Security in schools: The Polk County School District and Sheriff Grady Judd are working on a plan to have an armed "safety specialist" in all county elementary schools this fall. The district is finalizing a job description, but the specialists will fall between a sworn school resource officer and an armed school employee. As many as 90 will be hired, and the school district will pay for them. Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd says the pay will be "significantly less" than what resource officers and teachers make. Judd says the specialists' job is to be a "visual deterrent to an active shooter, and be trained to suppress the active shooter threat” if necessary. Lakeland Ledger. WKMG. WFLA. Manatee and Sarasota school districts are struggling to find funding to comply with the state law to have an officer in every school by fall. Law enforcement authorities in both counties contend that since the school districts are getting some money from the state, they should be responsible for the full costs of school security. WWSB.
Budget 'crisis': Volusia County School Board members say the district is in "crisis mode" after the preliminary budget shows a deficit of $4.2 million. School officials blame a small increase in funding from the state, an underfunded state mandate on school security and proposed 1 percent teacher raises for the deficit. “I’m a little alarmed by it and very cautious about what we must do,” says board chairwoman Linda Cuthbert, who noted that decisions need to be made soon. “It’s certainly going to be a difficult budget cycle,” says Deb Muller, chief financial officer for the district. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Testing cautions: National Assessment of Educational Progress testing results have positive news about Florida, and particularly several three large school districts. But they also show there's work to be done, especially in 8th-grade math and in closing the achievement gap between racial and ethnic groups. redefinED. Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says her top goal is to close the academic achievement gap between students of different racial and economic backgrounds. She says part of the problem is chronic teacher absenteeism. “I can tell you ... with our most vulnerable students that we have our teachers that are less motivated and less capable. We’ve got to make that shift and we’ve got to help them become better or help them find another profession,” Stewart said in a speaking appearance in Sarasota. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)
12 amendments proposed: The Style and Drafting Committee of the Constitution Revision Commission has consolidated 24 proposals into 12 amendments that it is recommending for the November ballot. Three education-related ideas -- school board term limits, requiring a civics course for graduation and allowing the state to create a new entity to authorize charter schools -- are consolidated into a single amendment. The other education proposal, which would allow high-performing school districts to have the same regulatory flexibility as charter schools, would stand alone. The proposals must be approved by the full CRC by May 10. Proposed amendments must be approved by 60 percent of the voters to be added to the state constitution. Miami Herald. News Service of Florida.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: Lawyers on both sides of the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Legislature's 2017 education law present their arguments to a Leon County judge and ask for a summary judgment. Those challenging H.B. 7069 say it strips local school boards of their constitutional authority, creates a separate system for charter schools outside local district control and changes the way local taxes are collected and spent. Lawyers for the state say the plaintiffs say provisions of the law are political decisions outside the court's jurisdiction, and that the plaintiffs don't have standing to bring the suit. Judge John Cooper did not rule Gradebook.
No bonuses for you: More than 1,000 Duval County educators have discovered that they won't be getting their expected bonuses from the state under the Best and Brightest scholarship program. A revision in the law limits the bonuses to current classroom teachers, and excludes such employees as academic coaches, deans of students and school counselors, media specialists, psychologists, social workers, specialists and others. The district says it's in no financial position to step in with payments for those who are missing out. Florida Times-Union.
