Around the state: All eight property tax proposals filed last week in the Florida House exempt schools from revenue losses, the state continues to have problems tracking students who receive state scholarships but are also enrolled in public schools, a judge has sided with the Hillsborough school board in ordering a charter school to close because of security issues, and at least 15 Florida school districts have gotten requests from charter school companies to open Schools of Hope in unused space at about 300 school campuses. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A maintenance worker at a North Miami charter school was arrested and accused of having inappropriate, sexually tinged conversations with a 15-year-old student. Adolfo Eusebio Cotarelo, 61, who works at Mater Academy Biscayne, is charged with child abuse with no great bodily harm. WTVJ.
Broward: District 6 school board member Adam Cervera has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida High School Athletic Association board of directors. Senate confirmation will be required. Florida Politics.
Hillsborough: A district judge ruled Friday that a Tampa charter school must close immediately because it is unsafe for students. School board members ordered the Walton Academy for the Performing Arts to close last Tuesday over security concerns, but the school defied the order and reopened to students Wednesday and Thursday, prompting the district to ask a court for an injunction. Tampa Bay Times. WFTS. WFLA. An 8-year-old boy who was getting off his school bus Friday morning in Tampa was struck by a car that police said was illegally passing the bus. The boy hit his head on the pavement and was taken to a hospital, but police said his injuries weren't life-threatening. WFLA. WTVT.
Palm Beach: Royal Palm Beach officials say they will now allow a private school to open in the Tuttle Royal Development. In April 2024, the village council rejected a bid from a private school, saying it preferred a charter school because it worried that few families in the village could afford private school tuition. But the developer was unable to attract a charter school, and Mayor Jeff Hmara now says the availability of state scholarships and willingness of private schools to work with parents on financing led to the change in direction. Palm Beach Post.
Lee: District officials have released the social media posts three teachers made after the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Those posts prompted Superintendent Denise Carlin to recommend that the teachers be fired. Subsequently, one of the teachers has resigned, a second has left the state and the third has until Nov. 4 to notify the school board whether a request for a hearing through the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings will be filed. WINK. WBBH.
Pinellas: An old district school bus has been transformed into a mobile science lab that is traveling to every public middle school and providing 7th-graders with hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts and math learning experiences. WFTS. St. Pete Catalyst.
Clay: A contract negotiations impasse has been declared by the union representing teachers after months of talks have failed to lead to an agreement. Teachers were asking for raises ranging from $700 to $1,500, but district officials are offering no raise for 45% of teachers and less than $18 a year for veteran educators, according to the union. WJAX.
Leon: An Apalachee Elementary School teacher has been arrested and accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor. Deputies say Mikayla Rich, now 30, had a three-year relationship with a 16-year-old student while working at Acts Christian Academy three years ago. She has been placed on administrative leave, says a district spokesman. Tallahassee Democrat. WTXL.
Colleges and universities: Jacksonville University's Public Policy Institute is being renamed the Haskell Public Policy Institute after civic leader Preston Haskell made a $12 million donation to the school. The institute will also open an auxiliary office in JU's College of Law. Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville Today.
In the Legislature: Eight proposals to change property taxes were introduced in the House last week. All the constitutional amendments would exempt school taxes, which make up nearly half of all local school spending, and seven of the eight would require 60% support from voters next fall. In a memo to House members, Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said, "It is our position that the House does not need to limit itself in presenting one single plan, but instead allow the people of Florida the ability to choose some, all, or none of the proposals on the 2026 ballot." Politico Florida. Florida Phoenix. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. WUSF. WPTV. Members of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee on Higher Education said last week that a worsening financial situation could lead to cuts in higher education spending. WFSU.
Student tracking issues: The state's problem with tracking scholarship students has continued into this school year, the House’s K-12 Budget Subcommittee was told last week. About 27,000 students who have been identified as voucher recipients may also be enrolled in public schools, according to a report. The state is trying to resolve any duplications, but about $7 million in state scholarship funding has already been deposited to some of those students and spent. Politico Florida.
Charter school requests: At least 15 Florida school districts have gotten requests from charter school companies to open Schools of Hope on about 300 school campuses for the 2027-2028 school year, says Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association. A new law gives charters access to operate in unused public school space. Sun Sentinel. Some lawmakers who voted for the Schools of Hope bill aren't answering questions about the impact it's having on school districts. WUSF. The law appeared dead near the end of this year's legislative session but was substantially reworked and pushed through the Legislature. How did it happen? Sun Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: The state's latest handout to charter schools should be a spark for improving Florida’s traditional public classrooms. School districts should sell campuses outright, partner with private-sector partners to develop the properties or co-locate schools serving K-8 or other grades to maximize the use of district-owned real estate, instead of turning it over for free to charter schools. John Hill, Tampa Bay Times. Schools of Hope are also schools of profit for the companies running them. Sun Sentinel. Lawmakers should repeal or amend the budget language that opened every school in the state to these forced partial takeovers by charter school companies, and restore local control to elected school boards. A group of Sarasota school parents, Florida Politics. Somehow the governor and state lawmakers who are thirsty to cut taxes think the complications that are Florida's property taxes can be easily and quickly remedied by either a ballot initiative or a one-time tax rebate. Good luck with that. Douglas C. Lyons, Palm Beach Post.
