses and sent them fines. It said the district used a loophole to bypass the competitive bidding process and picked a company, BusPatrol, that it had not properly researched. Once launched, the program generated complaints from drivers who felt they were wrongly ticketed but had no way to appeal, and it was suspended less than a year later. Miami Herald.
Orange: The "Witchy Wednesday" televised morning announcement at West Orange High School in Winter Garden has been removed after a religious group said it violated some students' religious rights. An attorney for the district agreed that the program, which is produced by students, contained "impermissible" religious content. Orlando Sentinel. WFTV.
Pinellas, Pasco: Teachers unions in Pinellas and Pasco have reached tentative contract agreements with district officials. Pinellas teachers will get a 1% raise on top of the 5% to 9% raises they get through a referendum voters approved for higher salaries. In Pasco, most employees will get raises of about 4.5% because of a 2.4% increase from the district added to money from its own referendum. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP.
Volusia: Atlantic High School has been given an A grade by the state after an appeal by the district. When the school finished 2 points short of an A, district officials reviewed the data and found that the state had mistakenly counted students assigned to the district's Hospital Homebound service as attending Atlantic High. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Marion: As the district struggles to cope with a $64.3 million funding loss because of declining enrollment, lower state and federal funding and the end of pandemic relief, it also has a teacher shortage that can be seen in bigger classrooms and more teachers in unfamiliar positions. WUFT.
Sarasota: A sixth school district employee is being investigated for social comments posted after the assassination of Republican activist Charlie Kirk in Utah earlier this month. Teachers union president Barry Dubin says that number could increase as more people look through employees' social media pages. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Escambia: School board members past and present are again appealing a court decision that there is no "legislative privilege" that shields them from testifying in a lawsuit over the removal of books from school libraries. It's the second time board members have asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell's decisions that refused to issue protective orders. News Service of Florida. A school district bus aide has been arrested and accused of having sexual conversations with students and showing them pornography. Martin Walker, 33, was suspended by the district. WEAR. A coach at a district school has been arrested and accused of drug trafficking. School officials said Kendrick Johnson, 44, has been fired. WEAR.
Leon: School Board chair Laurie Lawson Cox told the state Board of Education on Wednesday that the delay in getting state pay raises to teachers is the fault of their union, not Superintendent Rocky Hanna. Cox also said the teachers union is "difficult to work with." Union president Scott Mazur has tied state and local funding together in hopes of getting higher raises. Tallahassee Democrat.
Santa Rosa: Kevin Ross Dunning, a 52-year-old groundskeeper at Jay High School, has been arrested and accused of sending a 15-year-old student inappropriate messages. District officials said Dunning has been removed from the campus. WEAR.
Alachua: A "failure in leadership" at the school district has risen to a "crisis level," members of the Florida Board of Education charged at a meeting Wednesday. Alachua school board members were ordered to appear before the BOE on Nov. 13 to explain alleged violations of parents' free speech rights, failure to submit school safety data, a recent comment by board member Tina Certain after the death of Republican activist Charlie Kirk, and more. Politico Florida. Florida Phoenix. WCJB. WUFT. Mainstreet Daily News. Independent Florida Alligator. BOE members also approved the conversion of Newberry Elementary School into the Newberry Community charter school. WCJB. Gainesville High School teacher Lauren Watts, who gave a student a "most likely to become a dictator" award, could lose her teaching certificate, said Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. WCJB.
New charter rules approved: New regulations that are expected to allow a significant charter school expansion were approved Wednesday by the Florida Board of Education. Among the changes are a redefinition of what constitutes a persistently low-performing traditional public school, which will increase the number of areas where Schools of Hope are permitted to open; and allowing those Hope schools to open rent-free inside traditional schools that have space for them. BOE members dismissed concerns that the schools will pull funding from traditional district schools. "Schools of Hope wouldn’t be necessary if our public school system had done its job along the way," said FBOE vice chair Esther Byrd. Associated Press.
Around the nation: Enrollment is declining in school districts in Florida and around the nation, and officials are increasingly considering closing underenrolled schools to save money. A report last year projected that public school enrollment will continue to drop as much as 5.5% between 2022 and 2031. Associated Press.
Opinions on schools: Too many teachers and professors see academic freedom as license to say whatever they like without repercussions. They fail to recognize that rights also confer responsibilities. James V. Shuls, The 74. Improved academic outcomes in Duval County schools are the result of high-quality instruction, deep relationships and educators who reflect and understand the communities they serve. Patrick Evans, Florida Times Union. On some level we’re suffering mostly from a big national failure to take the educational goals of the school system seriously. Matthew Yglesias, The 74.
