Around the state: The move to teach religion in the classroom is causing anxiety for advocates of the separation of church and state, Madison County’s school board approved a plan to close three underenrolled schools to save money, schools in a Brevard city are getting new water fountains as the district fights potential water contamination, Hillsborough’s district opens its 14th preK-8 school, and a Broward woman was arrested for driving onto the grounds of a Pompano Beach school and through a hallway at high speeds, causing $20,000 in damage. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: A woman has been arrested after driving through a gate to the Bright Horizons School in Pompano Beach, doing donuts on a basketball school and speeding down a mostly empty school hallway. “She drove through the school and ended up driving through the hallway at least going 40 to 50 miles per hour, and once she came out to the end of this hallway, she drove out,” said campus monitor Joseph Philemon. Before she crashed the gates, Tiffani Madias, 48, flashed a middle finger at a surveillance camera. Deputies said her assault caused $20,000 in damage, and she’s been charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, criminal mischief and burglary. Her motive is not known. WPLG.
Hillsborough: The 14th preK-8 school in the county welcomes students next month. Kenneth E. Adum K-8 Magnet School for international studies has 182 classrooms in five buildings on 12 acres, and continues the trend of having students attend a single school until they get into high school. “We all know that middle school years are most likely the most difficult years in a child’s life, and just being at a K-8, the kids are already assimilated to the school setting,” said principal Scott Weaver. “They know the majority of the kids. They are very comfortable. They are familiar with the teachers.” WFTS. WTVT. WTSP.
Brevard: New drinking fountains designed to filter out potential contaminants in the water supply have been installed in schools in Satellite Beach. School board member Matt Susin said the goal is to replace all 700 school fountains with carbon-filtered filling stations, and the decision to start in Satellite Beach was made because of concerns about the water being contaminated by chemicals leaking into the supply from nearby Patrick Space Force Base. Base officials deny any chemicals have gotten into the water supply. WOFL.
Sarasota: New principals will greet students at eight schools — five elementaries, two K-8 schools and a school for students with disabilities — when classes resume Aug. 12. Among them is Southside Elementary’s Allison Foster, who was the interim superintendent after Brennan Asplen was fired and until Terry Connor was hired. Two administrators have also been appointed. Kirk Hutchinson is the new chief for student services, and Cindy Thro is the executive director for elementary schools. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Alachua: Xaviera White has been named the chief executive officer of the county’s Early Learning Coalition. She has previously worked at the Florida Department of Children and Families. Some of her goals include improving customer service, increasing the number of children enrolled in ELC services, increasing classrooms and providers, and more. Gainesville Sun. A street leading up to Eastside High School in Gainesville is being renamed in honor of Mae Islar, the first black female principal of the school. Her career started in 1964 as an English teacher at the formerly all-black Lincoln High School. She was principal at Eastside from 1976-1983, and retired in 1992 as the principal of Buchholz High. Gainesville Sun.
Madison: School board members have approved a recommendation from Superintendent Shirley Joseph to close three underenrolled elementary schools to save money. Greenville, Lee and Pinetta elementary schools will close after the coming school year and their students will move to Madison County Central School, which will become a preK-6 school. Space for the students leaving the closed schools will be made by moving all 7th- and 8th-graders into Madison County High School. The closed school buildings will be repurposed. WTXL. WCTV.
Colleges and universities: Florida A&M University trustees have scheduled an online meeting July 23. No agenda has been released, but it comes on the heels of President Larry Robinson’s resignation last week in the midst of a university investigation into a donation that could not verified and was later backed away from. WCTV. News Service of Florida. Gregory Gerami, the hemp farming executive behind the questioned donation to FAMU, said he was “sad and upset” that Robinson resigned, and said he is cooperating with the investigation. Tallahassee Democrat.
Religion in the classroom: Religion is increasingly being directed into public school classrooms, including those in Florida, and supporters of the separation of church and state say they’re worried it’s a trend that will intensify. “I think we’ve already blasted through the guardrails,” said state Sen. Lori Berman, a Boynton Beach Democrat. Supporters of including religion in schools disagree. “We’re not for restricting any religious freedom or expression,” said Rep. Alex Rizo, a Hialeah Republican. “Religious freedom is a pillar on which this nation is built. We will always stand up for that.” Tampa Bay Times.
The anti-woke agenda: Speaking at a Moms For Liberty event Tuesday that was part of the Republican National Convention, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revisited a favorite topic — fighting against what he calls the “woke” agenda. “It used to be that you would send your kid to school and they would learn math and science and stuff, and maybe not everything was perfect, but you didn’t have to worry about your kid going into kindergarten and being told that they should change their gender,” he said. “We put the kibosh on that in Florida.” Tampa Bay Times. USA Today Florida Network.
FLVS enrollment deadline: Enrollment with the Florida Virtual School has been extended to Friday for high school students, and to July 26 for K-8 students. Enrollment was 9,700 in 2022-2023 school year and is more than 9,000 for the current year, which is still ongoing. Central Florida Public Media.
Around the nation: Universal voucher costs in Arizona soared from a projected $65 million to $332 million last year, and now are expected to be $429 million this year. The unexpected rise in spending, along with some losses in revenue, has left the state with a $1.4 billion budget deficit and is triggering cuts in critical state programs and projects. ProPublica. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has received a record number of discrimination complaints in the past fiscal year from parents who say their children with disabilities are not being provided with the services the law requires. NPR. Charter schools lag behind district-run schools in providing high-quality special education services, the national nonprofit Center for Learner Equity has concluded. The 74.
Opinions on schools: When I expressed my frustration to my Miami school’s guidance counselor about my dyslexic daughter’s problems learning to read, he told me, “You’re just a mom. There’s nothing you can do.” But there was, and it led me to start The Lucy Project in 2020 to advocate for and provide science-backed reading instruction. Sandra Bermudez, The 74. Somehow, students are just supposed to accept that getting to and from school means risking gun violence, that sitting in class or on the bleachers means that at any moment, we could be in lockdown, quietly wondering if we’ve spoken our last words. We shouldn’t have to live in fear like this. Neel Thakkar, Chalkbeat.
