Around the state: Students in 59 of Florida’s 67 counties will head back to school on Monday, Aug. 12. The latest start date is Aug. 15 for schools in Miami-Dade County. Florida’s tax-free holiday for school supplies and clothes began Monday, July 29, and runs through Aug. 11. Community groups are planning special events for families. Sun-Sentinel. WFLA. WKMG.
Escambia: Last year, Florida had more books challenged for removal than any other state, according to data released from the American Library Association in March. Nearly 2,700 titles were targeted for restriction or removal in Florida schools and public libraries, according to data released by the American Library Association in March. Escambia County led the state with more than 1,600 books removed as of December, according to The Florida Freedom to Read Project, which published a list of books removed from Escambia County Public School District library shelves. The county has been at the center of a lawsuit filed by PEN America, which stated in its complaint that it targeted Escambia specifically as it has been ground zero for book bans that are now sweeping the United States. The Escambia County School Board successfully sought to have a 7-year-old testify in the case. Pensacola News Journal.
Flagler: Florida education choice scholarships are funded fully from state sources, but the funding runs through district budgets. That funding is not included in a local district budget report designed to show how school district property taxes will change in the upcoming year’s budget. Flagler Live. Students who use school transportation will no longer be able to use personal electronic devices on the bus without the driver’s permission, according to new rule the school board approved last week as part of changes it made to the district’s code of conduct. Administrators said the rule stems from some students “battling” about the type and volume of music being played on buses. They said students would be allowed to communicate with families in emergencies. Other changes included relaxing rules for middle school footwear to match the high schools, broadening the plagiarism and cheating ban to encompass academic dishonesty, and redefining what constitutes skipping class from missing the first 10 minutes to the first five minutes. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Colleges and Universities: The Florida State University Board of Trustees recently approved a $219 million state budget request — one with a STEM focus — for the 2025-26 fiscal year. While the request includes five main initiatives with $96 million in new money, one of them is an ask for $56 million for the modernization of Tallahassee’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory that is headquartered at FSU. The board met last week to discuss the budget request for next year, which comes about a month and a half after the university received nearly $83 million in new funding from the state’s $16.5 billion budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. FSU trustees also recently approved the largest operating budget in the university’s history, which is $3 billion for 2024-2025. Tallahassee Democrat.
The University of Florida and the Jacksonville Jaguars have entered a comprehensive four-year partnership designed to positively impact the communities they serve while raising UF’s profile and brand recognition. Under the agreement, the University of Florida and UF Health brands will be displayed prominently at Jaguars games at both domestic and international venues. UF and the Jaguars also will join forces on marketing campaigns that amplify their shared values. “The University of Florida has big plans with Jacksonville, and our partnership with the Jaguars is just the start,” said UF Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini. “We’re excited about the future.” The announcement comes as UF continues to move forward with plans to establish a graduate campus in Jacksonville that will focus on fintech and medical technology. Classes are expected to begin in fall 2025 in temporary space inside the JEA building, and site selection is underway for a permanent location. UF says it will pay the cost of the partnership with private dollars. Gainesville Sun.
Nearly 1,900 students are expected to participate at Florida State University’s commencement ceremonies, but the university will award 2,834 degrees this summer semester— including 1,693 bachelor’s degrees, 882 master’s and specialist degrees and 187 doctoral degrees. At Florida A&M University, about 500 graduates from the university’s 14 colleges and schools are expected to participate in Friday’s ceremony at the Lawson Center. Commencement speakers at FSU include former Seminoles quarterback, NBA player and Heisman winner Charlie Ward and Tim Cerio, president, CEO and executive director of Citizens Property Insurance. Entrepreneur and FAMU alum Melissa Butler will speak at the FAMU commencement ceremony. Tallahassee Democrat.
Around the nation: Authorities arrested an 11-year-old Virgina boy and charged him with making with making more than 20 bomb or shooting threats to a series of Florida schools. According to officials, Flagler County emergency services received a bomb threat on May 14 directed towards Buddy Taylor Middle School. Over the next nine days, 20 more calls were made to Buddy Taylor and four other Flagler County schools — First Baptist Christian Academy, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Old Kings Elementary School, and Suncoast Community School. The calls referenced bombs had been planted, threatened to commit mass shootings, and claimed to have shot students and teachers at the schools. Law enforcement officials tracked the calls to a home in Virginia, where the boy admitted to placing the “swatting type calls” to Florida, as well as a similar threat made to the Maryland State House. The child told police that he “used methods he had learned online” to try and hide his identity and that he had devised the script for the calls alone. USA Today.
