Charter denials upheld: An appeals court rules that the Florida Board of Education overstepped its authority by overruling the denial of two charter school applications by the Indian River County School Board in 2015. The 4th District Court of Appeal judges ruled that Indian River County board had “clear and convincing evidence” to support the denial of the proposed Somerset Academy Inc. charter schools, and that the board had "painstakingly pointed out how Somerset’s applications patently showed that Somerset’s intended budget was financially unrealistic and untenable.” Backers of the Somerset schools had appealed the denial to the state Board of Education. The state board has lost similar cases at the appellate level in Seminole and Polk counties. News Service of Florida. Florida Politics. Sunshine State News. Politico Florida.
Constitutional review: The education committee of the Constitution Review Commission meets today, and one of the proposals it could consider is an amendment that would invalidate any current or future legal challenges of state education laws by local school districts. At least 14 districts have already decided to join forces to challenge the constitutionality of the state's new education law, H.B. 7069, which requires local districts to share property tax revenues with privately run charter schools. The commission meets every 20 years to propose changes to the state constitution. Capitol News Service. Gradebook.
Recess time: The Alachua County School District is adding five minutes to the end of each elementary school day to meet the state-required 20 minutes of daily recess. Gainesville Sun.
State testing: The Miami-Dade County School District is asking the state to push back the dates standardized testing to allow schools to recover the time lost to Hurricane Irma. District students were out of school seven days, and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is asking for a week's delay in testing. WLRN. Duval County school officials are warning that the Florida Board of Education's plan to raise the standards for some tests required for graduation will result in steep declines in the graduation rate. Kelly-Coker Daniel, Duval's assistant superintendent of accountability and assessment, says graduation rates in the county could fall 10 percent if the changes are approved. Florida Times-Union. The Hernando County School District announces a cutback in the number of tests it will require students to take. WTVT.
H.B. 7069 lawsuits: The Hillsborough County School Board chooses not to join other districts in suing the state over the constitutionality of the new education law, H.B. 7069. Board members say a suit would cost too much money, take too much staff time and potentially contaminate relationships with state legislators. Fourteen other districts have announced their intention to join the lawsuit, which has not yet been filed. Tampa Bay Times. The Palm Beach County School District files its challenge to H.B. 7069 in Leon County Circuit Court. The suit claims the law unconstitutionally forces districts to share local property tax revenue with charters, and specifically targets just those provisions that require districts to share property tax proceeds with charters. School board members chose to file their own suit instead of joining other districts. Palm Beach Post. redefinED.
Makeup days: The Hernando County School District will use extra minutes already built into its daily schedule to make up the time lost to Hurricane Irma. Only Moton Elementary does not have that time available, since it's a turnaround school and is required to have 60 extra minutes a day for reading. So eight minutes a day has been added to Moton's schedule. Tampa Bay Times. Duval County school officials detail the setting up of hurricane shelters in schools, and the ensuing teardown and cleanup to prepare for the resumption of classes. Florida Times-Union.
Social media boost: Lake County School Board members are encouraging the county's schools to launch and maintain Facebook and Twitter accounts in order to better communicate with students and parents. “I am pretty excited,” says board chairman Marc Dodd. “We definitely understand the value of communicating that way and how many people it can reach.” Existing employee and student conduct rules will apply to the use of the platforms, and the district will offer training. Daily Commercial.
