The big story: Middle schools have been the bane of Florida’s education existence for years.
Students seem to perform quite well on academic measures in elementary schools. Then for some reason they drop off precipitously by the time they reach eighth grade.
State officials have touched on the issue from time to time. But little concrete action has been done to solve the conundrum of the middle grades.
The Pinellas County school district has decided to take the topic head on, with superintendent Kevin Hendrick making it a key priority to get middle schools right. Several campuses have launched pilot projects aimed at getting students more engaged and interested in being at school, a primary ingredient for success.
Book challenges: Pinellas County students, educators, parents and residents turned out to urge the School Board to reconsider the ban of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from high school courses and libraries. “We need to digest the comments that were made and ask some very serious questions at the next workshop,” board chairperson Lisa Cane said. Hear some of those comments at the end of today’s roundup. • The Broward County Democratic Party has launched a book buying drive to put materials that are being removed from schools into tiny neighborhood libraries, the Sun-Sentinel reports. • The Manatee County School Board adopted a new book challenge procedure, WWSB reports. • A review of 150 challenged books in Indian River County schools showed that few get checked out by students, TC Palm reports. • Gov. Ron DeSantis contended the fight over books in schools is contrived by opponents trying to create an issue, WPLG reports.
College Board: Gov. Ron DeSantis repeated his suggestion that Florida might look to other organizations than College Board to provide advanced high school courses, Florida Politics reports. Such a move could have implications, USA Today reports.
Security: A new audit found the Duval County school district is properly reporting crimes on campuses, after previous reports found the district’s efforts lacking, WJXT reports. • Martin County school district officials said they try to stay steps ahead of the security concerns that schools face, WPTV reports.
School board elections: A Florida House subcommittee advanced two bills that would affect school board members, both of which are goals of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Politics reports. The first would limit board members to eight consecutive years of service, down from the current 12. The second would have board candidates run with party affiliation. The position currently is nonpartisan.
Superintendents: Teachers unions are speaking in support of Leon County superintendent Rocky Hanna, who has come under attack from the Florida Department of Education for allegedly inserting personal views into education, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Hanna is an elected Democrat, who has challenged some department decisions. • Ousted Sarasota County superintendent Brennan Asplen has returned to his former district in St. Johns County as a deputy superintendent, the Herald-Tribune reports.
Youth risk survey: An expert said results of Duval County’s survey on youth behaviors should be a wake up call to parents and educators, WJXT reports. • The state has pressured the Orange County school district to stop using the survey, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
In higher education
An audit revealed University of South Florida students taking remote classes were overcharged. The school collected nearly $8.6 million over three years for “distance learning” fees tacked onto tuition.
Some USF students are focusing their attention on Black history. Organizers of “Black Out Week” at the University of South Florida say their efforts feel more important than ever as Black history appears under fire by state officials.
Pensacola Christian College canceled the performance of the King’s Singers on two hours’ notice. The school said it could not condone the sexuality of one of the performers, WKRG reports. The group had performed at the college before.
A shooting spree at Michigan State University has Florida parents worried. Florida colleges and universities have set safety procedures in place, but also rely on individual protecting themselves, WPTV reports.
From the court docket … A federal judge rejected a Moms for Liberty complaint that the Brevard County School Board’s public comment policy discriminated against the group, Florida Today reports. • The Bay County School Board became the first in Florida to join a national lawsuit against social media companies, WJHG reports. Officials said the sites are hurting students’ mental health.
Don’t miss a story. Here’s a link to yesterday’s roundup.
Before you go … As promised, voices from Tuesday’s Pinellas County School Board meeting, curated by Stephanie Hayes.
Dozens of Pinellas County parents and students attended today’s school board meeting to speak against the district’s recent removal of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from schools. There were lots of great speakers, but I ran out of phone space, so this is just a sampling. They are: Charles Hinton, Taylor Trautwein, Margaret Trautwein, Prisha Sherdiwala, Andrew Larsen, Hannah Hipolito. The board asked people to stop clapping after the first speaker, which explains the jazz hands. Find more from the meeting at tampabay.com, where I’ll also have a new column later in the week. #bookbans #florida #floridabookban #bannedbooks #readbannedbooks #banned
Source: tampabay