Around the state: Thousands of teacher position vacancies across the state, books discarded at New College of Florida, new principals are being appointed in Palm Beach County and University of Florida's provost is headed back to the university. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: Classes are back in session for more than 300,000 students in Miami-Dade County as they are welcomed into 522 different campuses across the district for their first day of school. Meanwhile, excitement was in the air at Miami Edison Senior High, since they have become an A-rated school for the first time in over 100 years since the school has been open. WSVN.
Palm Beach: School district leaders here approved another new principal on Wednesday, bringing the total number of schools with new leaders to 16 this year. The number of schools with new leadership at the start of an academic year is usual between 10-20 across more than 180 Palm Beach County district-operated schools. Changes in leadership are usually driven by a host of personnel matters that include retirements, departures and promotions. Palm Beach Post.
Pinellas: A Pinellas County School Board member seeking re-election alleges that Republican leaders crossed legal boundaries in campaign ads that endorse her challenger. Tampa Bay Times.
Volusia: ESE teachers in this county say they are exhausted, prompting the district to implement changes. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Teacher vacancies: About 10,000 teaching and education staff positions remain open in Florida, even as students headed back to school this week, according to data compiled by the Florida Education Association. The association said it found that almost every district in the state has open positions in elementary education, ESE and speech-language pathology with "no significant improvement" in the vacancies for education staff professionals. There is also a need for teachers aides for non-ESE students, bus drivers and substitute teachers. ABC Action News. WQCS.
School board candidate endorsements: Gov. Ron DeSantis has endorsed 23 school board candidates across 14 counties. The Associated Press. WUSF.
Colleges and universities: Joe Glover, a longtime University of Florida provost who stepped down in 2023 before taking the same position earlier this year at the University of Arizona, is coming back to Gainesville. University of Arizona spokesperson Mitch Zak said the school will be appointing an interim provost in the coming weeks. In an email to faculty and students on Tuesday, Glover said he would be returning to UF because interim president Kent Fuchs “asked me to lend my expertise in support of the university, where I spent over 15 years, and which is undergoing a major transition.” The Gainesville Sun. Main Street Daily News. Kathleen Amm, Tallahassee's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory director, recently talked about her return to Florida State University. "Coming back 30 years later, I think FSU is just phenomenally poised right now to lead across a broad area of places that can have not just technological impact, and not just science impact, but a really great impact on the community here in North Florida," said Amm. Tallahassee Democrat. Gov. Ron DeSantis and top state Republicans are putting pressure on the state university system's Board of Governors to look further into the spending habits of former University of Florida President Ben Sasse after reports from a student-run newspaper that he spent millions in university funds on consulting contracts. Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, New College of Florida has discarded scores of books from its collection in what the university described as a "weeding" of its libraries. The university said its library was following its standard yearly procedures for updating its collection. University spokesperson Nathan March said in a statement that the process was conducted by “professional Librarians trained to assess the collection” and that state law prevents the university from selling, donating or transferring the books purchased with state funds. Tampa Bay Times. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. USA Today.
Opinions on schools: On a fairly regular basis, teachers and administrators in Florida’s public K-12 system will tell me that the colleges of education at the state’s public universities should work on graduating more science and math teachers. My usual response is something like this: They’ve tried, and it’s not working. Not even close. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow.
Around the state: A program is launching in Duval to address absenteeism, district officials hope to work with students on the cellphone policy in Broward and early childhood educators can advance their careers for free. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: The school board here recently approved an initiative to review whether district-approved curriculum contains examples of antisemitism. The move comes after the state's public universities were ordered to review all college course materials for antisemitic content or "anti-Israeli bias." Axios.
Broward: Superintendent Howard Hepburn said during a press conference on Tuesday that the district wants to work with students as they get accustomed to the new cellphone policy being implemented this year. School board members adopted the new policy last month that expands on the current state statute that prohibits students from using cellphones during class instruction time — unless given permission by teachers. The policy requires that students either turn off phones or leave them on airplane mode. “We don’t want it to end up in a suspension,” said Hepburn. Miami Herald.
Duval: The city of Jacksonville launched a new program on Wednesday called "Show Up to Shine," which addresses the absenteeism issue in Duval County Public Schools. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said Duval county leads the state in the percentage of students who are "habitually truant." The Florida Department of Education says Florida law defines a habitual truant as a student aged 6 to 15 who has 15 or more unexcused absences within 90 calendar days, whether or not their parent or guardian is aware. Bernier and Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said the program is a call to action for the community to help combat the issue. News4Jax. Action News Jax.
Pasco: Early childhood educators can further their careers for free. "We know that teacher salaries are a little tight and can make it difficult for teachers in return, so the early learning coalition wanted to offer that opportunity and support to our teachers," said Samantha Dominguez, the Early Education Adviser at the ELC of Pasco and Hernando counties. ABC Action News.
Collier: Teachers and staff greeted students during the first day of school at Palmetto Elementary School in Naples earlier this week. Naples Daily News.
Sarasota: Superintendent Terry Connor talked about his goals for the 2024-25 school year, which include academic achievement with a focus on literacy, safe schools and enhancing options for students. ABC Action News.
