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State to designate Florida ‘Schools of Excellence’ for flexibility on some rules

The Board of Education also is set to award "Hope" money to struggling schools.
 
Published Oct. 19, 2018

Eighty-eight Florida schools will join 630 others in gaining relief from some state education laws as "Schools of Excellence."

The recognition, developed by lawmakers in 2017 as part of HB 7069, grants principals greater autonomy in daily operations, exempts schools from mandated daily minimum reading instruction time, and allows campuses to calculate class size as a school average, among other things.

Schools qualify for the designation by landing in the 80 percentile or higher in points for Florida's school grading system. They maintain it by earning an A or B grade the following year.

Related coverage: Florida Department of Education names schools to get relief from some state rules 

For the most part, the schools earning the status are those serving more wealthy communities. Tampa Bay area "Schools of Excellence" for this year are:

Hernando County – Chocachatti Elementary; Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology and Gulf Coast Middle; Challenger K-8

Hillsborough County – Fishhawk Creek, MacFarlane Park, Stowers, Deer Park, Hammond, Apollo Beach, Alafia, Bevis, Byrant, Chiles, Clark, Gorrie, Grady, Lithia Springs, Mabry, Maniscalco, Mitchell, McKitrick, Northwest, Pride, Roosevelt, Schwarzkopf, Westchase and Valrico Lake Advantage elementary schools; Barrington, Benito, Burns, Coleman, Farnell, Martinez, Randall, Walker, Williams, Wilson, Terrace Community and Bell Creek Academy middle schools; Steinbrenner, Newsome, Plant, Sickles, Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate and Bell Creek Academy high schools; Roland Park K-8, Horizon Charter, Lutz Preparatory and Winthrop Charter

Pasco County – Trinity, Oakstead, Veterans, Odessa, Sand Pine and Longleaf elementary schools; Seven Springs and Long middle schools; Land O'Lakes High; Countryside Montessori, Dayspring Academy, Academy at the Farm, Imagine School at Land O'Lakes

Pinellas County – Anona, Bauder, Bay Vista Fundamental, Brooker Creek, Perkins, Jamerson, Oldsmar, Curtis Fundamental, Sunset Hills, Tarpon Springs Fundamental, and Pinellas Primary Academy elementary schools; Thurgood Marshall Fundamental, Clearwater Fundamental and East Lake Middle Academy of Engineering middle schools; Osceola Fundamental, Palm Harbor University, East Lake and St. Petersburg Collegiate high schools; Sanderlin K-8, Pinellas Preparatory, Discovery Academy of Science, and Plato Academy at Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo and Tarpon Springs.

See the complete list here.

For schools that have struggled, the Legislature also created a "Hope" grant through which they could make proposals and receive up to $2,000 per student extra to implement those efforts.

The Board of Education is slated to consider application approvals at its Oct. 25 meeting, as well.

Schools from the Tampa Bay area on the recommended list are:

Hillsborough County – Bryan Elementary, Thonotosassa Elementary

Pinellas County – Campbell Park Elementary, Ponce de Leon Elementary, Sandy Lane Elementary

Related coverage: Florida schools compete for $51.5 million in Schools of Hope money