The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Orlando, seeks to block the school boards in Orange, Indian River, Duval and Palm Beach counties from carrying out the law (HB 1557), which restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms. The lawsuit charges the law is unconstitutional.
Schools
Lance Alred, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Lance Alred is one of seven candidates in three races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 23 primary election, one of three in the District 2 race. He faces Will Furry and Courtney VandeBunte. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Christy Chong, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Christy Chong is one of seven candidates in three races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 23 primary election, opposing incumbent Trevor Tucker. all Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
Trevor Tucker, Flagler County School Board Candidate: The Live Interview
Trevor Tucker is one of seven candidates in three races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 23 primary election. He is opposed by Christy Chong. All Flagler voters, regardless of party affiliation and address, may cast a ballot in these races.
The Music Plays On: School Board Renews Flagler Youth Orchestra, with Call for Indefinite Support
The Flagler County School Board Tuesday evening voted 5-0 to renew funding for the Flagler Youth Orchestra for an 18th year after hearing pleas and plaudits from some 20 community members, former and current participants and parents.
Curtain Calls for Flagler Youth Orchestra as School Board Frets Either Encores or Coda
The Flagler County School Board this evening votes on whether to renew the Flagler Youth Orchestra for its 18th year. Renewal was not in question in previous years, as it has been this year. A former superintendent, parents, community members at large, current and former FYO student participants sent numerous letters and emails to school board members.
Threat Called In to FTC Campus Requires Building Evacuation and FPC Lockdown
A threat was called in to Flagler Technical College on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School late this morning, requiring evacuation of buildings at FTC and a lockdown at FPC, a district spokesman said.
Embry-Riddle Re-Invigorates Its Study Abroad Slate
Study abroad programs at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University suspended during Covid are now back at full strength, hosting more than 200 students this summer to travel the world. Several of those students earned the opportunity thanks to rare scholarship funding.
In a First, Mary McLeod Bethune’s Statue Is Unveiled at U.S. Capitol Wednesday in Place of Confederate General
The likeness of Bethune will replace a statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, which stood in the Capitol for nearly a century. Bethune, who died in 1955, will be the first Black person to represent a state in the collection.
Flagler Schools Get B as Florida Resumes Grading, But Rymfire-Buddy Taylor-FPC Pipeline Is a C
After two years of Covid, when the state did not grade schools and districts, Flagler County schools earned a grade of B this year, with only three of its schools earning an A and four earning a C. Two earned a B. It was a middling performance coming off the disruptions of the pandemic and a decline from the A the district had scored in 2019.
Developments Could Stall If County, Cities and District Can’t Agree on School Construction Payments
As they hurtle toward an arbitrary Aug. 31 deadline that could potentially bring some local development to a halt, the Flagler County School Board on one side and the county, Palm Coast and Bunnell on the other remain in sharp opposition over how to collect money developers owe the district to ensure there are enough schools for incoming students.
Portables Are Back: Buddy Taylor Middle Takes Delivery of 7 Classrooms, Leased for $105,000
After an absence of 14 years, Buddy Taylor Middle School this week was again the scene of installations of portable classrooms, a trend the Flagler County school district has been trying to avoid by planning for new construction. But wrangles with the county and cities over school financing is increasing the likelihood of more portables ahead.
School Board at Impasse With County and Palm Coast Over Billing Developers for New Schools
The Flagler County School Board says it needs to collect a larger portion of impact fees up front to plan for $175 million in new school construction. The County Commission and Palm Coast object, proposing a plan that would let developers pay a smaller share up front, and pay as they go.
Taxable Values Surge at Highest Pace in 16 Years, Setting Up Windfall for Government
Taxable values in Flagler County rose 18 percent in 2021, higher than initially estimated two months ago. Values rose nearly 20 percent in Palm Coast, 14.5 percent in Flagler Beach and 22 percent in Bunnell. The school board’s taxable values increased by 25 percent. For local governments, the surging values can translate to surging revenue–if the governments do not hold the line on tax rates.
