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A peek at educational priorities, school police chiefs, superintendent search, student voting and more

Educational outlook: Next week’s Senate Education Committee agenda could foreshadow the education priorities for the legislative session that opens Jan. 14. The committee will discuss a repeal of the Best and Brightest educator bonuses program to pave the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan, the creation of a “do not hire” database of educators who have had trouble with districts or the law, a bill that would exempt English language learners from the 10th-grade Florida language arts exam, and a bill that would change the high school state grading formula to include the percentage of students eligible to earn credits for career dual enrollment courses…

Security in schools: Every Florida school district with a police department would be required to hire a police chief under a bill proposed by state Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville. At least 14 of the state’s 67 school districts have police forces, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The bill would require districts to give chiefs contracts of at least three years, but does not specify who is responsible for paying…

Superintendent search: The person widely expected to be chosen as the interim superintendent of the Sarasota County School District has withdrawn his name from consideration. Bill Vogel said after speaking to school board members and acting superintendent Mitsi Corcoran, he concluded that the interim leader should be someone already known within the community…

Free school lunches at risk for 200,000, teacher evaluations, rezoning and more

Free lunches threatened: Almost 200,000 Florida students could lose automatic access to free or reduced-price school lunches if a new Trump administration proposal to limit the number of people enrolled in the federal food stamps program (SNAP) is enacted, according to the Florida Policy Institute. Hardest hit would be Okeechobee County, where 83 percent of students are now automatically eligible…

Teacher evaluations: Miami-Dade County school officials are offering to develop, in partnership with the teachers union, an alternative teacher evaluation system to the controversial value-added model that places an emphasis on how much growth students show on standardized test scores in reading and math…

New school rezoning approach: Instead of drawing defined school boundaries for a new school that’s opening in the Viera area in 2020, Brevard school officials have decided to use open enrollment and offer seats to anyone in the county. The school is expected to have 300 to 400 students in its first year, and if more apply a lottery will be used to select students….

Corporal punishment bill, vaping suit expands, book vending machine and more

Corporal punishment: Parents would have to give schools permission to use corporal punishment on their children under a bipartisan pair of bills filed this week for consideration during the legislative session that begins Jan. 14. S.B. 1058 was filed by Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami, and H.B. 781 is sponsored by Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin, R-Miami. The... Read more »

Education budget details, superintendents, apology for pastor, contracts and more

Details in DeSantis plan: Gov. Ron DeSantis has released more details about his education budget proposal in draft bills. The increase in starting salaries for teachers to $47,500 would apply only to fulltime K-12 classroom teachers, which leaves out other educators such as counselors, career specialists and preschool teachers. The reworked educator bonuses program would... Read more »

New superintendent, moment of silence, charter denial overturned and more

Superintendent searches: David Moore, an assistant superintendent in the Miami-Dade County School District, has been chosen by the Indian River County School Board to become the district's new superintendent. Moore was selected Saturday over two other finalists, Margaret Aune from Collier County and Peter Licata from Palm Beach County. “When we look at a transformational... Read more »

A no-loser solution?

New York City’s “public” schools offer many parents a choice among providers – if their child happens to be gifted as measured by scores on a test. The five most elite of the “choosable” schools require a score in the 99th percentile for admission. According to the New York Times (Oct. 11, 2019), “ …… Read more »

Board wants superintendent removed, pregame prayer, start times and more

Governor asked to remove Maier: Marion County School Board members have unanimously agreed to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Heidi Maier from the superintendent's job. Board members are sending DeSantis a report on Maier's treatment of staff that was compiled by an outside company hired by the board. It concluded that Maier violated the... Read more »