NEXT UP: New superintendent Mike Grego welcomes the challenges that Pinellas County schools provide. (Pinellas school district photo)

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Several Pasco high schools welcome fresh-faced band directors.

INVEST: Pasco voters should consider supporting taxes for education as well as school buildings if they hope to see the community thrive, columnist C.T. Bowen writes.

JUST SAY NO: A growing number of Florida college students are rejecting school loans as they try to avoid debt, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

THINK GLOBALLY: An increasing number of Duval elementary schools add the International Baccalaureate curriculum, the Florida Times-Union reports.

WHO NEEDS SCHOOL? Homeschooled families in southwest Florida find plenty of ways to learn and socialize together, the Naples Daily News reports.

NI HAO: Two Manatee elementary schools give their students instruction in Chinese, the Bradenton Herald reports.

DON'T TASE ME: Flagler school resource officers bring tasers into schools but haven't yet used them, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

POSSIBILITIES: Miami-Dade school officials begin their information campaign in support of a major bond referendum, the Miami Herald reports.

A IS  FOR ... Assessment and accountability in Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten program are drawing some complaints among providers, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

NEW CARS: The Lake school district considers purchasing new fleet vehicles instead of replacing aging school buses, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

HIGH TECH: Alachua schools incorporate technology into teaching but still see challenges ahead, the Gainesville Sun reports.