Around the state: Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke in Okaloosa to highlight legislation that ends the FSA test in Florida, metal detectors are being implemented in Broward and Polk officials seek answers to their district survey. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: Officials in the school district here have begun using metal detectors to screen students for weapons. The district says trained security staff are using handheld wands to do random searches in classrooms. Superintendent Vickie Cartwright says the policy is meant to address a recent increase in students bringing weapons to schools. WLRN. WPLG. CBS Miami. NBC Miami.
Hillsborough: St. Joseph Catholic School in west Tampa is celebrating its 125th birthday this year. It began in 1896 under a different name and location as a school for the children of cigar workers, and grew along with the city. The school remains dedicated to the Roman Catholic faith as well. Tampa Bay Times.
Lee: Students at Cypress Lake High participated in hanging up “inappropriate” signs in the school’s empty courtyard. The signs were hung up for a few minutes and then were taken down after students took photos and posted them on social media. Fox4Now.
Polk: Officials here are conducting the district’s annual survey of students grades 4 and higher, employees, their families and the community to make improvements where needed. Lakeland Ledger.
St. Johns: Longtime school board member Bill Mignon said he plans to step down from his position at the end of his term later this year. Mignon has represented District 3 for 16 years, and is ready to retire. News4Jax.
Okaloosa: At Florosa Elementary School on Thursday, Gov. DeSantis celebrated the new state law that will see the FSA, or Florida Standards Assessment, replaced with a progress monitoring system called Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST. NWF Daily News. WEARTV.
COVID relief dollars: Schools are struggling across the country to spend their COVID-19 relief dollars as quickly as planned. Their efforts are running up against a national labor shortage and supply chain issues, making it difficult to hire tutors or renovate dilapidated buildings. Chalkbeat.
State budget: Legislators earlier this week approved a $112.1 billion budget that includes $24.3 billion for K-12 education, and must be approved by Gov. DeSantis before going into effect on July 1. But on Thursday, Gov. DeSantis said the budget might be too generous in some areas. WUSF. While the state Legislature carved out $800-million for pay hikes for Florida’s public school teachers, veteran teachers may or may not get a fair deal, and some teachers who are just starting their careers may not get $47,500, a starting pay initiative backed by Gov. DeSantis, according to union leaders and educators. Florida Phoenix.
Parental rights bill: Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican who faced national criticism while debating a contentious bill in the Legislature, apologized on Thursday to anyone who was offended by what she said when arguing why she supported the parental rights in education bill. Miami Herald. Florida Politics. Meanwhile, several associations of Florida mental health professionals issued a joint statement Thursday condemning legislation that would limit instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, saying it could be harmful to the mental health of students. Florida Today.
Fashion forward: An Old Navy ad you may see on TV was inspired by a Creekside High School senior. Florida Times-Union.
Masks off: Masks are now optional for all students, teachers and staff at Catholic schools run by the Archdiocese of Miami, regardless of their vaccination status, the Archdiocese announced this week. Miami Herald.
School violence: A survey of teachers, school social workers, administrators, school psychologists and staff looked at incidents of violence and harassment toward school personnel. NPR.
University and college news: For some college students, mental health challenges create a common barrier that can prevent the completion of a degree. LEAP Tampa Bay, a network of more than 60 organizations that helps adults complete their post-secondary education, created a website designed to change that. Tampa Bay college students can go to YourCollegeCares.org to find campus mental health resources, informational sites and crisis hotlines. Tampa Bay Times. University of South Florida’s 50,000-student university system is going to see historic funding from the Legislature this year. USF is slated to received $75 million from the state budget for a new science building on its St. Petersburg campus, along with millions of additional dollars for cybersecurity and nursing. The Legislature passed the budget, and it now moves along to Gov. DeSantis. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, at University of Central Florida, there are student organizations on campus that get little to no funding from student government. Orlando Sentinel.
Opinions on schools: Cherie Sanders of Fort Lauderdale says when her public school officials failed to fully intervene to stop another student from bullying her daughter, she turned to the Hope Scholarship and got her child into another school. Step Up for Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the scholarship. reimaginED. Remote learning is hard to love. The nation’s forced experiment in online education over the past few years has been a disaster for kids. It’s also assumed to widen achievement gaps. Robert Pondiscio, Education Next. The danger of HB 7, also known as Stop W.O.K.E. (Stop Wrongs to our Kids and Employees), which passed in the Legislature and is expected to be signed by Gov. DeSantis, is that companies will stop offering such training to avoid lawsuits. Randy Schultz, South Florida Sun Sentinel.