After 17 Years, Two School Board Members Put Flagler Youth Orchestra’s Future in Doubt
Even as they professed support for what the Flagler Youth Orchestra has achieved and acknowledged its cost-effectiveness, School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright questioned whether the board should continue supporting the model.
Critical Race Theory Is Not in Schools. It Should Be.
As a framework, critical race theory asks teachers to use equitable approaches to curriculum, policy and structures in schools and school boards. For example, K-12 curriculum that is viewed through a CRT lens provides historical contexts and explains how history informs contemporary social, political, economic, cultural situations and issues.
Contentious Education Laws Take Effect Today as Schools Grapple With Confusion and Unknowns
Florida state laws that went into effect today include measures that prohibit certain lessons in history from being taught, limit class discussions on matters involving the LGBTQ+ community, and even remove books from school libraries.
Stray F Word and 14 Seconds of TikTok End Flagler Teacher Abbey Cooke’s Storied 13-Year Career
The 3-1 vote to fire Abbey Cooke, for a dozen year a highly rated teacher and 2017 Teacher of the Year at Belle Terre Elementary, sent a chilling message to those who would challenge the board, or those who land on any board member’s hostile radar: the slightest misstep can and will be used against them.
DSC Gets $10,000 Bank of America Grant for 1,200 At-Risk Students’ Meals
Daytona State College will use a $10,000 grant from Bank of America to provide more than 1,200 meals to low-income and under-represented students who might not otherwise have access to healthy food during the school day.
School District’s Half-Penny Sales Surtax Renewal, for Tech and Safety, Will Be on the November Ballot
The Flagler County Commission Monday evening approved on a 4-0 vote placing a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot to renew for the third time the school district’s half-penny sales surtax. The vote was not a surprise, though it reflects a shift from Commissioner Joe Mullins, who earlier this month was signaling opposition to the tax.
Ron DeSantis Weaponizes School Board Races with Ideological Survey
Among the questions for survey respondents: Whether they support “workforce education,” the Governor’s “increases in teacher compensation,” or the concept of students being “locked out of school or subject to forced masking.”
Flagler School Board Will Consider Arming Teachers and Staffers in Addition to Sheriff’s Deputies
After declining to arm teachers in the wake of the Parkland massacre in 2018, the Flagler school district’s position may be shifting. The School Board last week agreed to hold a workshop to discuss whether the district should join the “guardian” program–not as a replacement of the sheriff’s deputies, but in addition to it.
More States and Districts are Arming Teachers, But Research Is Lacking on Strategy’s Effectiveness
There is data on where and how armed personnel are used in school districts across the nation. There is less data on how effective that armed presence has been. That’s not a result of partisanship but simply a matter of fact: little systematic and peer-reviewed research has been carried out on the subject, and what little there is tends to lack the sort of rigor that can be the basis for sound conclusions one way or the other.
FPC’s Jack Petocz, Suspended in March, Is President Biden’s Guest at White House Signing of LGBTQ Order
Flagler Palm Coast High School senior Jack Petocz was among President Biden’s guests today at a White House Pride event and signing of an executive order extending protections to LGBTQ+ people. Petocz caught the White House’s attention after leading a walkout at FPOC to protest a new law discriminating against LGBTQ people. He was suspended for three days after the walkout.
Florida Court Rejects Attempt to Suppress Grand-Jury Report on School Safety
An appeals court Wednesday rejected attempts to block the release of information in a final report by a statewide grand jury formed to investigate school safety and other issues after the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Arrested for Driving School Bus Severely Drunk, He’s Back in Jail for Showing Up to Court Drunk
Mark McNeill, 60, was arrested in February for driving severely drunk with 40 Buddy Taylor Middle School students aboard. He appeared before a judge on Monday for a plea deal. He was drunk. The judge sent him back to jail. The plea deal is in doubt.
$200,000 Goal in Day of Giving for Bethune-Cookman University on June 17
Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) is celebrating a Day of Giving from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. on Friday, June 17. The university is asking alumni, stakeholders and those who love and support B-CU to help reach its goal of raising $200,000.
