/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tbt.s3.amazonaws.com/public/4U7W2ITJINGYTKJTE3KYOVRQII.jpg "Florida's VAM formula confuses many teachers, who call it an unfair and invalid measure of their performance.")
TEACHER VAM SCORES: Florida lawmakers told school districts they didn’t need to use the state’s value-added measure, or VAM, in their teacher evaluations any more. But the state still uses the rating to force teachers with less than effective results out of turnaround schools. At least one expert says the teachers have a legitimate legal challenge against the model.
SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH: The firm helping the Hillsborough County School Board identify candidates for the district’s next superintendent has conducted town halls and surveys to gather public input. The feedback so far has been meager.
REQUIRED INSTRUCTION: The Florida Board of Education adopts a new rule telling school districts to report how they provide the many lessons mandated in state law. The rule stems from concerns that a Palm Beach County high school wasn’t offering Holocaust history courses.
SCHOOL BOUNDARIES: Hundreds of Pasco County students could be reassigned to different schools, as the district prepares to redraw attendance zones in advance of a middle school getting several new buildings.
MED SCHOOL: Tampa Bay philanthropists Kiran and Pallavi Patel donate more than $200 million to fuel the opening of a Nova Southeastern University medical school branch in Pinellas County.
LOST FUNDING: The Santa Rosa County school district has to give back $700,000 in state funds after audits determine it did not provide long enough school days in 2017-18, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.
APPLICATION WOES: Some Orange County high school seniors applying to college find problems with their transcripts, the result of their district’s change to a new software system, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
DUELING RALLIES: Advocates for school choice and for public schools state their cases outside the Florida Board of Education’s September meeting in Jacksonville, the Florida Times-Union reports.
HACKED: The Wakulla County school district works with its insurance provider to pay hackers a ransom to restore access to its computers systems, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
JOB PROTECTIONS: The Sarasota County superintendent proposes changes to teacher contracts that would make it easier to non-renew a teacher’s position, the Herald-Tribune reports.
CLIMATE CHANGE: South Florida students rally to demand elected officials respond to the challenges currently facing the climate, the Miami Herald reports. • School officials say a Broward County student suspended from school for passing out rally flyers was not banned from his prom, the Miami Herald reports.
MUSIC LESSONS: Several Broward County schools serving the most needy students won’t benefit from the district’s program to give musical instruments to all schools, because they don’t have music programs, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
NUMBERS GAME: Parents and teachers complain that their Polk County school will lose three teachers and an assistant principal after the school misses its enrollment target by 36 students, the Ledger reports.
LEADERSHIP: A respected Miami-Dade County private school installs its first female head of school, the Miami Herald reports.
REPORT CARDS: The Leon County school district begins a transition to online report cards, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
GRADE CHANGING: The principal and assistant principal of a Santa Rosa County high school could lose their jobs amid allegations they changed grades of the assistant’s daughter to boost her class rank, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.
ANIMAL RESCUE: A Brevard County teacher’s program where students help socialize abandoned animals for possible adoption faces financial struggles and might have to end, Florida Today reports. CAREER EDUCATION: The Palm Beach School for Autism expands its hospitality and culinary arts programs, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
THREATS: The Lee County Sheriff’s Office teaches parents how they can help respond to, and prevent, active shooting threats, the Naples Daily News reports.
SCHOOL DAYS: The Palm Beach County school district considers giving students a day off for election day, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/d899cc0f-b0d6-4481-ad36-fc951db3f95b.png "Jeffrey S. Solochek - Education Reporter")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/yRjhdjisOhn46239R45vxoOXdo4=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/7A2TWRS72BBKNAKABZ2BTHAMFM.jpg "To opt in or opt out? The choice changes for parents in Florida schools")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/NHtq-IDYW8paznL-_zzK8qBfbqg=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GNKIG4HT7IZA6RUSY2QBJ3XWNQ.jpg "Florida struggles with school vouchers as program expands")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/--qOhwJk6e6N1iuPogkzjzIU_cM=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/7G2NEXEDYKWJJ7P33WM7LTVADU.jpg "Judge refuses to block Florida law banning paycheck deductions for union dues")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/U5HQSNNFAJHJPEOSHLLCXPTDE4.jpg "Students struggling? Expect a teacher call, Pasco parents.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/AUBBPG5455BTJMUPPFKSORTZV4.JPG "Student moves between in-person, online fluster schools")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/DHTLJQ5FONGMPGLAYXVGDKQ6CA.JPG "No reason to change high school football rules, Tampa-area district leaders say")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4H7APQD2WNC2TNO7JDVP7JVCJE.JPG "Thousands gone from Tampa Bay schools, early student counts show")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/B7WN44MAFVF2BLJNFHYGGHYTVQ.JPG "Students are at home, in school. What’s the best way to teach them?")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZA7UMZFDTBHP3MY6FCPVCLQUII.jpg "Pinellas teachers, district make no progress on ‘simultaneous’ teaching")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2LPXP355EVGA7GATC6LEWR3DSQ.JPG "Pasco school students, staff to get rapid coronavirus testing")