Lacoochee, Seven Oaks elementary schools get new leaders

Two Pasco County elementary schools will get new principals in the coming weeks.

Superintendent Kurt Browning decided to move Shirley Ray, who has led struggling Lacoochee Elementary School since 2010, to the top job at Seven Oaks Elementary, where she was an assistant principal for four years. Lacoochee is in the midst of a turnaround plan that includes restaffing, as it expects to earn a third straight D in the state grading system....

Pasco School Board pauses over class rank rule change

A proposal to change the way Pasco County high schools calculate class rank grade-point averages didn't win overwhelming support from School Board members during debate Tuesday.

Board vice chairwoman Alison Crumbley said she received several calls from parents who did not approve of the recommended new policy, which would count all high-school courses toward the class ranking. To this point, only courses taken during the six-period day are included....

Pasco judge denies charter school's attempt to expand

The Athenian Academy of Pasco County's attempt to win a court order to allow it to add 100 students to its enrollment did not survive a judge's scrutiny.

Pasco Circuit Judge Stanley Mills issued a two-page ruling on Wednesday saying that the school's effort to expand its student body did not jibe with state law governing charter schools deemed "high performing." The law says high-performing charter schools may grow their enrollment, but not in the year after they receive a state grade of C or worse....

Florida needs better science standards, State Board member says

Florida Board of Education vice chairman John Padget on Tuesday continued his criticisms of the state's science standards, which have received a mediocre review from the Fordham Institute.

"Florida has to raise its science standard," Padget declared during the board's meeting in Tampa....

Florida education news: School grades, construction bonds, achievement gap and more

MORE F's: Superintendents warn the Florida Board of Education that multiple changes to the state school grading formula threaten to create more F schools and hurt the credibility of the accountability system. • The Polk district prepares letters to explain the changes to parents, the Ledger reports. • More from the Miami Herald....

Pasco School Board to sue Citigroup over fraud allegations

LAND O'LAKES — Rushing to beat a June 30 deadline, the Pasco School Board on Tuesday decided to sue Citigroup over allegations of fraud in bond issuances from 2007 and 2008.

The district stands to recoup up to $10 million if the action is successful, superintendent Kurt Browning told the board in recommending the suit.

It does not face any out-of-pocket costs to pursue the case....

State Board members call for quicker interventions at struggling schools

Florida Board of Education members called for tougher interventions for the state's most struggling schools as they approved turnaround plans for 58 of them, as well as updated accountability policies, on Tuesday....

Florida State Board of Education to hear pleas for school grade lenience

The release of FCAT and end-of-course exam results in recent weeks drove home the point for many Florida superintendents that school and district grades are unlikely to be good this summer. Changes to the grading formula, combined with higher testing standards, threaten to push the grades down, they argued in a recent letter to State Board of Education chairman Gary Chartrand....

Florida education news: Teachers, privatization, dual enrollment and more

TEACHERS MATTER: Florida education commissioner Tony Bennett says having well trained and dedicated teachers plays a pivotal role in school and student success.

PRIVATIZATION: An Escambia charter school that earned two straight F grades decides to go private, the Pensacola News-Journal reports. • The financially struggling Pembroke Pines charter school system prepares to hire Charter Schools USA for management, the Sun-Sentinel reports....

Class-size compliant districts to get budget boost

Forty-two Florida school districts will get a bump to their budget bottom lines later this month, when the state reallocates its class size funds for 2012-13.

The 25 districts that did not comply with Florida's 2002 voter mandate on class sizes will pay $5.6 million in fines, which will be redistributed to districts that met the mark. In the Tampa area, the Hillsborough district stands to receive $687.240; Pinellas, $359,176; Pasco, $235,535; and Hernando, $80,761....

Florida teachers' lawsuit continues despite new evaluation law

"Common sense prevails in Florida."

National Education Association president Dennis Van Roekel made that statement after Gov. Rick Scott on Friday signed into law a bill mandating that teacher evaluations be tied to the performance of the students they actually teach. Although that sounds like "common sense," as Van Roekel said, lawmakers were amending a two-year-old measure imposing a new evaluation model that didn't make such connections clear....

Savings unclear in Pasco administration reorganization

Pasco superintendent Kurt Browning has taken several steps to reorganize the district administration, with a goal of improving services rendered to schools and students.

He's merged some departments, eliminated others, and reassigned staff members to where he says they will put their skills to best use.

But as School Board members head to their Tuesday meeting, where Browning has asked them to approve his administrative appointments and several new job descriptions, questions remain....

Florida education news: Science fair, free lunch, school theater and more

WINNER: Shorecrest Preparatory School senior Evie Sobczak takes first place in the national Intel Science and Engineering Fair.

SHORTFALL: The Baker school district faces a deficit because of declining funding associated with shrinking enrollment, the Florida Times-Union reports. • Flagler schools revise their spending plans after voters reject a tax increase, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. • Lee and Collier budgets continue to face cuts despite added state funding, the Naples Daily News reports....