In Major Shake-Up, Bossardet Is New FPC Principal, Peacock to Wadsworth, LaShakia Moore is Deputy Superintendent
The district insisted the two former assistant superintendents, Bobby Bossardet and Paul Peacock, were not being demoted back to principalships, a claim that was far more credible regarding Bossardet taking over FPC than it was about Peacock, who is taking over Wadsworth Elementary School and whose tenure at the district had been problematic.
Fourth Grade Survivor of Uvalde Shooting Tells Congress: ‘I Don’t Want It to Happen Again’
11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, a fourth grader who survived the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting where 19 students and two teachers were murdered told lawmakers Wednesday that she is afraid to go back to school.
District Readied to Open Summer School Without Deputies. Sheriff ‘Wasn’t Going to Tolerate It.’
Sheriff Rick Staly said the Flagler district prepared to open summer school at Rymfire Elementary with 350 students and no deputy requested. Livid at the possibility in light of the most recent school shooting, he ordered that a school resource deputy be dispatched to the school regardless, and told the district he’d be billing it regardless. The district has since conceded the point.
‘Our Democracy Is At Risk’: FPC’s Jack Petocz’s Winning Essay in ACLU Contest
Jack Petocz, who will be a senior at Flagler Palm Coast High School next fall, won First Place in the ACLU of Florida Volusia/Flagler Chapter’s first Annual “Cary Ragsdale Future Voter’s Essay Contest.” The award carries a $500 prize underwritten by FlaglerLive, and publication of the essay here.
Firing Range Among Funding for Daytona State College Projects
The largest of these projects is the construction of a firing range on the DeLand Campus, providing DSC’s Law Enforcement Academy with an on-site, all-weather training facility. Current law enforcement officers from state and national agencies will also be able to utilize the range for their continuing education opportunities, too.
Québec’s Dangerous Bill 32 on ‘Academic Freedom’
In addition to undermining the autonomy of universities and faculty, and creating myriad implementation problems, the bill blurs the important distinctions between free expression and academic freedom. Most troubling, it signals that politicians are turning academic freedom into a political weapon.
Florida Teacher Union Declares Backing of Charlie Crist in Governor’s Race
Local educator unions across the state also showed support for Crist, a former Republican governor, Attorney General and, notably, the state’s former Education Commissioner in Florida.
Flagler 3rd Graders’ Reading Scores Fall Again, to Lowest Level in 7 Years, Yet Rank 12th in State
The percentage of Flagler County 3rd graders achieving a reading level of 3 (out of 5) or above–that is, reading at a satisfactory level–fell to 58 percent, the lowest level in at least seven years of comparable testing results, and down from last year’s 59 percent. Scores had peaked at 69 percent in 2017 and 68 percent in 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Measure Up to What Vets Fought For: A Call to Flagler’s Community and State Leaders
It is time county commissioners, governors and legislators exhibited some plain common sense, balancing serious gun-safety regulations with responsible gun ownership. The politicians who let the carnage continue are the cowards for not taking action.
Our National Pathology Over Guns Is Inhuman
Insanity, as has been famously remarked, is doing the same thing over and over again, and hoping for a different result. And that is the story of our lawmakers’ ongoing inability to pass even the simplest of gun violence reduction measures. And, then, under our very noses, we’re hit with another Sandy Hook.
Cancel Student Debt and Bail Out Ordinary People for a Change
Donald Trump and the Republican Party passed a $1.9 trillion, high-end tax cut in 2017 that’s been called “socialism for the rich.” It led to billionaires paying a lower average tax rate than the working class for the first time in U.S. history. That sounds a lot more radical than helping regular people, Robert P. Alvarez argues.
DeSantis Appoints Ex-Education Commissioner Corcoran to University System’s Board of Governors
The Board of Governors oversees Florida’s 12 state universities and is tasked with such responsibilities as adopting regulations designed to carry out state laws related to higher education. Corcoran, a former Republican House speaker, served three years as the state’s top education official overseeing Florida’s public-school and college systems.
