Around the state: Some state school districts are teaching kids about artificial intelligence, a Pasco charity for students was displaced but found a new home, The Art Institute is closing its doors, club controversy continues in Alachua and Black history is being taught by community groups and churches. Here are details about those stories and other developments from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Pasco: A Pasco charity that helps students look their best for school dances was displaced, with its founder worried she wouldn't be able to open in time for fall homecoming. Thanks to help from local businesses, Marjorie's Hope is again providing formal wear to teens. Debi Shackowsky founded the charity almost a decade ago in honor of her late sister, Marjorie, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1994. “When you see students stand before that mirror in their dress or the guys in their suits, it’s an ‘ah ha’ moment and there’s so many happy tears,” Shackowsky said. BayNews 9.
Flagler: The school board recently approved an audit of the Flagler Youth Orchestra, which reviewed all incoming and outgoing financial activity for fiscal years 2020-2022. The review was ordered by the board after questions arose about the fact that the orchestra had not been audited in its 18 years of existence. School board member Will Furry said that conducting this audit has "further strengthened" the strings program. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Alachua: School district officials here may soon have another legal issue to address after the creation of a controversial club called G.A.I.N. at Gainesville High that may have violated state and federal laws. In this instance, the argument involves the removal of an appeal letter that should have been added to the School Board's Sept. 19 agenda. The Gainesville Sun. Meanwhile, the Alachua Learning Academy was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a national Blue Ribbon Award of Education recipient. The public charter school is one of 353 schools recognized for 2023, and it is one of 14 schools in Florida and the only Alachua County public school to receive this recognition. The Gainesville Sun.
Art institutes close: Campuses for The Art Institute announced they would be closing campuses across the country. Some students say they received an email last week informing them about the closure. By Sept. 30, all eight of The Art Institutes remaining campuses will be closed. The Tampa campus had around 200 students with several dozen faculties. The school's website says it will help students coordinate transfers to other schools, and make sure credits already earned are accepted. "I was literally just walking into school to go study when I found out about it," said student Tony Audrey. NBC Miami. KHOU. Fox 13.
Artificial intelligence: Some school districts in the state are teaching students about artificial intelligence. One of them is Volusia County as part of a partnership University of Florida is spearheading with high schools to educate youth on the skills required for an AI-enabled workforce. The curriculum starts by teaching students how to identify and locate AI, learn how it can be applied across various fields and how to build AI applications. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Black history: Community groups and churches statewide are throwing themselves into efforts to teach Black history after state officials moved to reject AP African American Studies. Residents are uniting in churches, parks and homes to learn the history of Black Americans, including drawing material from books that have been removed from the shelves of schools. The Hill.
Attorney advice: Attorneys tasked with advising school boards and superintendents on subjects such as library book selection are also puzzled, according to email chains showing school board lawyers struggling to determine what could get districts in trouble. Miami Herald.
Student-athletes: Advancements are being made to keep student-athletes safe from concussions. ABC Action News.
Protected speech: An injunction filing argues that Florida's new law gags protected speech on college campuses. WWSB.
University and college news: Tenured faculty at the University of North Florida must undergo performance reviews every five years after the state Board of Trustees implemented a new state law. Trustees had to approve changes by Oct. 16 or face penalties. Union president Tobias Huning was the first to speak at the trustees meeting recently. “We find that the policy proposed here today is probably the most hostile and vile attack on faculty that many of us have seen in our entire careers,” he told the trustees. “And when we read the justifications for why this is happening and how it is happening, it really reminded me of why we have tenure in the first place — to protect ourselves from exactly that.” Jacksonville Today.
Opinions on schools: The nation's economic security will be won or lost based on the ability of elementary schools to energize science education. Jeanne McCarty, The 74th.
Miami-Dade: More than 20,000 new immigrant students have enrolled in Miami-Dade County public schools this year. Officials say it's a historic increase that's helping the school district grow for the first time in two decades. NPR. Meanwhile, a long-time teacher in Miami is retiring after 40 years on the job. Aldin Everette has been at Miami Edison Senior High since 1983. WPLG.
