Around the state: Records show that laptops provided by the state for incarcerated students to be educated under a new state program are often being used to watch pornography and other movies and to post to social media, the Sanibel School in Lee County reopens Monday for the first time since it was damaged Oct. 9 by Hurricane Milton, Broward’s school board is considering installing cameras on school buses to ticket drivers who illegally pass when the buses are stopped, Florida charter school leaders are challenged at a recent summit to embrace parent-directed education for their children, Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints new school board members in Nassau and Baker counties, and five finalists are chosen for the Volusia teacher of the year award. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: A proposal to hire a company to install cameras on more than 1,000 school buses that would ticket motorists who pass a stopped bus will go before the school board in January. Those drivers would then be mailed $225 tickets by Bus Patrol, a Virginia company used by the Miami-Dade and Hillsborough school districts that would install the equipment and administer the program. “The district believes (the cameras) will serve as an additional deterrent to dangerous driving near our school buses, thereby enhancing student safety,” said district spokesman John Sullivan. “The revenue would be distributed among the various entities involved in addressing the infractions. The district plans to allocate its portion of the revenue towards initiatives that support and enhance school safety.” Sun Sentinel.
Orange: A settlement that would give a community trust in Eatonville control of the historic Hungerford High School property is under consideration by the school board. The district would receive a small fee as part of the deal. The town and the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community sued the district in 2023 to stop the sale of the 100-acre property to a private developer. Orlando Sentinel. Spectrum News 13. A faith-based prep school in Orlando that will hold classes four days a week and on the fifth day send students to a corporate work-study is now taking applications. Cristo Rey Orlando, which is part of a Catholic school network for underprivileged students, opens next August for up to 125 students. WESH.
Palm Beach: Three undisclosed district schools now have vaping detectors in bathrooms as part of a pilot program, Superintendent Michael Burke says. The detectors send alerts to administrators when they detect vaping in the restroom, and can also be calibrated to sense gunshots, fights or loud noises. The annual cost of $150,000 is being covered by a 2023 settlement between the district and the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. Palm Beach Post.
Lee: Classes are scheduled to resume Monday at the Sanibel School, which has been closed since being damaged Oct. 9 by Hurricane Milton. Only the upper part of the school will be used, with some classes being combined, while the lower levels are being repaired. Students have been attending Heights Elementary. WINK. WFTX.
Brevard: A school district partnership with Wickham Road Music and Harbor City Local, a nonprofit that supports Brevard arts, is putting musical instruments into the hands of public school students. Wickham Road Music owner Don Farnsworth and his staff repair broken school district instruments or sell the district instruments at a discount, and the cost of covered by Harbor City Local. “This will really help those kids continue to play music and be involved in music,” Farnsworth said. Florida Today.
Volusia: Five finalists have been chosen for the school district’s teacher of the year award. They are: Katie Evans, a 4th-grade teacher at Citrus Grove Elementary; Melissa Tse, an English language arts teacher at Creekside Middle; Shilpa Sharma, a special education teacher at Galaxy Middle; math teacher Jeremy Davies of Spruce Creek High; and Tomoka Elementary gifted teacher Kelli Chehaitli. The winner will be announced Jan. 11. Volusia County School District.
Marion: Construction will begin Dec. 16 on a $154 million high school in Ocala. No name has been assigned to the school, which is the first high school built in the county since 2003. When it opens in August 2026, it will have three building complexes, a performing arts auditorium with seating for 800, 61 classrooms, 20 labs and will accommodate about 2,000 students. WCJB.
Escambia: Both sides in a federal lawsuit over the district’s removal of a book about two male penguins raising a chick in a zoo have asked a federal court to rule in their favor without a trial. School board attorneys say the board has the right to decide whether a “book is suitable and age-appropriate for the students at that particular school,” while the authors of And Tango Makes Three say the board violated the First Amendment. USA Today Florida Network. Hundreds of struggling county students have been helped in the past 21 years through the Chain Reaction’s Team Leadership Institute, funded by the Escambia Children’s Trust to provide tutors and mentors and teach students skills such as communication, teamwork, commitment and goal-setting. Pensacola News Journal.
Alachua: Representatives of the Newberry Elementary School say they have submitted their application to the state to turn the school into a charter. The move comes about nine months after 50 percent of parents whose children attend the school and 50 percent of teachers voted to convert the public school. A decision from the Florida Charter School Commission is expected next February. WCJB.
Nassau: Joseph Zimmerman, a Yulee businessman, has been appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the District 3 school board seat. He replaces Curtis Gaus, who resigned to run for the superintendent’s position but lost to incumbent Kathy Burns. Office of the Governor. Sixteen district educators have been nominated for the school district’s teacher of the award. The winner will be announced Jan. 31. Fernandina Beach News-Leader.
Baker: Emil Lyons, an accountant from Macclenny, has been named to the District 3 school board by Gov. DeSantis. He replaces Paula Barton, who died in October after 10 years on the board. Office of the Governor.
Colleges and universities: A new state bill going into effect in 2025 adds licensed social workers, counselors and therapists to the list of health-care professionals eligible for student loan reimbursements of up to $75,000. Applications can be filed Feb. 1 through March 31. WFTX. A new computer system installed in June at Polk State College to improve efficiency and protect data while handling payroll, student registration and other records is instead causing disruptions. Lakeland Ledger.
Parent-directed education: Florida charter school leaders were challenged to embrace parent-directed education for their children during the recent Florida Charter School Conference and School Choice Summit. “We were charged to be laboratories of innovation,” said Jim Horne, a former Florida education commissioner and lawmaker who sponsored the state’s first charter school bill. “I challenge you to step out of the proverbial box. If you don’t innovate, you will stagnate.” That change centers around state-created education savings accounts, which allow parents the funding to choose private schools, tutoring, curriculum and other options for their children. NextSteps.
Incarcerated education: Laptops provided by the state for incarcerated students to be educated under a new state program are often being used to watch pornography and other movies and to post to social media, according to public records. There’s also a lack of attention to personalized education plans for students with learning disabilities or other needs, said Alyssa Richardson, a behavior analyst who works in facilities housing at the Department of Juvenile Justice youth. DJJ officials responded with a statement saying, “In the vast majority of cases, students in DJJ programs use school-issued computers responsibly, and we have firewalls in place.” The Florida Virtual School’s education model, the Florida Scholars Academy, was adopted by DJJ in July. Florida Phoenix.
Opinions on schools: It’s math, not reading and writing, that is dragging Florida’s SAT scores down. Policymakers who care about the state’s SAT crisis should focus on math. Neither the state’s present teacher salary structure nor the perceived atmosphere in the public schools is sufficient to attract the math teaching workforce that Florida needs. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow. Our goal should not be to prevent culture wars by removing public schools from democratic control by elected officials, but to provide mechanisms that allow pluralism to prevail over winner-take-all approaches. Robert Maranto, Sarah Ruth Morris and James V. Shuls, Education Next. Donald Trump’s election will have an impact on higher education issues such as loan forgiveness, research cuts, student visas, accreditation and more. David Mastio, Miami Herald.