New Law Would Require State, Not Local School Board, to Set Emergency Drill Guidelines
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday formally received nine bills from the Legislature, including a school-safety bill that would direct the State Board of Education to develop rules for school emergency drills.
From One Massacre to Another: Friday Vigil in Veterans Park Will Mark Mass Murders in Uvalde and Buffalo
A vigil in memory of the 31 victims of the Buffalo and Uvalde mass-shooting victims is scheduled for at 8 p.m. Friday, May 27, at Veterans Park in Flagler Beach. The vigil will have no speeches. Participants are encouraged to bring candles or lighters. A bell or a gong will be rung 31 times.
In Response to Texas School Massacre, Biden Calls for More Gun Regulations, Florida GOP for Prayers
In the wake of the latest mass shooting at a school, President Biden called for tougher gun controls and for Americans to stand up to powerful gun lobbyists. Florida’s GOP leaders maintained opposition to gun restrictions and offered prayers.
Buffalo Mass Shooter Threatened a Shooting While in High School. Could More Have Been Done?
Accused mass-shooter Payton S. Gendron’s story is not unlike the dozens of stories that typify one of the biggest challenges that schools face when it comes to averting school shootings – and in the case of Buffalo, mass shootings in general. And that challenge is recognizing and acting upon warning signs that mass shooters almost always give well before they open fire.
Replicating Math Textbook Censorship, Florida Tells Publishers to Kill Social Justice and CRT in History Books
The department is accepting bids from companies through June 10 to provide social-studies books for a five-year period starting in 2023. The department posted to its website a 29-page document that lists criteria for what is expected to be included in the books — and what’s expected to be left out.
TSA Agents Pay Early Morning Visit to Flagler County School Bus Drivers in Surprise Inspection
As they were preparing to roll out early this morning Flagler County schools’ bus drivers got a surprise inspection from members of the Transportation Security Administration, the at-times dreaded federal agency and division of the Department of Homeland Security. It was a quietly pre-arranged safety drill by Transportation Director Dontarrious Rowls through the TSA’s “Security Enhancement Through Assessment” program.
Damaging Trust with Unions, Flagler School Board Rejects a Rebate to Employees that Its Own Teams Had Agreed To
The Flagler County school district’s teacher and service employee unions have suspended collective bargaining negotiations with the district following what both unions say is a breaking of a pledge by the district to award one-time health insurance premium rebates to employees. The unions consider that “bad faith,” breaking trust in the district, damaging what for many years had been cordial relations between the two sides, and raising the possibility of more formal measures.
Looking Past Shock to Continuity, Flagler Education Foundation Appoints Teresa Rizzo Its Next Director
The Flagler Education Foundation, the school district’s non-profit support arm, appears to be making the same bet on Teresa Rizzo that it made on her late husband Joe, who had no fund-raising experience when he took over the organization, but vastly improved its its local impact between 2017 and 2022.
Singin’ – and Caterwauling — in the Rain: Flagler Palm Coast High School Stages Classic Musical
“Singin’ in the Rain,” which debuted as a movie musical in 1952 but didn’t come to life on stage until its London debut in 1983, is set in that mind-blowing, exciting and frantic era when Hollywood was evolving from silent films to “talkies.” It tells the tale of a Hollywood star couple making that transition: the magnetic Don Lockwood and his onscreen leading lady, Lina Lamont. The effervescent, talented Don is ready for the new prime time. Lina — not so much.
DeSantis signs K-12 ‘Victims of Communism’ Bill then Rails Against ‘Marxists’ on Campuses
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday a measure creating a “Victims of Communism Day” at Florida’s public schools, though much of the discussion centered around what state officials believe to be a rise in communist sympathies at Florida’s college campuses.
Daytona State College Marks Opening of First-Ever Student Residency Hall
Located on the Daytona Beach Campus, the four story, 252-bed facility opens its doors to DSC’s first-ever on-campus residents this summer. The residence hall was designed to be an affordable option within reach for all students, including those on financial aid and scholarships.