The National Security Agency (NSA) has redesignated Daytona State College as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense through 2028.
Schools
DeSantis’ Attack on New College Is Latest Poisoning of Public Education
The governor has just appointed six new ultra-conservative trustees to the board of New College of Florida in Sarasota. They want to trash its tradition of intellectual freedom and transform it into an institution DeSantis’ base would love, a Bob Jones-style religious school funded with taxpayer money.
Child Vaccination Rates, Already Down Because of Pandemic, Fall Again
Instead of recovering after schools reopened in 2021, historically low rates of child vaccination worsened, according to new data from the CDC. Experts fear that the skepticism of science and distrust of government that flared up during the pandemic are contributing to the decrease.
Florida Is Accused of Violating Federal Court Order and Restricting Race Education Anyway
Plaintiffs challenging a state law restricting how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday of violating a federal judge’s order that blocked parts of the law from being enforced.
Moms for Liberty Want ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ Law Expanded to Cover K-8
The Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty, the conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, would like state lawmakers to expand the state law that restricts classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation for children from kindergarten through the third grade.
Surveillance Recordings of Faculty Called ‘Poison’ In Challenge to Florida’s Restrictive Education Law
Under the controversial law, recordings can be made for students’ “own personal educational use, in connection with a complaint to the public institution of higher education where the recording was made, or as evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding.”
UF Faculty Leader: DeSantis Directive Sends ‘Chilling Message’
A University of Florida faculty leader pushed back last week against a request from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that colleges and universities give state leaders information about resources used for activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory.
Arkansas Takes Stock of Jacob Oliva, Its New Education Chief: Goal-Driven, Ambitious, Puzzling
The Arkansas Advocate reports on the varied reactions and impressions of former Flagler Superintendent and Florida Education Chancellor Jacob Oliva, who is Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s nominee to head the state’s Department of Education.
Jacob Oliva Is Headed to Arkansas to be Gov. Huckabee’s Education Secretary
Jacob Oliva, a senior chancellor at the Florida Department of Education and a former Flagler County superintendent who maintains family ties locally, will be the next Arkansas secretary of education in incoming Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s administration.
It’s Groundhog Day for Deficit-Ridden Belle Terre Swim and Racquet as School Board Again Dithers Over Fate
The Flagler County School Board for the latest of innumerable times could not decide what to do with the money-losing Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club, now projected to run a $169,000 deficit, other than ask for yet more information. But the district’s administration is making clear that it is getting tired of carrying the club with subsidies better spent elsewhere.
Should There Be Armed Civilians in Schools? Flagler District Will Survey Employees and Residents
With numerous questions still unanswered–and some unanswerable questions–the Flagler County School Board is moving forward with gauging interest from school employees and residents in arming civilians in schools as a presumed addition to the security provided by the Sheriff’s Office’s school resource deputies.
DeSantis Stokes Culture Wars at the Expense of Bright Schools and Free Speech
The culture war battles being waged in Florida are not only doing lasting damage to the public education system but to the basic constitutional rights of all Floridians. Freedom of speech protects the right to freedom of conscience, debate ideas and question authority.
Student Removed From Buddy Taylor Middle Last Year Is Arrested for Joking About Shooting Up the School
A 14-year-old student who last year was either expelled or withdrawn from in-school attendance at Buddy Taylor Middle School over disciplinary issues was arrested today and charged with a second-degree felony for allegedly threatening to shoot up the school. An investigation found he’d had no means to carry out the act, and that he’d been joking about it in chats.
School District Will Develop Policy on Stocking Narcan to Counter Overdoses, With Broad Availability
The Flagler County School Board directed its administration to develop a policy and procedures that will make Narcan, the agent that neutralizes drug overdoses, broadly available in schools, enabling more than just school nurses to administer it if and when necessary. The district has not experienced a drug overdose among students or staff on campus in recent memory.
MOCI Program Graduates First Cohort at Daytona State College
The first cohort of students participating in Daytona State College’s MOCI program were honored Wednesday at a Rite of Passage ceremony at the Mori Hosseini Center on the Daytona Beach Campus. The program has existed for several years, but this is the first time a cohort of students has worked together through the program.
Jacob Oliva Warns Districts That Their LGBTQ Support Policies Don’t Align With Parental ‘Rights’
Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor for the education department–and a former superintendent in Flagler schools–wrote letters to school superintendents in 10 districts, warning them that LGBTQ support policies may run afoul of current law and state board rules. The state board will discuss the policies during a meeting Wednesday.
Major DeSantis Donor and Board of Governors Member Kent Stermon, Under Investigation, Takes His Own Life
Kent Stermon, a Jacksonville-area businessman and member of the state university system’s Board of Governors, was found dead in an apparent suicide. Stermon was president and chief operating officer of Total Military Management.
Belle Terre Parkway Road Work Near Indian Trails Middle School Will Cause Headaches Through March
Belle Terre Parkway construction near Indian Trails Middle and Belle Terre Elementary will run from Dec. 12 to March 30. The stormwater culvert pipes that run parallel to and under the southbound lane of Belle Terre Parkway must be repaired to stabilize the road and prevent more dips from forming.
