In the Legislature: A bill that would make the one-year expansion of Bright Futures scholarships permanent gets the approval of the Senate Education Committee. S.B. 4 was filed by Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and would provide full and partial college scholarships to more than 100,000 students. Sunshine State News. Politico Florida. Miami Herald. News Service of Florida. The committee also approves a bill that would require schools to teach the signs and dangers of human trafficking as part of health classes. WFSU.
Makeup days: Miami-Dade County school officials are proposing to convert two teacher professional development days into instructional days and changing three early-release days into full days of classes to make up time lost to Hurricane Irma. The school board will consider the proposal Wednesday. Miami Herald.
Contract negotiations: The Brevard County teachers union rejects a 1 percent pay raise proposal, and asks the district to match the 5 percent raise Superintendent Desmond Blackburn was recently given. District officials say a 1 percent raise for the 4,600 teachers would cost about $2.9 million, and it cannot afford a 5 percent raise. Florida Today.
Schools honored: The state Department of Education is naming 640 schools in 44 counties as “Schools of Excellence” on Wednesday. Schools earn the designation by receiving an A or B grade from the state in each of the past three years and by being among the top 20 percent of the schools at their level in the grading system. These schools are rewarded with flexibility on several state rules: They may calculate class size by a schoolwide average, set daily start and finish times separate from the district, ignore the state’s minimum reading requirements, earn points toward certification renewal, and have greater latitude on hiring and budget decisions. Gradebook. About 700 schools around the state win Five Star School awards from the Florida Department of Education for their family involvement, volunteerism, community service by students, partnerships with the community and businesses, and the school advisory council. WJHG. Coral Springs Talk. Parkland Talk. Pensacola News Journal. Bradenton Herald. WJXT. Gradebook. Fort Myers News-Press. Florida Today. Space Coast Daily.
Superintendents praised: School superintendents in Orange and Seminole counties earn praise and extra pay in their evaluations by their school boards. Barbara Jenkins, Orange’s superintendent, received perfect or nearly perfect scores in all categories and will receive a bonus of $15,500. Seminole Superintendent Walt Griffin also got high marks across the board, and will get an $11,500 bonus. Orlando Sentinel.
Superintendent honored: Clay County School Superintendent Addison Davis is one of 25 U.S. superintendents honored by the National School Public Relations Association for using innovative and effective communication technology. Florida Times-Union.
District tax hike: Among those questioning the need for Manatee County voters to approve a property tax hike to benefit the school district are two school board members, the teachers union and some in the business community. Some of the skeptics are generally opposed to raising taxes, while others say the district has not communicated exactly how the extra money – estimated at $33 million a year – would be spent. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Turnaround schools: The Ocali Charter Middle School hires a new principal and several veteran teachers and is working with the Marion County School District to implement a plan for improvements. The school received an F grade from the state last year, and was ordered to prepare a turnaround plan. Ocala Star-Banner. Two low-performing charter schools present their turnaround plans to the Hillsborough County School Board today. The Woodmont Charter School has received D grades from the state for three straight years, while the Community Charter School of Excellence also is a D school. Tampa Bay Times. Administrators are reassigning low-rated teachers at West Zephyrhills Elementary, the only Pasco County elementary school with a D grade, as part of a turnaround plan required by the state. Tampa Bay Times.
Hurricane relief: The Orange County teachers union joins the American Federation of Teachers in collecting and shipping supplies to help teachers in Puerto Rico and students who are living and going to school in Florida, at least temporarily. Orlando Sentinel.
Personnel moves: Debra Viggiano, assistant principal at Northwest Elementary School in Pasco County, is named principal at Sunray Elementary School in Holiday. Gradebook.
School properties feud: Florida Keys Community College is in the middle of two disputes with the Monroe County School District. FKCC and Gerald Adams Elementary School are trying to resolve their differences over the location of the property line between the schools on Stock Island. The college also claims it has not received promised space at Coral Shores High School, and it wants the $3.1 million it contributed to the school’s construction returned. Key West Citizen.
Query clears principal: A Polk County School District investigation finds no evidence to support a sexual harassment allegation against Tenoroc High School principal Jason Looney. Still being investigated are claims that Looney uses improper hiring practices, bullies teachers into changing students’ grades and mismanages the Lakeland school’s finances. Lakeland Ledger.
P.R. missteps: Public relations professionals and experts say a firm hired to represent the Sarasota County School District acted improperly when it posted comments favorable to its clients through several different accounts that were not clearly identified. The firm, ThreeSixOh, resigned from a two-year, $225,000 contract after the disclosure. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Hair color dispute: A 3rd-grader is sent home from Julington Creek Elementary School for coming to picture day with blue hair. The principal cited the student conduct code, which says: “Hair shall be clean and well combed or brushed. Extreme hairstyles will not be acceptable.” WJXT.
Opinions on schools: It doesn’t appear the discussion about using charter schools as hurricane shelters is going away anytime soon, so here are a few facts to consider. Travis Pillow, redefinED. Florida’s schools are becoming increasingly more segregated, but they simply reflect the segregated neighborhoods they’re in. Tampa Bay Times.
