SURPRISE: A St. Petersburg College student from Pasco wins a full ride to USF for her winning essay on how to improve Florida education. (Times photo, Skip O'Rourke)  

BUDGETING: The Pasco School Board adopts its 2012-13 budget despite complaints from teachers about the inclusion of furlough days and another year without raises. • The Hernando School Board approves a budget with enough reserves to get the district off a state watch list.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Gulf High School and its 25-year substitute teacher Walter Hilgart celebrate their 90th birthdays together.

APPROVED: Hernando County will get its second charter school.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Wiregrass Ranch High students create award-winning video • Field games bring character lessons to Paul R. Smith Middle

OOPS: Duval teacher contract negotiations are called off because of an error in the public notice, the Florida Times-Union reports.

SHORT LIST: The Manatee School Board considers hiring one of three former Florida superintendents to serve as interim leader rather than keep the person temporarily in the spot, the Herald-Tribune reports.

EARLY DEPARTURE: Miami-Dade's embattled director of mental health services quits the school district amid an investigation into several employee complaints, the Miami Herald reports.

BUSY TIMES: Lee schools, like those in the rest of Florida, face a stressful and hectic workload to meet a growing list of mandates, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

NOT INTERESTED: A Monroe charter school that struggled in 2011-12 has trouble attracting students this year, the Keynoter reports. 

RED TAPE: Gov. Rick Scott says Florida public school teachers should have less paperwork and bureaucracy hindering their work, the AP reports.

OPPOSED: The Alachua School Board adopts a resolution against Amendment 8 on the November ballot, calling the measure "dangerous," the Gainesville Sun reports.