A year ago, the FBI issued a warning that the rapid expansion of education technology in America’s schools and the collection of student data could “present unique exploitation opportunities for criminals.” Now, U.S. lawmakers are demanding that more than 50 education technology companies and data collectors explain what information they collect and how it is…
FSBA 2020 Platform Development The FSBA PROPOSED 2020 Legislative and Federal Platforms are available HERE along with related information. Please be sure to review these PROPOSED Platforms and share any comments or concerns you may have with your district’s representative on the FSBA Legislative Committee. There will also be an online Q&A session on Friday,…
A year ago, with school safety still high on Florida’s list of concerns, the state’s school boards association focused much of its legislative platform on increasing campus security with armed officers and hardened facilities. Having gotten much of what it asked for, the association is looking to new ideas for the 2020 session, for which…
Heading into a critical election year, Florida legislators may have to tighten spending because of a combination of a slowing economy and reverberations of financial decisions. State economists on Wednesday drew up new estimates that predict the state will take in about $867 million less in revenue over two years than earlier anticipated. Read More
A state school-safety commission meeting got heated Wednesday as members tackled a range of issues stemming from a controversial school “guardian” program, while one panelist recommended allowing Florida pre-schools to have armed security. Read More
The State Board of Education is poised to consider new rules next week, including a requirement that all public schools begin teaching students each year about youth substance abuse. Schools would also be mandated to report the professional qualifications of people teaching the classes, according to the rule. The reporting proposal would require school superintendents…
As kids head back to school across Florida in the coming weeks, the state has a new tool designed to help school districts identify, assess and provide intervention services to students whose behavior may pose a threat to themselves of others.The Florida Schools Safety Portal (FSSP) was unveiled by the state Department of Education on…
Mental health. Career planning. Personal finances. The list of topics that Florida lawmakers have required school districts to cover in classrooms continued to grow this year — some with little advance notice or funding to support them. The mental health mandate, for instance, came from the State Board of Education less than a month before…
The Florida Legislature gave school districts another bumper crop of new and revised rules for the year that begins next week, ranging from who gets teacher bonuses to how to treat incidents of anti-Semitism. Many of the issues got plenty of attention as lawmakers debated them, sometimes fiercely and furiously. But often, the details on…
The University of South Florida’s Baker Act Reporting Center has released numbers from the 2017-2018 fiscal year that show cases of involuntary examinations under The Florida Mental Health Act (commonly known as ‘the Baker Act’) are on the rise. The annual report shows that 205,781 people were placed under the Baker Act during the year. …