Hope Scholarship: With some Florida school districts saying they're confused by the law that offers state scholarships for bullied K-12 students, state Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, has filed a bill intended to clarify the rules and further expand the scholarship. S.B. 1410 would remove school districts from making any decisions about a student's eligibility for a Hope Scholarship. Instead, parents would go directly to the scholarship funding organization for an application and simply have to report a bullying incident to be eligible, with no verification required. The bill would also offer the scholarships to students from private schools. Gradebook. redefinED.
Gardiner Scholarship: Two bills are filed that would expand Gardiner Scholarships for students with special needs and make it simpler for parents to renew them. H.B. 1051, filed by Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, R-DeLand, and S.B. 1380, sponsored by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, would allow parents to submit applications when their child turns 3, and use the scholarship to pay for tuition and fees associated with art, music or theater programs. Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the state's Gardiner, Hope, tax credit and reading scholarships. redefinED.
Runcie's job on line: The Broward County School Board will consider firing Superintendent Robert Runcie at its meeting Tuesday. Board member Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa died in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, requested the item to be added to the agenda. She cited his "many failures of leadership," specifically his handling of the tragedy and the district's slow progress in carrying out the $800 million bond program for schools approved by voters in 2014. “The urgency to do this now is because the district is spiraling out of control," Alhadeff said. Five of the nine board members have publicly expressed support for Runcie in the past few weeks. “As board members, we need to be accountable to the public," Alhadeff said. "I am bringing it forward regardless if I have five votes or not.” Sun Sentinel. WPLG.
Hope Scholarships: Pasco County school officials are considering testing the state's Hope Scholarship law by requiring that bullying reports from students be verified by the district before students are awarded a scholarship. Legislators and Department of Education officials say the law requires the complaining student be awarded a scholarship out of the school and, possibly, into a private school regardless of proof. But Pasco officials say the definition of bullying includes substantiation of the complaint, and a board attorney is doing further research. Gradebook. (more…)
Appointments retracted: Gov. Ron DeSantis has rescinded the appointments of Andrew Pollack and Thomas Grady to the Florida Board of Education. Pollack, whose daughter Meadow and 16 others died in last February's shooting attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, and Grady had been appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott in the final days of his term. Pollack says he thinks DeSantis will reappoint him. DeSantis also canceled 44 other late Scott appointments. WLRN. Sun Sentinel. Gradebook. Fort Myers News-Press.
Audit requested: An audit of the Manatee County School District's home-school records shows improved accounting of students who withdrew from traditional schools, but no follow-up to see if those students were actually being home-schooled. Another audit to answer that question is being planned. The state Department of Education has accused interim Superintendent Cynthia Saunders of inflating graduation rates by having district employees code students who were dropping out to pursue a GED degree as "withdrawn to home education." Saunders could be sanctioned by the DOE. Bradenton Herald. Manatee County School Board members say they were not informed by Saunders or by former superintendent Diana Greene that Saunders was under investigation by the state. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)
Issues for BOE: In its only meeting before the legislative sessions begins March 5, the Florida Board of Education urges lawmakers to boost funding for armed security and mental health services in schools, and to give districts greater flexibility on how they deploy the guardian program that arms school staff. Also, new Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran wants to streamline the application process for Hope Scholarships for bullied students, and said unused funds could be redirected into other programs, and Escambia Superintendent Malcolm Thomas pleaded for more help for districts that were devastated by Hurricane Michael. Gradebook. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Pensacola News Journal. BOE members say they could consider differentiated pay to help address the teacher shortage. WFSU. Corcoran will be paid $276,000 a year, the same as his predecessor Pam Stewart. Associated Press.
