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…

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Education Department Unveils Disaster-Response Team as Aid Bill Heads to Trump

The U.S. Department of Education has formed a five-person team that will be devoted full-time to helping schools recover from hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, one of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ top deputies told a group of House lawmakers Wednesday. Read More

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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

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Statewide grand jury delves into school safety

A statewide grand jury charged with investigating whether school districts are complying with safety requirements following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will start hearing testimony “as early as next month,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Tuesday.  The Florida Supreme Court impaneled the grand jury in February, at the request of…

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Florida adds new voucher program, more schools receive public money as participation declines

The number of students using state vouchers to attend private schools has dipped for the first time in recent years as corporate contributions have slowed.  At the same time, the number of campuses receiving state-backed scholarships continues to grow. The funding allows children to attend largely unregulated and mostly religious schools. Read More

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Congress finally passes Hurricane Michael aid

The U.S. House on Monday voted to approve a massive $19.1 billion disaster aid bill that includes money for Hurricane Michael recovery efforts in Florida.  The sweeping package — which will also fund disaster recovery efforts in other states and territories — passed the House with broad bipartisan support after being stalled by a series…

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Draft revisions to Florida high school math, language arts standards released for comment

Sticking closely to its posted timeline, the Florida Department of Education on Friday announced the release of a first draft of high school math and language arts standards revisions for input from the general public.  Groups of experts from around the state have been reviewing the current standards, based primarily on the Common Core, in…

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FSBA Friday Five – May 31, 2019

Each week, FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina handpicks 5 things you should know in education news. Read. Learn. Retweet.  Gamers are the new athletes Memory and learning breakthrough US Children Better Off Today Than In 2020 Yes, school librarians matter School district found guilty of violating copyright laws to the tune of $9.2m

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Florida Plan for a Huge Database to Stop School Shootings Hits Delays, Legal Questions

It was supposed to be operational six months ago, part of Florida’s wide-ranging effort to prevent the next school shooting: a sprawling new database that would merge people’s social media posts with millions of records on individuals who have been bullied, placed in foster care, committed a crime, or even been mentioned in unverified tips…

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55% of Florida kids who need mental health help don’t get it. One official has a solution

Florida has an estimated 400,000 children who need behavioral-health services, but 55 percent of them don’t get any treatment, members of a health care panel were told last week.  That translates to 220,000 children across the state, or about one child in every classroom, health official Jeffrey Brosco told members of the Florida Healthy Kids…

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