Around the state: Florida’s education commissioner is urging sanctions against the teaching license of the Broward County high school coach and mother of a transgender student who was allowed to play on the school’s girls volleyball team, Escambia school board members are considering ways to cut down on students’ cell phone use at school, superintendents in Sarasota and Martin counties receive sparkling evaluations, Nassau’s school board rejects a challenge to a high school world history textbook, and Flagler school enrollment remains stagnant even as the county’s population soars. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Broward: The state’s education commissioner said there is “probable cause” for the state to sanction the school employee and coach whose transgender child played on the high school girls volleyball team. In a letter to Jessica Norton, Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wrote that during 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, Norton “fraudulently completed required forms for enrollment in school and participation in school sports in that respondent claimed on the forms that her child’s gender as identified at birth, was female.” That’s a violation of state law, Diaz said, and cause to sanction Norton’s education certificate. Florida’s Voice.
Duval: The school district is just one of several large districts in the state considering closing schools because of declining enrollment and budget pressures that are making it prohibitively expensive to repair aging schools. More than 30 are on the list, which will be discussed tonight at the last of the scheduled community meetings at Terry Parker High School. Jacksonville Today.
Lee: A former teacher and lacrosse coach at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for 14 counts of possession of child pornography. In December 2021, police said Thomas Deane had lewd interactions with a minor over social media. He was arrested the following April, and child pornography images were discovered on his laptop. He was expected to appear in court in March to enter a plea, but cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Miami. He was caught a month later. Fort Myers News-Press. WFTX.
Brevard: An art teacher at Ralph Williams Elementary School in Rockledge has created a 32-page children’s picture book picture commemorating the lives and violent deaths in 1951 of teachers and civil rights activists Harry and Harriet Moore of Mims. Freedom Never Dies: The Story of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore, by James Burks, recounts their activism, their role as educators and their family life and their tragic deaths after a bomb placed beneath the bedroom floor of their home exploded on Christmas. “They learn the important lesson that’s not ancient history, which is that it was a struggle for African Americans right here in Brevard county in the state of Florida, to have the right to vote and to exercise that right to vote,” said teachers union president Anthony Colucci. Florida Today.
St. Johns: A jury has found a former day-care worker in Longleaf guilty of 12 counts of molesting children under the age of 12, one count of attempting to molest children, and three counts of committing unnatural acts. Anthony Guadalupe, 20, who worked at the Chappell Schools until his arrest in 2022, could face up to 103 years in prison. Sentencing is tentatively scheduled July 30. WJAX. WJXT.
Sarasota: Superintendent Terry Connor got a glowing evaluation and a contract extension from the school board at this week’s meeting. Connor’s $255,000-a-year contract now runs through 2029 and he is eligible for raises each year. He can also be fired with a simple majority vote of the board, and would receive $100,000 plus benefits if fired without cause. Board members also were updated on the comprehensive reading plan and a projected 14-percentage-point increase in 3rd-grade reading achievement. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Escambia: School board members are considering options on curbing students’ use of cell phones at school. “This is a crisis across America,” said board member Kevin Adams. The Legislature passed HB 379 last year that prohibits school networks from using social media and bans cell phone use in class unless a teacher requires it for a lesson. But some teachers say that doesn’t go far enough. WEAR. NorthEscambia.com.
Alachua: Several staff appointments were approved this week by the school board. Will Spillias will replace the retiring Susan Seigle as board attorney, Gabrielle Jaremczuk will take over as chief financial officer from the retiring Keith Birkett, and Desiree Fisher is the new transportation director. Board members also voted unanimously to keep two books on library shelves. Storm and Fury, by Jennifer Armentrout, will remain available for high school students, and Julian is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love, can continue to be checked out by children in grades K-3. A book review committee had recommended both be kept. Gainesville Sun. Mainstreet Daily News.
Martin: After his first year as superintendent, Michael Maine has more than met expectations, according to his evaluation from the school board. Maine received scores ranging from 2.5 to 2.9 on a 3-point scale in categories ranging from human resources management to professional skills and abilities. Board members assigned him goals for his second year that include improving student achievement, reducing out-of-school suspensions and disproportionality, and increasing his visibility in the community and schools. WPBF.
Flagler: The county is one of the fastest growing in the state, with 16,000 new residents in the past three years, but public school enrollment has remained basically stagnant for the past 17 years. Enrollment at the end of May was 12,659, which is almost exactly what it was during the 2008-2009 school year. Instead, students are home-schooling, which is up 58 percent in the past six years from 706 to 1,119, or choosing charter or private schools. Flagler Live.
Nassau: School board members unanimously decided recently to reject a challenge to a world history textbook for high school students called World History Interactive. The objection was raised by Jack Knocke, executive director of the Citizens Defending Freedom group, who said “the material is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material.” Hearing officer Sharyl Wood argued that the objections “cited Mr. Knocke’s personal opposition to the material based on political, philosophical and/or religious ideology,” and the board deemed the objection unfounded. Fernandina Beach News-Leader.
Colleges and universities: Tallahassee Community College President Jim Murdaugh received a nearly perfect score on his evaluation from trustees this week. His base pay of $325,149 remains unchanged, since his contract stipulates that he only gets a raise if the staff receives one. Trustees also approved a $77.4 million budget, but it included nothing for raises. Tallahassee Democrat.
Around the nation: Large posters of the 10 Commandments must be displayed in every Louisiana public school classroom by 2025, from kindergarten through college, under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jeff Landry. The law, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to be challenged in court. Associated Press. ABC News. New York Times.
Opinions on schools: It’s important to pay new teachers enough to get them to come to Florida. But it’s as much or more important to pay all teachers enough to keep them in Florida, which isn’t happening. That’s because it would get in the way of Republican efforts to weaken or eliminate teachers unions, which have long been allied with state Democrats. Tampa Bay Times. Broward’s school board can’t return a transgender student at Monarch High to the life she had. It can’t undo a bad law or stop Tallahassee’s callous and atrocious record of using children as political pawns in its endless culture wars. The board can do the next best thing, however. It can let the student’s mother keep her district job. This family has suffered enough. Sun Sentinel. This muddied landscape of public education is part of the grand battle for the future of not students but constituents, not schools but the country. It is chaos, and maybe catastrophe is the goal. Nikesha Elise Williams, Jacksonville Today.