Don’t Say Fraud? Joe Harding Has Resigned, But Effects of His ‘Parental Rights’ Law Live On
The Florida House of Representatives is down a member following the resignation of former Rep. Joe Harding following his federal indictment on fraud charges. Harding sponsored the “Parental Rights in Education” or “Don’t Say Gay” bill from the 2022 session that became law in July.
Bunnell Elementary’s Robin Jaques Lands $10,000 Golden Grant for Literacy Initiative
Bunnell Elementary and teacher Robin Jaques are one of 11 Central Florida schools in Florida to be awarded a Golden Grant from J-Quint LLC, a franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants. Jaques’s award is for $10,000.
State Panel Developing Guidelines on Book Bans for School Librarians May Be at an Impasse
A new law that intensifies scrutiny of school library books requires school boards to adopt procedures that provide for the “regular removal or discontinuance” of books from media centers based on factors such as alignment with state academic standards. The panel designated to develop the training playbook for librarians is mired in disagreement, with a Jan. 1 deadline looming.
Surging Private and Home School Enrollment Shelves One of Flagler District’s 2 Planned New Schools for Now
The Flagler County school district will start planning for a third high school during the 2024-25 school year. But plans for a new middle school, originally projected for the end of the decade, have been pushed out beyond that horizon for now as enrollment is not meeting expectations.
Flagler School Board’s Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro Will Not Run for Re-Election in 2024
Colleen Conklin’s and Cheryl Massaro’s decision will have far-reaching consequences, ensuring that the new board in 2024 will have the shortest combined experience on the board in at least two decades and a half and giving the culture-war hard-right another opening to win a majority.
Matanzas High Teacher Calls Bathrooms a ‘Privilege’ and Threatens to Close Them. District Disavows the Sign.
School officials disavowed a sign calling toilet access a “privilege” and threatening to shut down bathrooms at Matanzas High School. The sign was the work of a teacher frustrated by vandalism and students spending too much time in bathrooms, not school or district policy, officials said, but it’s also a reflection of an ongoing problem with vandalism in school bathrooms, largely attributed to a TikTok “challenge.”
In Flagler Schools, New Regime of Book Challenges Is Laborious, Subjective and Fraught With Uncertainties
Gray areas of uncertainty, anxiety, subjectivity and a gaping lack of state direction are shading the new regime of serial book challenges and book bans in the Flagler school district as the state Department of Education has yet to issue directions on library holdings.
Matanzas High School Is the Target of a Bomb Threat, Deemed a Hoax
Matanzas High School was the target of a phoned-in bomb threat early this afternoon. The threat was deemed not credible by the school administration and little police response was necessary.
Bunnell Elementary’s Principal and Assistant Principal Get Flagler Schools’ Top Administrative Honors
The 2022–23 Assistant Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools is Donelle Evensen, assistant principal at Bunnell Elementary School. And the 2022–23 Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools is her boss, Bunnell Elementary Principal Marcus Sanfilippo.
Appeals Court Upholds School Board Speech Rules in Defeat for Moms for Liberty, For Now
A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt by a chapter of the conservative group Moms for Liberty to block restrictions that the Brevard County School Board placed on public participation at board meetings. The Brevard rules are almost identical to those of the Flagler County School Boards, which had been at the center of controversy two summers ago.
Local Scout Troops Open Inaugural Christmas Tree Lot in Palm Coast
Parents and scouts from Boy Scout Troop 281 and Scouts BSA Troop 4281 have set up a massive Christmas tree operation at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 156 Florida Park Drive North in Palm Coast. Trees start at $80.
3-2 Splits Resume as New School Board Members Are Seated and Massaro Is Elected Chair
The school board’s swearing in and reorganization meeting began on a note of unity but quickly turned to muted contention in a pair of telling 3-2 votes that renew the same split the board has contended with for the past several years.
Citing Orwell, Federal Judge Calls DeSantis’s ‘Stop Woke Act’ Unconstitutional Muzzling of Academic Freedom
Calling the state’s approach “positively dystopian,” a federal judge on Thursday blocked a law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts the way race-related concepts can be taught in universities. The law is “antithetical to academic freedom and has cast a leaden pall of orthodoxy over Florida’s state universities,” Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in the 139-page ruling.
No, There Is No Security Issue at Indian Trails Middle School
Flagler County school officials and the Sheriff’s Office this morning have been scrambling to dispel false alarms of an impending shooting that started within Indian Trails Middle School and quickly spread among parents on social media.
FPC’s Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint Win MedNexus Innovation Challenge With Sleep App
Emerging out of a field of 25 teams, Flagler Palm Coast High School seniors Cameron Driggers and Roymara Louissaint won the second annual MedNexus Innovation Challenge Wednesday, and $1,000 each, by developing an experiment-based idea that uses technology against itself in an effort to reduce teens’ sleep deprivation.
Arrested Over School-Shooting Threats, ITMS 6th Grader Had Secured Gloves and Was Looking for a Gun
A 12-year-old student at Indian Trails Middle School was arrested over making threats to carry out a shooting at the school, after messages on Snapchat were detected. She had allegedly convinced her parents to get her a pair of gloves and was looking to obtain a firearm.
