Turnaround plans: The Polk County School District’s plan to turn around five struggling middle schools is rejected by the Florida Board of Education. The board criticized the district’s plan to retain some of the principals and low-rated teachers. Plans for underachieving schools in Duval and Orange counties were given conditional approvals, though the board said part of the Duval plan broke a state rule about school closures, and plans from Lee and St. Lucie counties were approved. Politico Florida. Florida Times-Union. TCPalm.
Contract negotiations: Marion County school officials are proposing a raise in pay for school employees. The raise is subject to negotiation with the district’s unions, but the district’s plan is to spend $3.6 million more in salaries than it did last year. The tentative budget submitted by Superintendent George Tomyn would increase 2.5 percent, to $519.3 million. Ocala Star Banner. The Volusia County School District reaches an agreement with bus drivers, cafeteria workers and other support staff. They will receive an average raise of 6.25 percent this year and 2.5 percent next year. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
School safety: U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Tallahassee, introduces a bill in Congress that would place tech-forward alert systems in school classrooms. The The “Securing Our Schools Act” allows the Justice Department to award districts extra dollars for the systems, which would be evaluated for effectiveness after a year. Tallahassee Democrat.
Longer school days: The Palm Beach County School District is considering extending the elementary school day. Superintendent Robert Avossa says the six-hour day might have to be bumped by a half-hour to improve student performance. Palm Beach Post.
Educational divide: Disparities persist in the educational experiences of whites and nonwhite students, according to federal data collected on more than 50 million U.S. students during the 2013-14 school year. Education Week.
School grades: The principal of Grove Park Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens is removed after his school receives an F grade. Eric Gross, who had been at the school since 2010, is now a “principal” on assignment to Intensive Transition South, an alternative school for at-risk students in Lake Worth. Palm Beach Post. All five of the schools in Gulf Breeze, in Santa Rosa County, retain their A grades from the state. Gulf Breeze News.
Scholarships return: After a year’s absence, the Florida Opportunity Scholarship Program resumes. The program allows students in schools that received an F or three consecutive D’s under the state’s grading system to transfer to another, higher-performing public school. redefinED.
Principal suspended: Steve Kenney, principal at Center Academy, a private school in Pinellas Park, is suspended for two weeks without pay after making anti-gay comments on Facebook. Just hours after the massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub, Kenney wrote that a photo of two men kissing was “sick.” The school’s CEO also apologized. Tampa Bay Times.
School spending: The Duval County School Board is considering a $1.695 billion budget, down from last year’s $1.7 billion. The tax millage rate also will be lowered, but that may be offset by increasing property values. Florida Times-Union. The Bay County School District proposes a $356 million budget that includes a slight drop in the tax millage rate. Panama City News Herald.
Sudden change: When your charter school closes less than a month before the school year begins, things get chaotic in a hurry. And so it was for students of University Preparatory Academy in St. Petersburg, who now have to decide whether to stay at the district-run school at the same site, Midtown Academy. Tampa Bay Times.
Clinic opens at school: A health clinic opens at Rickards High School in Tallahassee. It’s open to students and neighborhood residents and offers health, dental, behavior, vision and social work services. Tallahassee Democrat.
New principals: Twenty Palm Beach County schools get new principals. Sun-Sentinel. Four new principals are appointed in Alachua County. Gainesville Sun.
School elections: The five candidates for Leon County school superintendent trade accusations at a forum. Tallahassee Democrat. WFSU.
Official resigns: Renee Stauffacher, who took over as interim president of First Coast Technical College after an investigation but before the charter school was taken over by the St. Johns County School District, has resigned. She says she has taken a job in the Flagler County School District. St. Augustine Record.
Opinions on schools: How fitting. The most pioneering of school-choice states may soon be represented in the U.S. Capitol by the statue of a school-choice pioneer, Mary McLeod Bethune. The civil-rights activist and adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt is best known for founding the private, faith-based school in Daytona Beach that eventually became Bethune-Cookman University. Ron Matus, Orlando Sentinel. Students who opt out of Florida Standards Assessments exams in defiance of onerous state mandates should not be penalized with exclusion from advanced classes. Bradenton Herald. District grades say more about the state’s grading system than they do about the schools. Citrus County Chronicle.
Student enrichment: Jennifer Smith, a fourth-grade teacher at Twin Lakes Academy Elementary School in Jacksonville, starts a nonprofit by repurposing clothes from the school’s lost and found for children in need. Smith hopes to spread her Giving Closet Project to other schools in need. Florida NewsLine.
