Hard-Hit Florida School District Awarded More Than $1.25 Million for Hurricane Michael Recovery Efforts

Following the major devastation caused by Hurricane Michael across the Florida Panhandle, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced today a $1.25 million Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant award for Bay District Schools. According to local school officials, the funding will be used to provide students with much needed mental health services.…

Secretary DeVos: Final “Supplement, not Supplant” Guidance Helps Promote Effective Spending, Flexibility

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released final non-regulatory guidance to support school districts’ compliance with the requirement that federal funds supplement, and do not supplant, state and local funds, under section 1118 of Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).…

Eight months after Hurricane Michael, many fear a mental health crisis

For some children, all it took was the rain. When thunderstorms passed through the Panhandle this winter, the sound was enough to distress some students just returning to school, reminding them of Hurricane Michael’s raging path last October that left much of the state’s northwest in ruin.  They would run to their teachers in tears,…

State To Call Out School Districts If They Don’t Comply With Safety Mandates

After a state commission found out Wednesday that nearly 200 schools, including many charter schools, have not had armed security as required by state law, commissioners urged the Florida Department of Education to “name names and name people” to try to force compliance.  Within two hours, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran agreed to publicly name non-compliant school…

Handling Threats, Mental Health, School Safety Law: The Stoneman Douglas Commission Meets In Sunrise

The state public safety commission that’s been investigating the 2018 Parkland school shooting is meeting in Sunrise Tuesday, the first of two days of meetings this month. On the agenda: mental health services in schools, how schools handle reported threats, and changing discipline programs. Read More