Around the state: Schools and higher education institutions across the state announced closures as they braced for a Monday morning landfall of Hurricane Debby in the Big Bend. Public schools near the storm’s path have opened as shelters. News Service of Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. WTXL. WCTV. Gainesville Sun.
Florida lawmakers and education leaders say they hope an additional $200 million in the budget for teacher pay during the 2024-2025 school year will help attract quality teachers to Florida. National Education Association data shows the salaries of new teachers is not much less than the average salary of teachers in the state overall. Veteran teachers say what they make as educators have not kept up with cost-of-living increases. Spectrum News 13.
Twenty-three school districts across Florida are joining a team effort to launch the Space Florida Academy, according to Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority. The program will provide students with the high-demand credentials and skills necessary to work in the aerospace industry. Space Florida worked with the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Department of Commerce, the REACH Office (Reimagining Education and Career Help), and CareerSource Florida to re-evaluate aerospace job characteristics and design coursework to meet the industry’s current and future demand. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. WCJB.
Duval: In March of 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill removing income caps for the state’s education choice scholarships, and nearly 100,000 additional students have enrolled in the programs. District data also shows that in Duval County, about 5,700 additional students have received scholarships, including Krystina Bennett’s daughter. She said her child was already in Catholic school when they applied for a voucher earlier this year. “I was like, he is so awesome, because now we have more say in where our tax dollars are going, and how that’s truly going to support our child,” Bennett said. “So, I thought it was great.” She said they received close to $8,000 to go toward her daughter’s tuition. News4Jax.
Hillsborough: Voters will decide a tax referendum proposed by the local school board on the November ballot after a circuit court judge sided with the Hillsborough County School Board in a legal dispute with the county commission, which tried to push the proposed property tax hike to the 2026 elections. School board members argued the commission overstepped its authority in trying to delay the vote, and that the school district could not afford to wait two more years for the added revenue, which is intended to boost teacher salaries. Tampa Bay Times.
Osceola: A shelf with children’s books sits at a St. Cloud coin laundry is one of 12 learning hubs put in across the county to encourage preschoolers to have more reading time and less screen time. The Early Learning Coalition targeted locations frequented by families with young children. Other locations include a hospital and a church. The goal is to offer books and educational toys to young children who might otherwise be looking at phones or tablets or just getting bored. The coalition hopes the hubs, paid for by $650,000 in federal grants, will help boost early literacy skills and mean more Osceola children are ready for kindergarten. The owner of the laundry says the bookcase is getting good use, with some bilingual kids teaching their parents English from the books. Orlando Sentinel.
Broward: Amid a dispute over how to cover the cost, the City of Pembroke Pines will limit its resource officer presence to high schools only, with school district police officers serving in middle schools and armed guardians taking posts in elementary schools. The school district says it negotiated a standard rate with other local police agencies, but Pines city officials wanted it to cover the whole cost of the officers’ presence. Sun-Sentinel.
Southwest Florida: School systems try to stem the tide of chronic absenteeism. WINK.
Washington County: A North Florida Christian school principal is accused of sexually battering a student and saying they could be together after he got divorced. Miami Herald.
Leon: A North Florida high school included Gov. Ron DeSantis’ memoir, The Courage to be Free, as suggested summer reading in an Advanced Placement Language and Composition course. The course, per Lawton Chiles High School in Leon County, is “designed to be the equivalent in rigor to a college course in rhetoric, literature studies, and composition.” On the school’s website, DeSantis’s memoir shows up under a list of suggested memoirs. The Courage to be Free was included along with When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago and My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. Florida Politics. The Daily Beast.
Brevard: Brevard Public Schools teachers returned to work Friday, hours after learning they would be receiving raises. The school district and the Brevard Federation of Teachers union reached an agreement Thursday giving instructional staff a guaranteed 3.5% raise. The agreement also gives another .5% increase for pay-for-performance incentives. In addition, the starting salary for new teachers increases to $50,450. The previous starting teacher salary was $48,725. The new agreement also reflects the millage approved by Brevard County voters, which helped with base salary increases. Florida Today.
St. Lucie: Improving student performance is a key issue in the School Board District 4 race. Retired county Fire Chief Nate Spera, in his first run for elected office, is trying to unseat Jennifer Richardson in her bid for a second term. Nonpartisan school board elections are Aug. 20. TCPalm.
Manatee: Manatee County Schools earned a B grade again on the state’s latest report card, but the district was just two points shy of an A. Superintendent Jason Wysong, who rounded out his first year on the job in July, said he was pleased with the district’s 2023-2024 rating. The district has received an overall B grade for the last seven years. See how each school did. Bradenton Herald.
Collier: While Collier County schools do not have metal detectors in place to prevent the slipping of firearms, knives or box cutters into buildings, under Leslie Ricciardelli’s supervision as the district’s newest superintendent, Collier County Public Schools has debuted a unique feature. A new school, named Aubrey Rogers High School after a former Collier County sheriff, is secured with ID readers at every doorway, replacing traditional keys. The new feature is added to lockdown buttons, doorbell cameras and window curtains placed on doors. Naples Daily News.
Alachua: The School Board of Alachua County approved a tentative budget and millage rates for the 2024-25 fiscal year at a special meeting on Thursday. The total Alachua County Public Schools proposed budget is set at $597,413,050, a change from the $608,290,212 formerly advertised. The budget may continue to fluctuate until the fiscal year’s budget is completely closed out in time for the second board hearing on Sept. 11. The budget also includes a transfer from the capital projects fund to the general fund to keep it balanced, which Board Members Tina Certain and Sarah Rockwell said is not a practice that should be relied on too often. MainStDailyNews.
Project Pat, a rapper formerly of Three 6 Mafia, headlined a “Stop the Violence” back-to-school rally. Gainesville Sun.
New leadership at an early learning center that’s part of the Gainesville Empowerment Zone will be focused on giving preschoolers a strong early start to help close achievement gaps. “It appears the community is not fully aware of what we have to offer, and that our mission is to make sure kids are prepared and ready to start kindergarten. This is not a daycare center,” says the new executive director. Gainesville Sun.