Leann Pennington, Theresa Pontieri, Will Furry and Cathy Heighter Win, Half-Cent Tax Passes, Amendments Fail
For Flagler County and Palm Coast, it is an election of new faces: four races, four newcomers to elected office: Leann Pennington won a seat on the County Commission, Theresa Pontieri and Cathy Heighter won seats to the Palm Coast City Council, and Will Furry won a Flagler County School Board seat.
Tropical Storm Nicole: Barrier Island Evacuation Ordered and Shortened School Day Wednesday, Closed Thursday
Tropical Storm Nicole’s path has been edging closer to Flagler County. A hurricane watch was issued for the Flagler County coast late this morning. A tropical storm warning is also in effect for Flagler. Rougher, more hazardous and more damaging effects are expected on the barrier island, but possibly not as violent on the mainland, though rain amounts may be closer to 6 inches for much of the county.
Rotary Club Delivers 1,000 Free Dictionaries to Flagler County’s Third Graders
The Rotary Club of Flagler County delivered 1008 dictionaries to seven schools as part of a national program that gives dictionaries to students free for their use. The program has just restarted this year after being on hold due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In latest Intrusion on Academic Freedom, Tenure Review Could Be Tied to How Professors Teach Race
A controversial law designed to restrict the way certain race-related topics can be taught in Florida classrooms could factor into a new tenure-review process for university professors, under a proposal that higher-education officials will consider next week.
Flagler Schools Have Been Quietly Banning or ‘Removing’ Many Books Since Summer in Bow to ‘Moms for Liberty’
The school district has been quietly and steadily banning books from library shelves at Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas High, and at Indian Trails and Buddy Taylor middle schools since summer, FlaglerLive has found, with every title part of a list of challenges from just three members of the group known as “Moms for Liberty.” There is no indication that the challengers are reading the books, but they have been asked to join the district’s review committee.
Sen. Ben Sasse, ‘Sole Finalist,’ Chosen by Trustees to Lead University of Florida After Secret Search
The University of Florida’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve Nebraska’s U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse as the new president to lead Florida’s flagship institution, despite weeks of outcry, questions about the senator’s political views, and an air of secrecy around the search process that led to his candidacy.
The board agreed to provide compensation for Sasse that would be up to but not exceed $1.6 million.
Churches Are Breaking the Law by Endorsing in Elections, Experts Say. The IRS Looks the Other Way.
For nearly 70 years, federal law has barred churches from directly involving themselves in political campaigns, but the IRS has largely abdicated its enforcement responsibilities as churches have become more brazen about publicly backing candidates.
Will Furry Chooses Sleaze. Again.
Will Furry, the candidate for Flagler County School Board in the race he’s contesting against Courtney VandeBunte, is running a sleazy campaign funded by deceptive PACs and rich in lies and fabrications. Yet he calls it his “journey of faith.”
Courtney VandeBunte, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Courtney VandeBunte is in a runoff election for the open District 2 seat on the Flagler County School Board, facing Will Furry. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in the race.
Will Furry, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Will Furry is in a runoff election for the open District 2 seat on the Flagler County School Board, facing Courtney VandeBunte. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Nation’s Report Card Echoed in Florida Shows Alarming, Appalling Losses in Reading and Math
A large majority of Florida eighth graders do not read proficiently and struggle with 8th grade-level math skills, according to a nationwide assessment of students in 2022 — an uncomfortable reality for teens unprepared for a rigorous high school schedule.
A Severe Polarization of School Boards on the Whole Continent
Groups that oppose the teaching of critical race theory and 2SLGBTQ+ supports in schools often position themselves as truly or more accurately in favor of social justice by co-opting social justice language, alleging critical race theory discriminates against white people. School boards have been at the centre of these attacks.
Trump-Appointed Judge Refuses to Block Florida Law Muzzling Gender ‘Instruction’ In Schools
Skirting merits of the law by citing lack of standing, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger refused to block school districts from carrying out a new state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms. She rejected arguments by parents, students and a non-profit organization.
School Boards Now Required to Out LGBTQ Bathrooms and Muzzle Discussions of Gender and Race
County school boards and charter schools will have to follow new requirements for notifying parents about policies involving access to bathrooms and locker rooms, and teachers could be fired if they violate two controversial new laws muzzling discussion of gender identity and racial matters.
Flagler School Board May Approve Stocking Narcan-Like Agents in Schools to Prevent Overdose Deaths
Taking advantage of a new law, the Flagler County School Board will develop a plan enabling school personnel, starting with nurses, to carry and administer Narcan, the effective naloxone agent in reversing the risks of a fatal drug overdose. A physician will develop the protocols to be used. The Flagler County Drug Foundation is making Narcan available to the district for free for at least two years.
Federal Judge Weighs ‘Stop Woke Act”s Gag on Certain Forms of Instruction About Racism
A federal judge on Thursday sparred with attorneys about a controversial state law that restricts the way race-related concepts can be taught in classrooms, as university professors argue it violates speech rights.