Florida School News
06/21/24 | NextSteps staff
Around the state: Florida State University trustees approve new restrictions governing protests on campus and will impose a $300-a-year overnight parking fee on students, Polk County school officials still don’t know why employee paychecks have been delayed several times in the past year, suspensions are down in Brevard schools but black and low-income students are still being disproportionately disciplined, a former Manatee school board member is suing the supervisor of elections over an open seat that won’t be on the November ballot, and Sarasota’s school district is predicting a 350-student decline in enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Polk: District officials say they still don’t know why 4,200 employees’ paychecks were deposited several hours late last Friday, a delay that caused some workers to be charged overdraft fees. It’s not the first time for a payroll glitch: last November promised raises weren’t in paychecks and when they did arrive some were wrongly calculated, and bonuses from federal pandemic funds also were delayed. A German company named SAP is paid $560,000 a year by the district to handle payroll. Superintendent Frederick Heid apologized and ordered an investigation that he promised would be released when it’s completed. Lakeland Now.
Brevard: While the number of suspensions in the school district declined this past school year, overall discipline rates were up and are still being disproportionately applied on black students and those on free and reduced lunches, according to a report presented to the school board this week. Florida Today. Superintendent Mark Rendell said preliminary results of students who took the state assessment tests show strong improvement, and the district could have as many as 26 elementaries, four middle schools and seven high schools earning A grades from the state. Grades aren’t expected to be released until late July. Space Coast Daily. District officials are moving ahead with a five-year plan to expand career and technical education programs to several schools. “Everybody comes to school and says, ‘I want to be a lawyer, a doctor, a firefighter,’ ” said school board member Matt Susin. “Let’s start hearing, ‘I want to be a plumber, a pipefitter, an electrician.’ ” WOFL. Space Coast Daily.
Manatee: A former school board member is suing the supervisor of elections for turning him away as a candidate for a board seat that will be vacated this fall but will be appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis instead of being filled by voters. James Golden, a former board chair, filed a writ of mandamus against Supervisor of Elections James Satcher to have voters select a replacement for District 5 board member Richard Tatem, who resigned May 30 to run for a state House seat but listed Nov. 5, election day, as his last day. Doing so allows the governor to appoint a replacement for the rest of his term, which ends in November 2026. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. WTSP.
Sarasota: School officials are projecting a loss of 350 students for the 2024-2025 school year, or about 1 percent, but an increase in the number of special education and English for speakers of other languages students. That increase is expected to cost the district an additional $2.3 million. A public budget hearing is scheduled July 30. Charlotte Sun.
Marion: An outside consultant hired to review the district’s procurement procedures is recommending that the school board member on the procurement selection committee be removed or relegated to a nonvoting role to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Another recommendation is to establish a procedure allowing the district to disqualify bidding companies from being considered for a contract if they violate district rules. Outside attorney Brian Williams also found that Ausley Construction improperly reached out to discuss the award process of a recent project while it was ongoing. Ocala Star-Banner.
Leon: Four schools will have new principals when students return in August. Latoyer Hankerson has been named the principal at Sabal Palm Elementary, Rhonda Blackwell-Flanagan will lead SAIL High, Clayton Cloud takes over at Canopy Oaks Elementary, and Orande Mckhan is the new principal at Astoria Park Elementary. Tallahassee Democrat.
Alachua: A member of the group that tried to convert three public schools in Newberry into charter schools has been arrested and accused of soliciting sex from a 15-year-old boy through the social media platform Snapchat. Joel Searby, 43, was a member of the Newberry Education First group, has worked as a conservative political consultant, a member of New Way Politics, a pastor, and a basketball coach at Oak View Middle School. WCJB. Gainesville Sun. Mainstreet Daily News.
Colleges and universities: Florida State University trustees have approved new restrictions on how and when students can protest on campus. The prohibitions include no tents on campus, no events during final exams and no outside gatherings after sundown without official approval. Politico Florida. News Service of Florida. FSU students who have been parking overnight for free will have to get a $300 yearly permit to continue doing so once classes resume this fall, trustees decided Thursday. Tallahassee Democrat. FSU trustees also approved a $3 billion budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. That’s an increase of 14.3 percent over last year’s spending. WTXL. Florida Lottery secretary John Davis has been reappointed by Gov. DeSantis to the Valencia College board of trustees. Others chosen for the board are Blair Bradley, Shawn Hindle and Belinda Kirkegard. They have to be confirmed by the Florida Senate. Florida Politics.
Opinions on schools: The Indian River County School Board made national headlines recently for banning a book titled Ban This Book. It actually would be funny, if the board’s action weren’t setting such a dangerous precedent. It was challenged because of sexual content. But there isn’t any. The challenger contended the book was objectionable because it made references to other books that include sexual content but aren’t even in school libraries. TCPalm. In a growing number of Florida public school classrooms, the teachers leading the classes do not have proper certifications. The percentages of courses taught by these out-of-field teachers jumped in many subjects during the pandemic and have continued to grow since then. Paul Cottle, Bridge to Tomorrow. Aside from questions about educational qualityorwho exactly benefits from school vouchers, one thing has become abundantly clear: school vouchers have put taxpayers in the position of footing the bill for a great deal of discrimination. Peter Greene, Forbes.
