Carvalho to NYC: Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho will be introduced today as the new New York City schools chancellor, according to reports. Carvalho, 53, who has been the Miami-Dade school chief since 2008, replaces the retiring Carmen Farina. His start date has not been set. Carvalho won the national superintendent of the year award in 2014, and was said to have been a top contender for the U.S. education secretary job if Hillary Clinton had won the presidency. “Alberto Carvalho is a world-class educator with an unmatched track record of success,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “I am very confident that our extensive, national search has found New York City the best person to lead the nation’s largest school system into the future.” The Miami-Dade school board meets today to discuss “the stability of the executive management leadership.” Politico Florida. New York Times. Miami Herald. Associated Press. The 74. Chalkbeat.
School safety bills: The Legislature's collective desire to create a bill that improves school safety is already showing signs of fraying. Both the Senate and House bills call for arming teachers, which Gov. Rick Scott opposes. Thirteen of the Senate's 15 Democratic members say they won't support the bill unless it has stronger gun control provisions. Two Republican senators say they may vote against it because it calls for a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases and raises the legal age for buying rifles to 21. Polls show a strong public sentiment for tightening gun laws, and family members of victims are worried that gun advocates are using the tragedy to introduce guns in schools. Miami Herald. Florida Politics. President Donald Trump urges Congress to move quickly on tougher background checks on gun purchases, raising the legal age for some gun purchases, improving school safety and allocatng more money for mental health treatment. Politico Florida. Associated Press. New York Times. USA Today. Experts say hardening schools against shootings is not as effective as identifying threats early and intervening quickly. Politico Florida.
Education budget: Senate and House negotiators are moving toward an agreement on spending for education. In the first conference committee negotiations, senators agreed to the House's position on funding for public schools and will use increases in local taxes from new construction, but lower the tax rate on existing properties to offset tax increases driven by rising property values. The committees meet again today and Friday, with a goal of sending a final agreement to the Senate president and House speaker by Sunday morning. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. Gradebook.
Students return: Students returning to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since the Feb. 14 shootings that killed 17 people describe the day as "odd but calming." Surrounded by a heavy police presence, they observed 17 seconds of silence, ate bagels and cream cheese and got comfort from therapy animals and hugs from fellow students and staff. About 95 percent of the 3,300 students came for the four-hour day devoted to healing. Thursday and Friday also will be four-hour days, with the regular schedule expected to resume next week. Superintendent Robert Runcie says the massive police presence will gradually ease. “We have to strike a balance in security," says Runcie. "This is not some armed camp.” Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. WQAM. Associated Press. Students talk about their anger and hope. Sun-Sentinel. (more…)
School safety bill: The Senate Rules Committee passes a $400 million school safety bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools, raise the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, require a three-day waiting period on gun purchases, bolster mental health treatment and increase the number of school resource officers. But the committee rejects an amendment that would ban all assault rifles. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Palm Beach Post. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. GateHouse. The Broward County Commission wants to explore just how far it can go in regulating guns and ammunition at the county level. State law now says that local officials who try to impose stricter gun regulations than the state's can be fined and removed from office. Miami Herald.
Funding school safety: Florida politicians are pointing to improved mental health treatment and more police officers in schools as ways to address school security. But the state has traditionally underfunded both. In 2016, there was just one school psychologist for every 1,983 students in the state, according to 2016 data from the Florida Association of School Psychologists. The recommended ratio is between 500 and 700 students per psychologist. And while there are about 4,000 schools in Florida, there are just 1,518 armed school resource officers. Tampa Bay Times.
House inquiry: The Florida House House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee will launch an investigation into the actions of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward County School Board, Broward County government, the Coral Springs Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office before and during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting Feb. 14. It will be separate from the query the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct at the request of Gov. Rick Scott. News Service of Florida. Scott is resisting calls to immediately suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, saying he will wait until the FDLE investigation is complete before making a decision. Fort Myers News-Press.
School safety proposals: Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders present their plans to bolster security in the state's schools. Both plans would boost the age for buying guns to 21. Scott's plan, which he estimates would cost $500 million, would also ban bump stocks, an accessory that converts semi-automatic rifles into automatic; allow authorities or relatives to take guns from mentally unstable people without first having them committed; require people who are committed under the Baker Act to surrender their guns for at least 60 days; provide more access to mental health counseling; put at least one armed guard at every public and charter school, including one for every 1,000 students; assign a Department of Children and Families case manager to law enforcement officials in all 67 counties; conduct active shooter drills in every school; and require state-approved school safety plans. The legislative plan also proposes a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, a program to train and arm teachers in the classroom, and a requirement that a person be Baker Acted before his or her weapons could be confiscated. Neither plan calls for a ban on assault weapons. Sun-Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Politico Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. Palm Beach Post. Florida Times-Union. Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie pleads with legislators to not put guns into the hands of teachers. Miami Herald.
Queries into shootings: Gov. Rick Scott is asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response by Broward County authorities to the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. The Broward County Sheriff's Office is also investigating claims from another law enforcement agency that three other deputies waited outside the school during the shooting. Sheriff Scott Israel insists just one deputy was at the school during the shootings. Sun-Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Palm Beach Post. Israel is rejecting a call to resign because of the problems in his department's response to the shootings. Dozens of Republican state representatives are urging Gov. Scott to replace Israel. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. WPEC. CNN. Time. Officers are trained to “move to the sound of gunfire quickly and stop it” in school shooting scenarios, say law enforcement experts. Sun-Sentinel.