Duval: The school district here had more A-graded schools and better funding in place when Diana Greene's five-year tenure as superintendent ended on Friday. In addition, it had fewer students in traditional schools and fewer whom state-mandated testing considered proficient in subjects like English, math and science. Greene's replacement will have to weigh those facts in addition to goals from a Duval County School Board strategic plan and new material that includes an ongoing legal review of claims about teacher misconduct. The Florida Times-Union. Some are debating the right way to pronounce the name of Ribault High in Jacksonville. Some say "Ree-balt," while others think it's "Ree-beau." News 4 Jax.
Volusia: As most high-schoolers prepare for a four-year college education, a number of them are trying their hand at old and new skilled trades that are in demand. In Volusia County, Pine Ridge High School has opened its doors to multiple skilled trade options that could lead to six-figure salaries in specific trades. WKMG.
Food support: Local school districts in the bay area are ensuring kids don't go hungry by offering free breakfast and lunch through the Summer Food Service Program for Children. Officials say between 3,000 and 4,000 meals will be prepared daily throughout the summer. "When school is out, kids are still hungry, so this program allows us to provide nutritious breakfast and lunch to any child 18 and under throughout the whole county," said Shani Hall, general manager for student nutrition services in Hillsborough. ABC Action News.
Overdose policies: Naloxone is a medication that rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Across the country, schools are working to stock up as the opioid crisis takes a fatal toll on students. According to 2022 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, adolescent overdose deaths jumped from 492 in 2019 to 1,146 in 2021. Fox 4.
Union dues: Central Florida unions are getting creative when it comes to collecting members dues after a law passed making it illegal to deduct these fees from a person's paycheck. Ron Pollard, local president of the Orange Education Support Professionals Association, says without dues, unions die. Pollard is assisting teachers and support staff sign up for an alternative payment platform called e-dues through the Florida Education Association. Under the new law, 60% of all professionals represented by a union must be enrolled in that union in order for it to operate in Florida. WMFE.
Public schools poll: A new NPR/Ipsos poll dives into the battles that have been playing out in America's public schools this year. WBUR.
University and college news: Students at Florida Gulf Coast University created a Hurricane Ian aftermath website as their capstone project. Ten students were tasked with writing roughly six stories each, putting together audio projects, videos, and capturing photos for the website students created, swflafterian.org. Hurricane Ian made landfall in 2022 in Cayo Costa, a small barrier island west of Fort Myers, as a Category 4 hurricane. Eight months later, the region is still rebuilding. "I'm just really proud of them. They did a lot of good work," said Professor Judd Cribbs said. "I hope that gives them a taste of what the professional world of journalism is gonna be like if they get into it." Ft. Myers News-Press.
Opinions on schools: The window of opportunity for school choice is still open, but it's uncertain for how long. Rick Hess advises advocates on various ways they can take advantage, which include focusing on how school choice solves problems for parents and paying attention to details of how choice policies work for families and educators, explaining how choice policies better serve the public interest and ensuring that choice policies serve all families. Lindsey M. Burke and Jason Bedrick, reimaginED. Young minds need to learn how to think, not what. Teach history, yes. But forcing things — agenda-bending, ideological service and the like — only add another murky veil to already complex material. Let them find the answers. Even middle schoolers do that. Bruce Anderson, The Ledger. Not only will more schools jack up their prices now that they know they can bill taxpayers for hefty chunks, more private schools will set up shop to cash in. Especially because in Florida, it's easy to open a school regardless of whether you're qualified to run one. Fiscal watchdogs and voucher critics predicted this cash grab would occur — that schools would raise tuition, pricing out some of the very families that voucher advocates claimed they were trying to help. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. Language matters when it comes to talking about student learning, achievement and accountability. The United States need a K-12 accountability system that focuses on justice, not deficits. Jennifer Randall, The 74th.
Around the state: The state board of education was scheduled to meet to discuss whether 10 school districts are violating new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation, a new tool in Hillsborough will show parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean, members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union showed up in red to deliver educator wish lists to the school board and book controversy in Brevard. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Hillsborough: A new online tool from the school district here is showing parents what changes from an attendance boundary analysis could mean for their child's school. Some schools in this district have too few students while others have too many, so the district has a set of proposed plans to better utilize schools. But the impact of the plans vary for students. Any boundary changes, if approved, would take effect for the 2023-24 school year. "This is a very serious initiative," said Superintendent Addison Davis. ABC Action News.
