Students from Puerto Rico: The Hillsborough County School District is throwing out the welcome mat for students displaced from Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. While school officials do not know how many students will arrive, or when, where they will live and where they will attend school, the district is well-equipped to handle the influx. There are 27,000 empty seats in the county’s schools, and about 35 percent of the district’s students are Hispanic. “We know these students have been through a tragedy and we want these students to feel welcome and safe in our schools,” Superintendent Jeff Eakins wrote in a memo to all principals. Tampa Bay Times. Puerto Rican refugees have begun enrolling in some state schools. WUSF.
Testing changes request: Lee and Collier county school districts are asking the state to delay the standardized testing schedule, to suspend assigning letter grades to schools, and to not automatically retain 3rd-graders who fail the state’s ready test. Both districts missed 11 days before and after Hurricane Irma moved through the state. Fort Myers News-Press.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: The Martin County School Board decides not to join 14 other school districts in a lawsuit against the state’s new education law, H.B. 7069. The vote was 3-2, and board members say the suit would be counterproductive and waste money. They say they hope to find another way to influence legislators. The districts saying the state say the bill is unconstitutional because it favors charter schools and strips power from local school boards. TCPalm.
District budget: The Duval County School Board approves a $1.7 billion budget for this school year that includes cuts in the Teach for America program. Florida Times-Union.
School tax measures: The Sarasota County School Board agrees to hold a special election in March to ask voters to extend the local option school district property tax through June 2022. The tax generates about $55 million a year for the school district. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce says it will support the school district’s request that voters approve a half-cent sales surtax for school capital projects in November 2018. Gainesville Sun.
Makeup days: The Duval County School District will make up four days lost to Hurricane Irma by using one vacation day and converting six early-release days into full school days. WOKV.
School closes: The Monarch School for autistic children has closed. The private Lakeland school has had financial problems, and missed the enrollment deadline to receive funds for students through Florida’s McKay scholarship program. As many as 70 students are now looking for new schools. Lakeland Ledger.
Charters in trouble: Two charter schools are on the Pasco County School District’s “watch” list. Florida Virtual Academy at Pasco has had financial problems and hasn’t filed its accountability report, and Pasco MYcroSchool has just 30 students instead of the projected 250 and owes the district money that had been paid based on the projection. Gradebook.
Reassigned students: Under a plan to be presented to a Palm Beach County advisory committee, 800 students from Odyssey Middle School in Boynton Beach would be reassigned to five schools when Odyssey is closed next year. Once the committee approves a plan, it will be presented to community groups for input before the final draft goes to the school board for approval. Palm Beach Post. Sun-Sentinel.
Class size shuffle: Students are being moved around between Duval County classrooms to help the district comply with the state’s class-size amendment. WJAX.
Competency-based learning: Officials at the P.K. Yonge Developmental School in Gainesville say the new competency-based learning program is showing promise. The program allows students to progress at their own speed, based on their mastery of the material. P.K. Yonge is part of a state pilot program that also includes the Pinellas, Palm Beach and Seminole school districts. redefinED.
Notable deaths: Mary Ann Gil-Alonso, principal at Kendale Elementary School in Miami, dies at the age of 47 of cancer. She became principal at Kendale for the 2016-2017 school year after 15 years at two other north Miami schools. Miami Herald.
Anthem protest: About 20 people protest the Manatee County School District’s policy that all students must stand during the national anthem. Students say they should be able to take a knee without getting permission from their parents, as the policy requires. Bradenton Herald. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WFLA.
Student attacked: A 13-year-old girl was confronted Monday by a man who committed a lewd act as she walked to her Jacksonville school. The girl was unhurt, and police are investigating. Florida Times-Union.
Employees arrested: An assistant bookkeeper at a Pinellas County school is arrested and accused of using a coworker’s identity to open a credit card account. Michele J. Roe, 55, who works at Nina Harris School, faces a charge of fraudulent use of personal identification information. Tampa Bay Times. The director of an after-school program in Franklin County is arrested after being accused of having sex with a student. Jeana Crozier was placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. WJHG. Tallahassee Democrat.
Teachers cleared: A Palm Beach County School District investigation clears two teachers who were supervising a school playground when a 7-year-old boy was forced to perform sexual acts with classmates. The district just settled a lawsuit with the parents by agreeing to pay $185,000. The police were investigating as a potential case of child neglect. Palm Beach Post.
School bus crash: A Volusia County school bus crashes into a tree when the driver is distracted by a flag a student was holding. School officials say none of the 37 New Smyrna Beach High School students was hurt, though some parents said later they had taken their children for treatment. The driver, Judith Johns, 66, was ticketed for careless driving. Daytona Beach News-Journal. WFTV.
Bus driver shortage: Pinellas County school officials say they’re going through the worst school bus driver shortage in years. WFLA.
Opinions on schools: Policymakers persist in mandating and measuring educational outcomes through excessive testing, while educational inputs — i.e. investing money, resources and support in “failing schools” — are minimized, reduced or ignored. Amanda Lacy-Shitama, Gainesville Sun.
Student enrichment: The Miami-Dade County School District is awarded a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for magnet programs. Miami Herald. More than 100 grants totaling $49,314 are handed out to Collier County teachers by the Champions for Learning Education Foundation. Naples Daily News. St. Petersburg Collegiate High School is named a blue ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. St. Petersburg College. Members of a William T. Dwyer High School club collect 200 pairs of shoes for victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Palm Beach Post. Students at Cordova Park Elementary School in Pensacola collect school uniforms to donate to Bonita Springs students who were affected by Hurricane Irma. Pensacola News Journal. Students in a Pinellas County school program for the disabled launch a drive to collect items for victims of Hurricane Maria. WTSP. Sharkey’s Beachfront Restaurant partners with the Bay County School District to offer a free meal to students at Patronis, Hutchison Beach, Breakfast Point and West Bay elementary schools who have perfect attendance records. Panama City News Herald.
