Around the state: Duval parents make a pitch to pause the closing of six schools and a magnet program but the superintendent warns that doing so could lead to layoffs, an Alachua school spokeswoman says the decision to move seven teachers from two struggling schools was made by the state, about 57,000 survey responses to cell phone restrictions in Broward schools reveal mixed feelings, a 15-member University of Florida presidential search committee is appointed, portable metal detectors are coming to Nassau County middle and high schools, and tax measures and school board races around the state are previewed. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: More than 57,000 parents, teachers and students responded to a district survey intended to gauge their feelings about the near-total ban of cell phone use by students during the school day. It took effect in August. Most students dislike the policy and most teachers like it, but overall results are pretty evenly split, said Superintendent Howard Hepburn. Survey data will be compiled and presented to the school board Nov. 6, which will then decide whether to make any changes in the policy. WTVJ.
Tampa Bay area: Tax referendums to benefit school programs, employee compensation and school maintenance are on the ballot next Tuesday in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and Hernando counties. Here are the details each county’s voters will consider. WUSF. Pinellas school board members gave their final approval Tuesday to a plan to make up 50 hours of classroom time lost when two hurricane affected the area in the past month. Students will attend school for full days Jan. 6; Feb. 17, which had been set as a teacher planning day; and May 29, which was to be a half day on the final day of the 2024-2025 academic year. Middle and high school students will have all first semester exams waived, and graduations will be pushed to the end of May. Tampa Bay Times. WFLA. WTSP.
Orange: Two candidates meet in the runoff Tuesday to replace Pam Gould as the District 4 representative on the school board. Kyle Goudy, who works in business development at NBCUniversal, got 37.24 percent of the votes in the Aug. 20 primary, and teacher Anne Douglas received 32.85 percent. They answer questions about the differences in their campaigns and their visions for the future, the district’s financial challenges, book bans and restrictions, and more. Orange Observer.
Palm Beach: District students will have a day off from classes Tuesday, with more than 90 schools being used as polling places for the general election. Teachers and some staff will report for work for a professional development day. Among the items on the ballot is a local tax question for schools. Voters will be asked to extend a half-cent sales tax surcharge that will help upgrade school buildings, improve school security, buy buses and update technology. If it’s approved, it goes into effect in January 2026 and is projected to generate $2 billion over 10 years. Palm Beach Post.
Duval: Dozens of members of the community urged the school district Tuesday night to pause its proposal to close six elementary schools and a middle school leadership magnet program, contending there hasn’t been enough time for proper input. Several school board members seemed to agree, but Superintendent Christopher Bernier warned that not dealing now with the financial repercussions from underenrolled schools will postpone inevitable budget cuts that could eventually turn to layoffs. “That $100 million debt doesn’t go away,” he said, and “will come from somewhere else.” Jacksonville Today.
Lee: A $2 million grant from the state will help the school district add a robotics program at Island Coast High School, an environmental water and reclamation program at Cypress Lake High, a solar academy at Estero High, and more, the district has announced. WBBH.
Osceola: Only 13 votes separated kindergarten teacher Paula Bronson from rancher Scott Ramsey in the August primary election for the District 5 seat on the school board. Tuesday, they meet again in the runoff. Bronson wants to improve teacher pay and young students’ fine motor skills, and Ramsey said he also wants to raise teacher pay and tighten school security. Ramsey was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the board just before the primary to replace Erika Booth, who resigned to run for a Florida House seat. Orlando Sentinel.
Manatee: School board members have approved a plan to revise the district’s calendar to make up instructional time lost to hurricanes Helene and Milton. Nov. 6, Dec. 18-20 and March 5 have been converted from early-release days to full days, and students will also have full school days Nov. 11, Jan. 6 and March 25, which had previously been scheduled as days off. March 7 and 14, which had been scheduled as full days, were converted to early-release days. WWSB.
Sarasota: Renewal of an extra 1-mill property tax for the school district is on the ballot next Tuesday. The tax is expected to generate about $114 million a year, which the district uses to “retain and recruit quality teachers; provide workforce training; improve school safety and security; preserve the arts; upgrade technology and classroom resources; fund other education programs and school operational needs,” according to the ballot language. It was first approved in 2002 and, if renewed, will remain in place through June 30, 2030. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. A successful educator in public and private schools decided last year “to be authentic” and opened a nature-based, student-directed, hybrid home-school in Sarasota called Curious and Kind Education. Justine Wilson offers different programs by age groups for one to three days a week. She had 25 students last year and is up to 90 this year, with nearly all using education savings accounts funded through the state’s Personalized Education Program scholarship. NextSteps.
Alachua: Seven teachers who were transferred out of Alachua and Rawlings elementary schools midway through the semester were moved at the direction of the state, district spokeswoman Jackie Johnson said this week. The affected teachers underperformed at the D-graded schools according to the state’s value-added model scores used for evaluation. Mainstreet Daily News. A lack of state-mandated standards for sex education is pushing some parents and community groups to consider alternative ways to get crucial information to students. Independent Florida Alligator. A 16-year-old Gainesville High School student was arrested Tuesday and accused of having a loaded handgun at school. Gainesville Sun. WCJB.
Hernando: District 4 school board candidates Mark Cioffi and Michelle Bonczek answer questions about why they’re running, their priorities for the school board for the next four years, and more. Suncoast News.
Nassau: Portable metal detectors will soon be used in every district middle and high school, school officials recently announced. All students, employees and visitors will be screened when entering schools. WJAX.
Colleges and universities: A 15-member committee has been named to search for a new University of Florida president. Chair of the committee is trustee Rahul Patel, an attorney and UF alumni. News Service of Florida. WCJB. Four finalists have been named in the search for a new president at Northwest Florida State College: retired Air Force Brig. Gen. R. Gwyn Armfield; Okaloosa County Commissioner Mel Ponder; James W. Ross, president of Pamlico Community College in North Carolina; and Mark F. Strickland, Jr., provost and chief campus officer of the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College. Interviews are Nov. 4 and 5. Northwest Florida Daily News. When New College announced in May 2023 that it was reworking its core curriculum, President Richard Corcoran said the changes would not spell the end to individualized programs the school became known for. But that’s exactly what’s happened, faculty members allege, as the college prepares to launch the new core curriculum in the fall of 2025. Inside Higher Ed. Joseph Little, a University of Florida law professor since 1967, died Oct. 23 at the age of 89. Gainesville Sun.
Opinions on schools: America’s public school systems failed to meaningfully improve outcomes during multiple decades of steady increases in per-pupil spending above and beyond inflation. Is it possible they will do better during a period of heightened competition for public dollars and competition for labor? Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. Tallahassee has a bad record of pre-empting local control. The state’s latitude on school districts making decisions on how to make up hours lost to hurricanes is a welcome change that should be more readily granted to local authorities. Tampa Bay Times.
