Crimes in schools: School districts around Florida are failing to report crimes, even murder, rape and gun possession, as required on K-12 campuses, according to reports districts have filed in the past 10 years to the state Department of Education. An investigation also shows that more than 600 schools reported no crimes at all, some schools file false information to protect their reputations, and some fail to report crimes that aren't committed by students. Sun-Sentinel. A 7th-grader at Sleepy Hill Middle School in Lakeland was beaten so badly at school last month that he was hospitalized. The attacker was charged by police but never suspended by Polk County school officials. Lakeland Ledger. This year has been the worst on record for gun violence in schools, according to research by the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security that goes back to 1970. Ninety-four incidents were recorded, an increase of 60 percent over the previous record of 59 in 2006. The Guardian.
Teacher pay: Salaries for 20-year teaching veterans in the Palm Beach County School District are about $3,000 a year less today than they were for a teacher with the same experience in 2008, according to an analysis of district salary records. A 25-year veteran earns about $2,100 less, and a 15-year veteran about $1,000 a year less. The anomalies were created in 2010 and 2011 when the district dropped a salary schedule that rewarded teachers with seniority and bumped up salaries for younger teachers, including a 14 percent boost in starting salaries. Palm Beach Post.
Open enrollment: Thousands of south Florida students are applying for spots in schools outside their attendance zones under the state's new open enrollment law, and some school officials say it could be the start of a trend of children returning to public schools. In Broward County, 11,602 students applied for transfers from their zoned schools, and almost 3,500 of those were from charter schools. In Palm Beach County, 4,505 students applied under open enrollment, and about 500 of them were from charter or private schools. “We are seeing a significant jump in people wanting to come back into the school district,” says Broward administrator Patrick Sipple. “It may be too early to call it a trend. But there has been more interest because of the new law.” Sun Sentinel.
Gifted clusters: The system of pushing gifted students to 16 select elementary schools in Palm Beach County could be changing. This fall, students at 20 elementary schools will have their own gifted programs. Students at 47 others will still be sent to the clusters, which were formed in the 1990s to help the district place enough certified teachers and talented students at the same school to have full-time classes. The benefits for the 20 schools keeping their gifted students include better test scores and potentially higher school grades. The challenge for those schools is putting together a specialized program, as required by law. Palm Beach Post.
Legislative payback? Could the fear of retribution from legislators keep some school districts from joining the Broward County School Board in a court challenge of H.B. 7069? No one is commenting and no threats have been made, but there is a history of the Legislature proposing bills against the interests of school boards, their members and the Florida School Boards Association after being challenged on its education policies. Gradebook. Palm Beach County School Superintendent Robert Avossa will ask the school board at a meeting July 19 to consider joining Broward County in a lawsuit against the state over H.B. 7069. Palm Beach Post. (more…)
