Florida education news: Career training, superintendent searches and a possible impeachment

JOB TRAINING: A bill to provide job growth grant fund money to certain charter schools only drew criticism for not including other public schools. Florida lawmakers quietly added the others in during a brief hearing.

IMPEACHMENT: The University of Florida’s student government president faces impeachment for the way he went about bringing Donald Trump Jr. to speak on campus.

GROWTH: Pasco County’s Odessa Elementary School outpaces its enrollment projections, with its numbers now higher than more than half the district’s middle schools.

SUPERINTENDENTS: Ronald Fritz, an Osceola County school district administrator, is the next superintendent of Volusia County schools, Spectrum News 13 reports. More from the Daytona Beach News-Journal. • Two possibilities rise to the top of the list of potential interim superintendent candidates for Sarasota County — former district chief Lori White and former Seminole superintendent Bill Vogel, the Herald-Tribune reports. • The Indian River County School Board will interview six semifinalists for its next superintendent, with a goal of selecting someone by the weekend, TC Palm reports.

CLASSROOM THERAPY: Brevard County families will have to wait a bit longer to see needed therapists returned to the schools, Florida Today reports. Registered behavior technicians were removed because of statutory language, but the district changed its approach after parents complained.

CONTRACT TALKS: Pinellas County teachers reach a tentative agreement for a 3.25 percent raise, WFLA reports. • The Orange County School Board approves a new pay plan for its teachers, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

5-STAR SCHOOLS: The Lake County school district increases its number of 5-Star Schools, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

RALLY IN TALLY: The Florida Education Association continues to urge teachers and supporters to gather in Tallahassee on Jan. 13 to rally for increased public education funding, Florida Today reports.

TURNAROUNDS: A Polk County middle school makes strides in student performance as it aims to get off the state’s accountability watch list, the Ledger reports.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA: The Marion County school district is among the latest to debate implementation of a medical marijuana usage policy for schools, the Ocala Star-Banner reports. • The Duval County school district also is working on language for medical marijuana permitted uses, WJXT reports.

SECURITY ALERTS: Transparency with the community is key as Lake County school and law enforcement officials determine when to send out notifications of threats and other activities on school campuses, the Daily Commercial reports.

REZONING: The Manatee County School Board redraws attendance zones for 14 elementary schools, ending long bus rides for some students who would be assigned closer to home, the Herald-Tribune reports. Some residents criticize the move as re-segregation.

ON THE BUS: Broward County parents will be able to track their children’s school buses as the district begins using a new phone app, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

TOP TEACHERS: The St. Johns County school district names its semifinalists for Teacher of the Year, the St. Augustine Record reports.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS: A Miami-Dade County school district audit finds an after-school program provider misrepresented itself to gain access to school grounds, among a host of other flaws, the Miami Herald reports.

CHARTER CLOSURE: A Miami-Dade County charter school’s board votes unanimously to close the school down at the end of November, WLRN reports.

IN COURT: The Palm Beach County high school principal who lost his job over Holocaust remarks has filed an appeal, claiming wrongful termination, the Palm Beach Post reports.

TODAY: House Higher Education Appropriations, 3:30 p.m.

ICYMI: Yesterday’s Florida education news roundup