Orange: The school system here is once again listed as the eighth largest school district for the 2022-23 school year. Based on an official count from the month of October, Orange County Public Schools reported 208,788 students. This figure is the highest number of students since before the pandemic began in 2020, when 212,401 students were reported for the 2019-20 school year. WFTV.
Brevard: The school board here wants books challenged in the district to be taken off library shelves and held behind the counter like adult magazines. But a policy needs to change before that occurs, and the district has begun the process of updating the policy. The board also narrowed down its top three candidates for interim superintendent who will take over on Jan. 1 from outgoing Superintendent Mark Mullins and begin work on reversing a controversial public speaking policy. Florida Today.
Volusia: Over 50 members of the Volusia United Educators teachers union, which represents about 3,500 district employees, showed up in red earlier this week to deliver educator wish lists to the school board. Requests included being paid what they were worth, proper time to take care of their mental health, paid maternity and paternity leave for staff and curriculum changes. Union president Elizabeth Albert wrote in an email that the employees were showing up "to send a message to the board that they are overwhelmed, exhausted, and that things need to change now." The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Meanwhile, families in this county's school district are demanding justice after groping and choking incidents. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Citrus: At a regular school board meeting earlier this week, members approved the final 2022-23 five-year work plan for the district as well as discussing the possibility of buying iPad insurance to save money on damage costs incurred. A main takeaway from the work plan: how the district is planning to compensate for student population growth at the elementary level in the next decade. Citrus County Chronicle.
Librarian guidelines: A state panel writing new guidelines for school librarians to follow when selecting books and other materials was supposed to meet earlier this week to finish recommendations. Instead, the session was canceled, sparking controversy. Tampa Bay Times.
LBGTQ policies: The state board of education was scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss whether 10 school districts are violation new state laws and rules relating to the instruction of race, gender identity and sexual orientation. Letters were sent to each of the districts warning that their policies on matters such as pronoun use and restroom rules should be revised and are under scrutiny. Tampa Bay Times. Bradenton Herald. Some districts, which include Broward and Miami-Dade, have already learned they were in violation of the parental rights in education law. The Miami Herald. Many of these districts have a tumultuous history with state education officials on recent years when mask mandate disagreements during the pandemic led to administrative challenges, federal involvement and the withholding of certain school board salaries. “We’re not here to enforce anything, we’re here to listen to Chancellor (Jacob) Oliva as he makes his presentation,” Board Chair Tom Grady said in conference call meeting Wednesday. Florida Phoenix.
Superintendent shuffle: In the wake of election season, Florida school boards have booted out superintendents in districts across the state. Tallahassee Democrat. Lakeland Ledger. TC Palm.
Sandy Hook victims: The victims of this tragedy were remembered this week nationwide. NPR.
COVID-19 data: Charts were compiled to help better understand the impact COVID-19 had on teachers, students and schools. The 74th.
Lottery news: The state's lottery education contribution has reached $43 billion. Since its inception in 1988, public schools in Florida have received more than $23 billion, colleges and universities have received a total of more than $11 billion and more than $8 billion has been used to fund the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. WKMG.
Opinions on schools: It's been three years since the pandemic began and life is going back to pre-pandemic times, with the exception of one area: Education. Parents got a chance to get a close view into the education their children were being provided. One of those options is education savings accounts. Trish Wilger, reimaginED. When Oklahoma legislators approved a new K-12 open enrollment law last year, school choice advocates celebrated the reform. Despite its strong open enrollment law, Oklahoma is dealing with a problem facing other states with robust student transfer policies: how to ensure districts aren't arbitrarily defining capacity to keep neighboring students out. Christian Barnard, the 74th. Vickie Cartwright is superintendent of Broward County Schools until Jan. 24, and the district will continue looking for another superintendent. But this isn't a way to run the nation's sixth-largest school district. South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
