Fighting against charters: Leon County School Superintendent Rocky Hanna is ignoring the recommendation of a review committee and is asking his school board to reject the applications of two companies that want to build charter schools. Hanna says the schools aren't needed, and that he doesn't like that charters don't have the same regulations as public schools. "If we start opening mom and pop schools on every corner we’re going to slowly bleed our traditional schools to death. ... Until we have some type of oversight on their expansion, I’m going to keep denying these requests," said Hanna, who further explains his position in an op-ed column. The board votes on the applications April 10. If they are rejected, the charter schools can appeal to the Florida Department of Education. Tallahassee Democrat.
Graduation rates warning: The Duval County graduation rate could drop 10 percentage points next year because the state is raising the scores students need to pass alternative tests to the state's assessments, warns assistant superintendent Kelly Coker-Daniel. She says as many as 1,000 students who complete the course requirements but can't pass the Florida Standards Assessments standards take an alternative test, such as the ACT or SAT, to meet the requirements for graduation. The state recently announced it was sharply raising the passing grades for all tests. Florida Times-Union.
Security in schools: Brevard County students and residents will discuss a proposal to arm school employees at a town hall meeting Saturday in Satellite Beach. The meeting is one of 100 or so Town Halls for Our Lives being held around the United States. Meanwhile, Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey makes his pitch for arming school employees by citing a 1764 school massacre. "To those that want to use this most recent tragedy for anything but finding a solution to protect our children, I say: 'Stop it,' " Ivey demanded in a Facebook video. "This is not about politics, the Second Amendment or automatic weapons. ... It's about implementing strategies that will stop an active shooter today, not two years from now." Florida Today. The Volusia County School District is considering hiring a private firm to provide security at county schools. WFTV. Improving school security in Martin County will cost $12 million, school board members are told. They are considering raising the sales tax or property taxes. TCPalm. Citrus County officials are trying to determine if the Academy of Environmental Science, the only charter school in the county, will be required to have a resource officer. AES has just 73 students. Citrus County Chronicle. (more…)
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.
