Graduation rate up: Florida’s high school graduation rate improved to a record 89.7 percent during the 2023-2024 school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday. That’s up 1.7 percentage points from the previous year and 2.8 percentage points from the class of 2019, and included improvements in rates for minority students, those who are economically disadvantaged, English language learners, and students with disabilities. Rates were higher for the high school classes of 2020 and 2021, but students were exempted from statewide, standardized assessment requirements because of the pandemic. Florida Department of Education.
Around the state: An appeals court rules that civil lawsuits may move forward against a Parkland school resource officer who failed to confront a shooter on campus in 2018, Palm Beach’s school board is considering a policy that would require employees to report student dating violence, Sarasota’s school board gives a struggling charter school a year to improve financially and academically, and two organizations are lobbying the Escambia school board to return a book with a transgender character to school libraries. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A substitute teacher was accused this week of hitting an 8th-grade student with a belt during a class at Miami Springs Middle School. District officials are investigating, and said the sub is “precluded from serving as a substitute teacher, or in any other capacity, in the district.” WPLG.
Broward: Civil lawsuits can continue against a Parkland school resource officer who is accused of failing to protect students during a 2018 shooting that killed 17 people, an appeals court has ruled. The lawsuits contend that Scot Peterson had an obligation to respond when the shooting began at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and chose not to. News Service of Florida. The principal at the Cypress Run Education Center in Pompano Beach was arrested this week and accused of impersonating a law enforcement officer. Florida Highway Patrol troopers say when they pulled Karlton Johnson, 58, over for having “very dark tinted windows with an altered license plate,” he told them he was a reserve deputy and a cousin of former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal. Johnson’s lawyer said the incident was a “misunderstanding.” A district official said Johnson will be reassigned during the investigation. Sun Sentinel. WSVN. WPLG. WFOR. WTVJ.
Palm Beach: School employees would be required to report student dating violence, child abuse and neglect to the state abuse hotline under a policy proposal being considered by the school board. The policy does not clarify whether employees should first “filter out” accusations for believability, as a judge ruled last year in a district case. State training states that employees should not investigate the claims they receive. Palm Beach Post. At least three district schools have reported that copper wire has been stolen from scoreboards at their stadiums. Scrap copper is worth about $5 a pound, according to an industry expert. WPTV.
Polk: A substitute teacher was arrested this week after she was accused of showing her Lake Wales elementary school students sexually explicit photos of herself. Lake Wales police said Gayle Wessel, 60, showed the images to Park Avenue Private School students last November. WFLA. WTVT.
Volusia: In her first public comments since resigning her role as chair of the school board, Jessie Thompson reiterated that she intends to remain on the board. “Prior to resigning as chair, I prayed constantly, and I know I’m making the right move,” she said. “But the big issues still remain, and so I will continue to support our students and hear from teachers and parents who feel like they haven’t been heard.” Thompson stepped down this week after derogatory comments she made about Deltona High School students were made public. Daytona Beach News-Journal. District officials hope to reduce absenteeism 10 percent by partnering with AdventHealth to start a program making 168 bicycles and helmets available to students. WKMG.
St. Johns: A Fruit Cove Middle School student was critically injured Wednesday morning when she was hit by a car while riding her bicycle to school. First responders said the girl was airlifted to a hospital for treatment. WJAX. WJXT. WTLV.
Sarasota: One of the four district charter schools reviewed this week by the school board this week was given a year to improve academically and financially or risk being closed. Suncoast School for Innovative Studies has just 93 students, is almost $70,000 in debt and its students lag behind the district in test scores. The K-5 school must fulfill a “corrective action plan” or risk being closed in 2026. Board members also voted to grant 15-year contract extensions to the Sarasota Military Academy and Island Village Montessori charter schools, and to allow Dreamer’s Academy to expand its K-5 dual-language school by a grade in each of the next three years. Charlotte Sun.
Escambia: Penguin Random House and PEN America are lobbying the school board to return a children’s novel with a transgender character back to school libraries. In a letter to the school board this week, the organizations contend the removal of Too Bright to See, by Kyle Lukoff, is another step “to restrict Escambia County students’ right to read and put their ability to learn in jeopardy.” The district and the organizations are currently involved in a lawsuit over the removal of other books. USA Today Florida Network.
Leon: Discussions are being held about a possible merger between the school district’s Lively Technical College and Tallahassee State College, says Leon Superintendent Rocky Hanna. “At the end of the day, we just want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to provide opportunities for the people in our community to be able to obtain the skills they need to be able to go out and compete for jobs,” he said. Tallahassee Democrat. Griffin Middle School principal Zelena O’Banner has been placed on leave following an allegation of possible misconduct, said a district spokesperson. No details of the alleged misconduct were disclosed. Assistant principal Patrick Wright is serving as interim principal during the investigation. WCTV.
Santa Rosa: A former substitute teacher has been sentenced to three years in prison for fondling a student while working at Navarre High School in 2022. John Kapolczynski, 48, had pleaded no contest to using a computer to seduce a child, soliciting a romantic relationship with a student and lewd or lascivious touching of a victim who is 16 or 17 years of age. Pensacola News Journal. WEAR.
Bay: Odessa, a drug- and firearms-sniffing dog, has been added to the school district’s law enforcement team. Her visits to district schools will be random and unannounced, said handler Lt. Jason Klingensmith. WJHG. Bay Haven Charter Academy’s chief academic officer was fired Wednesday by the board of directors, a few days after his arrest on charges of possession of child pornography. School officials said they have forwarded information about Frankie Nelson Stephenson to the Florida Department of Education, “and we expect that they will take action against his license.” WJHG.
Levy: An English and theater teacher at Bronson Middle-High School has been arrested and accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. School officials said Jonathan Rafael Irizarry, 33, who has worked at Bronson since 2020 and has been the academic team coach, has been suspended. Deputies said he’s been charged with five counts of sexual battery on a victim 16 or 17 years of age. WCJB.
Gadsden: A James A. Shanks Middle School student was taken into custody and accused of having a firearm on campus. No one was injured. WTXL.
Bradford: District officials will soon implement artificial intelligence in classrooms. Learning coordinator Christina Cornwell said the first step is to train teachers how to use the technology so they can teach students how to use it ethically. “(Students) already have access to this technology,” Cornwell said. “If we are not teaching them how to use it ethically, then they are bound to use it inappropriately.” WCJB.
State workforce grants: More than $24 million in state grants have been awarded to several school districts and state colleges for workforce education initiatives. Districts receiving grants for a variety of technical programs include Broward, Hillsborough, Duval, Seminole, St. Johns, Sarasota, Clay, Okaloosa, Putnam and Gilchrist, and several other districts and colleges received funding for dual-enrollment programs. Florida Department of Education. WJAX.