School closings expected: Bay County School Superintendent Bill Husfelt says a loss of students and the repair bills for schools damaged by Hurricane Michael last October will force the closing of some schools. The district has lost nearly 2,500 students, a number that could increase to 4,700, and faces repair bills of up to $300 million. Husfelt says most of the closings will be elementary schools. “Financially, we just can’t afford to keep all of our schools open at the low level some of them are at, so we’re going to have to make some decisions," he says. Panama City News Herald. (more…)
Superintendent of year: Malcolm Thomas, leader of the Escambia County School District, is selected as Florida's superintendent of the year by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. "He's a visionary, and above all there's never any question in anybody's mind where is heart is, and that is in the classroom," says State Sen. Bill Montford, executive director of the association. Thomas was first elected superintendent in 2008, then re-elected twice. He's retiring when his term expires in 2020, and the Escambia superintendent position will then become an appointed one. Pensacola News Journal. Gradebook.
H.B. 7069 lawsuit: In a court filing, the state disputes the contention of 11 district school boards that a 2017 education bill is unconstitutional. The boards allege that H.B. 7069 illegally takes authority from local boards to approve charter schools, and exempts some charter schools, called "schools of hope," from regulations public schools must follow. The law was upheld by a circuit judge last spring, which prompted appeals from boards in Alachua, Bay, Broward, Hamilton, Lee, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie and Volusia counties, and a separate appeal from the Collier County board. News Service of Florida. (more…)
Big raises for administrators: Eleven Broward County School District administrators received pay raises during the 2017-2018 school year ranging from 7 percent to 21 percent -- far above the average 2.2 percent that most of the district's 27,000 employees received. Six of the 11 raises were given after the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when the district was complaining it didn't have enough money for resource officers and teachers. Superintendent Robert Runcie defends the raises as correcting pay inequities, though he has adjusted one downward. Sun-Sentinel.
Creation of a crisis: The crisis of escalating problems with school air-conditioners in Hillsborough County is a creation of declining funding from the state and school officials' decisions to emphasize teaching positions over maintenance during the recession and years of devoting fewer of their funds toward maintenance than any other large district in the state. In the past decade, Hillsborough spent about $122 per student on maintenance, compared to neighboring Pinellas County's $217 and Orange County's $179. Now, the district is asking voters to approve adding a half-cent to the sales tax to raise $1.31 billion over the next 10 years to fix the A/C problems and tend to other deferred repair projects. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
ESSA plan approved: Florida's plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act finally has won the approval of the U.S. Education Department. The state submitted five revisions of the accountability plan, including one this week, before Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave her approval in a letter to Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart. Florida had resisted some ESSA requirements, such as assessments of English language learners and math testing for advanced students in middle schools. Florida's was the last of the 50 states to have its plan approved. Gradebook. Education Week.
Medical marijuana: School boards in Orange, Volusia and Clay counties are moving forward with policies that will permit students with prescriptions to receive medical marijuana treatments at schools from parents or caregivers, but not school personnel. The Orange County School Board approved the policy this week, and the Clay and Volusia boards will take final vote in October and November, respectively. Broward and Santa Rosa counties have adopted similar policies. Orlando Sentinel. Daytona Beach News-Journal. Clay Today. Orlando Weekly. (more…)
Amendment 8: A Leon County circuit judge says he is likely to decide today if proposed constitutional Amendment 8 will stay on the November ballot or be removed because it's misleading. At a hearing Friday, a lawyer for the state said the ballot title and summary are “a fair statement” of the amendment and that "the voters have a right to see this. It’s clear. There’s nothing misleading about it.” A lawyer for the League of Women Voters, which is challenging the amendment, says the ballot title and summary are “misleading” and “deceptive” because they don't explain that voters would be stripping local school boards of the authority to oversee charter schools. Florida Politics. WJCT. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida.
School security: A shooting between adults sparks pandemonium during a practice football game at Palm Beach Central High in Wellington on Friday night and raises questions about how even the greatly increased safety measures at schools are able to protect students. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says two suspects targeted the victims because of unspecified past dealings. A 29-year-old is in critical but stable condition and a 39-year-old, the father of one of the players in the game, is in stable condition. The district has announced some changes for this week's games. Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. WPLG. Miami Herald. Sun-Sentinel. The Pinellas County School District will show students videos this week that instruct them how to respond during a school shooting. All follow the run-hide-fight strategy. There are versions of the videos for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, in grades 3-5 and for middle-schoolers. Active-assailant drills are expected to begin soon in schools. Gradebook. (more…)
