Florida School Boards Association
Jim Norton picked his way through the damp floor at Wewahitchka High School, where Hurricane Michael’s winds had spirited away part of the school’s roof, leaving behind exposed wires, a mushy mix of white ceiling tiles on the dark carpet, and a clear view of the sky above. Read More
Getting back to normal after a devastating hurricane is long, arduous, and expensive for schools. In Florida’s Panhandle, education leaders have started the strenuous work of cleaning up and repairing schools ravaged by Hurricane Michael earlier this month, but they are also running into a longer-term problem: steep cost estimates that could lead to mounting…
Florida Panhandle officials are trying to figure out how to resume classes after Hurricane Michael damaged or destroyed many schools last week. Schools in at least eight counties — Washington, Liberty, Jackson, Gulf, Gadsden, Franklin, Calhoun and Bay — will remain closed until further notice, the office of Gov. Rick Scott said Monday in a…
One phrase stands out in the guidelines Florida Board of Education members used in developing their 2019-20 legislative budget request, which comes up for adoption Friday: “Include no change in 2018-19 millage rates, tuition or fees.” Read More
Looking at the new requirements coming down to school districts this year as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act and the amount of funding coming from the state for those initiatives, the numbers, according to School Safety and Security Chief Mike Jones, just don’t add up. Read More
Once again, we’re talking about arming teachers as a solution to gun violence. After a student gunned down 10 people Friday at a high school in suburban Houston, some Texas elected officials are resurrecting the idea, which has been floated by President Trump and debated across the country since the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in…
When Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded to a school shooting in his state by calling on schools to reduce entrances as a safety measure, advocates of stricter gun laws panned his comments online . . . . But limiting and fortifying entrances to schools has been a school safety best practice since the 1999 shooting…
School boards from across the state have gone to the 1st District Court of Appeal as they continue to challenge a controversial 2017 law that includes steps to boost charter schools. Eleven districts signed on to notices filed last week indicating they will appeal an April 17 ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper…
A longtime Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer has been named the director of the newly created Office of Safe Schools, the state announced Tuesday evening. Damien Kelly has been an FDLE officer since 2005, most recently as a public corruption inspector, during which Kelly “became an expert in firearms certification and proficiency,” according to…
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting and the state’s new law that requires armed security on every campus, some superintendents worry districts will now be competing for the same personnel. For the 2016-2017 school year, Florida’s Department of Education counted about 1,500 officers. But there’s more than twice as many public schools — about…