Hurricane Helene aftermath: On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that school districts in every county are now operational after Hurricane Helene made landfall last week and ravaged parts of the state. WESH. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Education sent a memo to superintendents letting them know that they may use an alternative window for their fall enrollment counts, which are set to begin next week. Those counts are key in establishing funding levels for the first semester. The state also extended the testing window for the first round of progress monitoring. Tampa Bay Times.
Palm Beach: After seeing record-high raises fueled by pandemic recovery money last year, Palm Beach County teachers will get a smaller bump in salary this year, according to a proposed union contract between the school district and the county's Classroom Teachers Association. The annual contract, approved on Wednesday by the school board, includes a raise of 4% for teachers. Palm Beach Post.
Pinellas: Eight years after adopting the latest version of a plan aimed at improving academic outcomes for Black students, the Pinellas County school district hasn’t met many of its goals and is looking for new approaches. School board member Caprice Edmond, the board’s lone Black member, said after reviewing the latest data that “a lot of improvement” is needed. Tampa Bay Times.
Sarasota: The Sarasota School Board handled business at a Tuesday meeting by taking steps to approve new policies regarding artificial intelligence and curriculum guidelines. The district’s new artificial intelligence guidelines, which the board passed unanimously, “emphasize the role of AI as a tool to support learning while ensuring the platforms aren’t used as a replacement for student or employee work.” The guidelines allow for the use of AI with teacher approval but say that programs may not be used as “a substitute for human creativity, judgement and creation” and warn that AI can present information that is not correct. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Escambia: Northwest Florida has seen a rise in dual-enrolled students aiming for early degrees. WEAR. Meanwhile, West Pensacola Elementary School students are collecting socks for the homeless as part of their Socktober drive. Over 3,500 pairs of socks have been collected. This year, the school along with community partners plan to collect at least 2,000 more pairs of new socks for the homeless. The new socks will be donated to Opening Doors Northwest Florida, an agency that aims to end homelessness in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, for distribution. Pensacola News Journal.
Alachua: The school board here delayed approval again on the annual improvement plan portion of the strategic plan for Alachua County Public Schools during a regular meeting earlier this week. Main Street Daily News.
Levy: Cedar Key residents weren’t willing to suffer the loss of their school. School board officials announced that students will stay on their campus after talks of busing them elsewhere. WCJB.
Blue Ribbon honors: The U.S. Department of Education recognized 356 schools with 2024 National Blue Ribbons. Of those, 15 were in Florida. National Blue Ribbon awards several hundred public and private schools for overall high academic performance, according to the federal education department. Patch.
Colleges and universities: Florida International University’s Board of Trustees voted last week to drop almost two dozen courses from the core curriculum, including Anthropology of Race & Ethnicity, Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies, and Sociology of Gender. The move follows last year’s passage of SB 266, a higher ed bill that limits the scope of general education courses permitted at public universities. Inside Higher Ed. With a $1.64 million foundation grant, the University of Central Florida is giving college scholarships to 46 students from Orange County’s poorest high schools. “We are incredibly grateful for the leadership and generosity of the DeLuca Foundation,” said Rod Grabowski, senior vice president for Advancement and Partnerships and CEO of the UCF Foundation. The scholarships will be given out during the 2024-25 school year to students from Jones, Evans, Oak Ridge, Colonial and Wekiva public high schools. Florida Politics. To address the shortage of teachers in the state, the University of Florida (UF) is launching a new degree program that could help fill some of those 5,000 vacant posts in schools. UF is offering a new online program designed to help develop teachers in the early education curriculum. The program began in August and already has its first group of students working toward degrees and certifications in the field of early childhood learning. Florida Politics.
