Florida education news: Restaffing, crowding, parent university and more

RESTAFFING: Struggling Pinellas schools look to fit more than numbers as they hire faculty and administrators for their turnaround efforts.

BURSTING: Pasco's Wiregrass Ranch High enrollment rises to its highest levels ever, raising questions about how to handle the load. • Manatee schools see enrollment rise 1,000 over projections, the Bradenton Herald reports.

INQUISITIVE: Hundreds of Hillsborough parents show up for a weekend seminar on how the public schools work.

SMOOTH START: Two new charter schools debut in Hernando County.

PROTEST: USF Tampa students stage a sit-in to complain about truncated library hours.

SHARING SPACE: The Pasco school district and county government study ways to co-use buildings, fields and parks at the future Starkey Ranch development.

NEW PROGRAMS: A new year means new offerings for students at Pinellas East Lake High.

STOLEN: A Pasco elementary school's clinic assistant is arrested on allegations of stealing a student's Ritalin.

GOV. PHONY: Gov. Rick Scott's actions don't match his words in key policy areas such as education, the Times editorializes.

DEFRAUDED: A private for-profit college that ripped off south Florida students fails, the Miami Herald reports.

GONE: PECO funding for Florida public school construction remains largely a thing of the past, the Florida Current reports.

CHARTER CLASH: Proponents of a new Broward charter and their potential neighbors fight over the campus, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

RAISES: Bay teachers and district representatives go back and forth over how much teachers should be paid, the Panama City News-Herald reports.

UNNATURAL: A Lake high school student wins her battle to attend classes with bright red dyed hair, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

SPECIAL SCHOOL: A Sarasota organization that works with people with disabilities opens a private high school, the Herald-Tribune reports.

GETTING AHEAD: An Alachua high school launches a chemistry course for advanced middle school students, the Gainesville Sun reports.