Leon: The school district here is the first to use WeatherSTEM systems to monitor weather conditions in 2019, and will now be the first to receive the latest alert system offered by the local company. The new system will be used at the district's Gene Cox Stadium to alert attendees of impending weather conditions in real time. The stadium, where the county's five public high schools play football, is the first location where the system has been installed, the company CEO said Tuesday. Superintendent Rocky Hanna said the system will serve as support in addition to the district's communications with the National Weather Service. Tallahassee Democrat.
Colleges and universities: This week, the University of Florida's student newspaper reported that former university President Ben Sasse spent millions of the school's money to hire GOP political allies. Tampa Bay Times.
Opinions on schools: What teachers, administrators, school board members and candidates-hopeful, the superintendent, the governor and Florida education commissioner, the president and the U.S. secretary of education should do is lead, develop curriculum, and offer supportive materials (books or otherwise) that acknowledge difference in race, gender, migration, and economic class in a way that assures these characteristics are assets instead of liabilities in life as they have been (acknowledged or not) for hundreds of years. Nikesha Elise Williams, Jax Today.
Around the state: A tax referendum is moving forward in Hillsborough, metal detectors caused delays in Broward and one university official sent a letter that asks for leaders to resign. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A Miami-Dade Public Schools psychologist was arrested on child pornography charges, according to police. Miami Herald.
Broward: School officials apologized for the chaos on the first day of school caused by the district rolling out new metal detectors that caused delays as hundreds of high school students were standing in lines waiting to enter schools. A district spokesperson warned delays may continue this week as staff make adjustments, but said the superintendent will ensure Monday’s lines aren’t replicated. The metal detectors were rolled out at 38 schools on Monday. It was an effort that was intended to improve school safety and security after a gunman killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Officials on Tuesday hoped to remedy the issues faced by students. “We want to definitely apologize to our public because we know this is a stressful time, it’s a new routine for students,” said Superintendent Howard Hepburn. He said larger schools will be receiving additional metal detectors. Miami Herald. Associated Press. WSVN. WLRN.
Hillsborough: On Tuesday, County Commissioners here agreed to put a schools tax referendum on the November ballot just in time for a deadline imposed by a judge and also vowed to continue the legal battle to delay putting the tax question to voters until 2026. With a shortage of more than 400 classroom teachers and neighboring counties able to pay more, the school district plans to ask voters to consider paying $1 per $1,000 in taxable property value. Attorneys in the case are keeping a close eye on the appeals court for any rulings. Tampa Bay Times.
Lee: Students in this county headed back to school with celebratory entrances. There is an estimated 102,791 students in the district, including charter schools, according to last year's official numbers."We expect enrollment to increase this year," said district spokesman Robert Spicker. The official count takes place in October. Ft. Myers News-Press.
Sarasota: A 12-year-old girl was accidentally run over by her mother during the first day of school drop-off near Booker Middle School, officials at the Florida Highway Patrol say. The child was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg in critical condition. Counselors were available at the school for students who needed help coping with what occurred. ABC Action News. Fox 13. USA Today. WFTV. Meanwhile, in Sarasota County, the district's full-time enrollment in public schools decreased by 334 students as a result of increased use of Family Empowerment Scholarship vouchers. School Board Chairwoman Karen Rose spoke at a recent press conference, saying "The performance and academic achievement is growing, and we couldn't be more proud of that as a School Board. We're looking forward to partnering with our community and providing the highest quality schools and service to you." Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Colleges and universities: Some colleges and students are finding ways to better respond to overdose rates among young people. A group is organizing students on 28 campuses to distribute and use Narcan. NPR. Meanwhile, USF faculty say a new state law that requires professors to undergo more frequent evaluations to earn tenure, in addition to restrictions on topics about DEI or race, are causing some to leave. "Morale has dropped significantly," said Dana Thompson Dorsey, a tenured professor in USF's College of Education. WUSF. At Florida A&M University, Interim President Dr. Timothy Beard sent a letter to members of the university leadership team that called on them to resign by the end of the day on Aug. 13. In the letter that is dated Aug. 12, Beard wrote, "after careful consideration and in consultation with the Board of Trustees, the past University President, and from my observations, I have concluded that a change in our senior leadership team is necessary to move forward more effectively." ABC Action News. Tallahassee Democrat. At Florida Southern College, the new president is Jeremy Martin, who is the 18th president of the Lakeland-based Methodist college and the first new leader in 20 years after Anne Kerr’s retirement. He oversees about 2,700 undergraduates and another 600 graduate students. Lkld Now. Raises were approved by trustees for faculty and staff at University of Florida. Main Street Daily News.
Opinions on schools: The most robust form of accountability, the kind that produces meaningful rewards and consequences for schools, is financial and comes with an exit option. Matthew Ladner, NextSteps. Let us savor this moment that saw 432,000 students restart sacred routines in Tampa Bay. Let us enjoy the sweetness before feuds with friends, before the whipsaw of emotions and body chemicals. Before the tests get harder, before the team rosters go up and the egos come crashing down. Stephanie Hayes, Tampa Bay Times.
