BOE and Corcoran: The Florida Board of Education will consider Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis' choice of Richard Corcoran as education commissioner at its just-scheduled Monday meeting. The seven-member BOE is tasked with approving an education commissioner, and in the past has conducted national searches. But BOE chair Marva Johnson and vice-chair Andy Tuck are both on DeSantis' education transition team, and Johnson has indicated she's open to DeSantis' choice. News Service of Florida. Gradebook. Capitolist. WUSF.
School lockdown delay: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School officials were confused over who had the authority to order a lockdown when a school shooter opened fire Feb. 14, leading to a delay of several minutes in declaring a "code red" that orders students to hide behind locked doors, according to district emails. As a result, some students were caught in hallways and shot. Sun Sentinel. Two newspapers ask a Broward County court to make witness interviews from the Parkland school shootings open to the public. Miami Herald. Sun Sentinel. Parkland shooting survivors-turned-activists are among 10 finalists for Time magazine's 2018 person of the year award. Sun Sentinel. The St. Johns County School District is adding 16 resource officers at schools next month. WJAX. (more…)
School security: Paul Grohowski, who most recently worked as the director of public safety and chief of police for the Allan Hancock Joint Community College Police Department in Santa Maria, Calif., is hired as police chief for the Sarasota County School District. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Some of the everyday people being hired as school guardians in Polk County talk about their motives for taking the job. Lakeland Ledger. CBS News. A survey shows that students in Boca Raton want improved active shooter drills, bulletproof windows installed and identification badges on campus enforced. Palm Beach Post. The Gulf County teachers union holds a community meeting to discuss school safety, motivating students and other issues. Port St. Joe Star.
Budget problems: The Volusia County School District is projecting a budget deficit of $4.49 million for the next fiscal year, and district officials and school board members have six weeks to close it before the scheduled board vote. Items unsettled include how much school security is going to cost, pay raises as the district continues to negotiate with the teachers union, and whether there will be money left over from the current budget year, which ends June 30. Dipping into reserves has been mentioned as an option to close the deficit. Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Teaching with depression: Teachers who suffer from depression spend less time than other teachers in group instruction and explaining new assignments, according to research published in the Journal of School Psychology. Researchers studied 32 3rd-grade teachers and their 326 students in eight schools in north Florida three times over the course of a year, and theorize that depressed teachers may be choosing lessons that require less energy. Education Week.
State seeks ESSA waivers: The Florida Department of Education is seeking waivers to the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in its draft for public comment. The state wants a transition period for students who aren't fluent in English, a waiver on reporting student learning gains, and a waiver on the rule that requires school grade changes if 95 percent of every subgroup doesn't participate in testing. The public can submit comments here until July 31. Orlando Sentinel. Gradebook.
Religious expression: School districts around the state are starting to prepare for the implementation of the new freedom of religious expression in schools law. Students will now be permitted to include religious beliefs in their schoolwork, and pray at school. Some educators expect little change, since the law already permits those things. Others worry that the law will encourage some teachers to veer into religion-based instruction that ignores commonly accepted facts. Many districts are waiting for guidance on the issue from the Florida Department of Education before writing local policies. Tampa Bay Times.
Charter marketing: An Orange County charter school has budgeted almost $250,000 of taxpayer money over three years to advertise for students. The K-6 Renaissance Charter School will open later this summer on the south side of Orange County, with 661 students expected. To help fill those seats, the school has budgeted $148,725 for marketing in 2017-2018, $55,539 in 2018-2019 and $40,498 in 2019-2020. A spokesperson for Charter Schools USA, the for-profit company that was hired by Renaissance to run its schools, says the ad spending is “smart marketing,” and added, “Parents choose charters for a variety of reasons. We have to market it to let parents know it is there.” Orange County School Board member Linda Kobert says, "Charters have a different set of rules. The school district, the state of Florida, and the taxpayers have no say in how charters spend those taxpayer dollars.” WFTV.
Meal policies reconsidered: Schools across the United States are reconsidering how they deal with students' meal debts. This month, the U.S. Agriculture Department is requiring districts to inform parents about school meal payments at the start of a school year, and encouraging districts to contact parents directly about delinquent accounts so children don't go hungry. Several states are going one step further, prohibiting meal shaming or denying food to delinquent students. Associated Press. The Clay County School District is hiking prices for school meals next year. Breakfast at all schools will be $1.50, up 25 cents. Lunch at elementary schools will be $2 for, 25 cents more, and $2.25 at secondary schools, up 15 cents. Florida Times-Union. (more…)
Charter schools: Florida charter schools could get an extra $96.3 million from school districts that will now have to share the tax money they collect for capital projects, according to Florida House estimates. That's nearly 7 percent of the money school districts could have after debt service is subtracted, as H.B. 7069 stipulates. The $96.3 million is a maximum estimate, says Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah. Charter schools need to meet certain academic and financial standards and have been operating for two or more years to be eligible for the money. Miami-Dade and Broward will be among the districts hardest hit in sheer dollars, but tiny Sumter and Franklin counties will have the highest percentages of shared dollars, at 33 and 24 percent, respectively. Miami Herald. Manatee and Sarasota counties are two of the counties that will have share higher percentages of their capital funding with charter schools under the new education law. Sarasota is third in the state at 13.54 percent, and Manatee is 11th at 9.26 percent. Manatee School Superintendent Diana Greene says the district will continue with plans to build three new schools, but the law could have an impact on smaller projects. Bradenton Herald. Wayman Academy of the Arts is one of five charter schools in Duval County to earn an A grade from the state this year. The school, which draws its students from a poor neighborhood in Jacksonville, now has received every possible grade from the state in its 17-year existence. Florida Times-Union.
District hacked: The St. Lucie County School District's Twitter account was hacked last week, and several racially charged messages were posted and stayed online for more than nine hours before being removed. The cyberattack was just one of several against school districts around the United States, according to St. Lucie School Superintendent Wayne Gent. School officials are unhappy with the difficulty they had contacting Twitter and its response time. “It took way too long,” Gent said. “It should’ve been done immediately.” TCPalm.
Fighting failure: As the 2016-2017 school year began, another first year of a rebuilding process began at Fairmount Park Elementary School. It had a new principal, new and inexperienced teachers, and a history of failure. Fairmount is located in a poor St. Petersburg neighborhood and in 2014, was one of five city elementary schools labeled a "failure factory." But this year it had a plan, and better resources, and hope. Tampa Bay Times. (more…)
