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Schools

Mandates Decline as Appeals Court Signals Alachua and Duval ‘Defiance’ on Masks Violates Law

October 31, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

In Miami Dade schools, masks have been mandated since the beginning of the school year. (Miami Dade Schools)

A seven-page order said two school districts have been “remarkably open in their defiance” of the state over masking. Meanwhile, as Covid cases go down, several school districts that had been strict about mask mandates are now loosening their policies.

A Divided Flagler Beach Commission Rejects Church’s Proposal to Open a Small Christian School Near Center of Town

October 29, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

The church on South 6th Street. (© FlaglerLive)

In an unusual land-use decision that bowed to public concerns over firearms and economic activity, the Flagler Beach City Commission on Thursday rejected a church’s request to run a non-traditional parochial one-room school on South 6th Street, between South Central and South Daytona avenues.

School Officials and Sheriff’s Deputies Again Forced to Respond to Generic Attempt to Disrupt the Day at FPC

October 29, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

The now familiar sight of stepped-up police presence whenever social media chatter alludes to a threat at a local school. The scene above dates back to one such threat at FPC two years ago. (© FlaglerLive)

A local school–this time, Flagler Palm Coast High School–was again the target of a vague threat of violence, disseminated on social media and mirroring similar, low- to no-credibility threats circulating in other parts of the country.

A Child at Rymfire Elementary Makes False Report of a Shooting, 7 Weeks After Identical Incident There

October 26, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Rymfire Elementary's parking lot was a swarm of sheriff's and other public safety vehicles as a student at the school made what turned out to be another false report of an active shooter. (© FlaglerLive)

Rymfire was again locked down early this afternoon when authorities got a call from a child reporting the same claim as seven weeks ago: a shooting in a classroom–the same classroom that had been the supposed location of the shooting in early September.

On Flagler School Board, Even Procedures Are Weaponized as Aftershocks of Bitter Meetings Still Rankle

October 25, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The Flagler County School Board in its workshop room, in a quieter moment. (© FlaglerLive)

What would under most circumstances been a five-minute discussion, if that, turned into a rehash of prosecutorial accusations, recriminations and seemingly vain explanations that underscored how far board members now diverge from each other, whether on matters of fact or perception.

Time to Stop Worrying About Children’s Screen Time? Not So Fast.

October 23, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

screen time children

We still need to be wary of health consequences, despite the absence of strong links between screen time and children’s health. The researchers–the study involved almost 12,000 nine-to-ten-year-olds from 24 diverse sites across the United States–suggested screen time was not a direct cause of depression or anxiety and was linked to improved peer relations, but their findings came with caveats.

Serious as a Heart Attack: For FPC and Matanzas High School Athletes, Voluntary ECG Screenings May Become Mandatory

October 22, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

A life-saver. (© FlaglerLive)

In an effort to stem heart attacks in young athletes–about 3 percent of athletes are at risk–AdventHealth is sponsoring the first free ECG screening for local high school athletes next week, and will ask the Flagler County School Board to make the screenings mandatory by next year. There are some 900 athletes participating in dozens of sports in the two high schools.

Marion Gavins Jr., Who Murdered FPC’s Curtis Gray, 18, Is Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison in Plea

October 22, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Marion Gavins Jr., right entering the courtroom this morning before his plea and sentencing. (© FlaglerLive)

Marion Leo Gavins Jr., 20, pleaded guilty today and was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Curtis Gray, 18, in April 2019 outside a smoke shop in Palm Coast, a killing that shook the Flagler Palm Coast High and Matanzas High communities and that led his mother to create an enduring non-profit in Gray’s name.

Stetson University Celebrates the Holiday Season with Four Christmas Candlelight Concerts

October 21, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

The Stetson University Concert Choir spreads holiday cheer during a Christmas Candlelight concert at Lee Chapel in Elizabeth Hall. (Stetson)

The joy and magic of the holiday season comes alive during Stetson University School of Music’s four Christmas Candlelight concerts at historic Lee Chapel in Elizabeth Hall on campus.

MedNexus in Palm Coast: ‘It’s Really About 6 Hands,’ Szymanski Says of Medical-Education Hub in Town Center

October 20, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

MedNexus CEO David Szymanski, second from left, at the end of today's speaking engagement at Flagler Tiger Bay. With him from left was Tiger Bay Vice President Don Madden, with the two bottles of wine Szymanski was about to receive, Club President Greg Davis, with the tiger he earned for asking the question rated most compelling, and Karen Bowling, the University of North Florida's first Vice President of Jobs. (© FlaglerLive)

David Szymanski, the CEO of the University of Florida’s MedNexus–the emerging medical education innovator with a foothold in Palm Coast–was the keynote speaker at Flagler Tiger Bay’s monthly lunch series today, outlining what Palm Coast can expect of the initiative in Town Center.

6 School Boards’ Challenge to State Ban on Mask Mandates Goes Forward

October 20, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The way they school, mandatorily, in Miami Dade. (Miami Dade Schools/Facebook)

The decision by Judge Brian Newman came a day before a hearing is scheduled to start in the challenge filed by the school boards in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, Duval, Alachua and Leon counties.

State School Board Is About to Revamp Civic Education, with Emphasis on ‘Patriotism’

October 19, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Civic education, circa 1920, is making a comeback. (© FlaglerLive)

Making changes that inject patriotism into the curriculum was a priority of top Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis during the legislative session that ended April 30. One rule would require students to understand America’s founding documents. A separate part of the proposal focuses on “upright citizens.”

When Students Attack Teachers

October 18, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

When students attack teachers, teachers are usually on their own. (Thanasis Anastasiou)

Interviews with 50 teachers from urban and suburban high schools who were threatened or attacked by a student suggest that in light of the constant threat of violence against schoolteachers, the adequacy of current security measures – or lack thereof – are ripe for review.

Flagler’s 1st Domestic Violence Conference Confronts Myths and Silences Often Complicit With Abusers

October 15, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Trish Giaccone, who heads the Family Life Center, moments before launching the conference this morning at the Palm Coast campus of Daytona State College. (© FlaglerLive)

Panels at the conference, called Rise Up 2021, was organized by Daytona State College and the Flagler County Domestic Violence Task Force, delved into religious organizations’ silence toward or complicit enabling of domestic violence, the mechanics of stalking, trauma on children and other prevalent but rarely discussed fallout from a widespread problem.

Covid’s Impact on Students’ Mental Health Termed ‘Widespread and Deeply Concerning’

October 14, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

A slide at a suicide-prevention seminar two years ago in Palm Coast. (© FlaglerLive)

The turbulent and stressful Covid-19 crisis has impacted mental health issues, including instances of suicidal thoughts among students who have had to deal with the trauma of trying to learn during the pandemic.

State Attorney Drops Felony Charge Against Mom in Indian Trails Incident With Boys But Files Misdemeanor Battery

October 13, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

A capture from a brief video of a fight at Indian Trails Middle School, posted by the father of the boy being assailed in the video. The mother of the child faces a felony charge for her role in an alleged retaliation to the beating in the hallway.

Ruffin, 31, of Palm Coast’s R-Section, drew as much mainstream and social media attention a month ago from an allegation that she had assaulted a juvenile boy as she did from a 15-minute video of herself indignantly countering the charge and describing her role as an instance of instinctive protection of her son, who she said had been targeted by others.

A Buddy Taylor Middle Student Is Arrested for Making Threats to Kill at School, Adding Misogyny to Insults

October 13, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

A 13-year-old student at Buddy Taylor Middle School was charged with two felony counts of making threats to kill after he allegedly threatened his teacher and a classmate at school on Tuesday. It is the second instance of a student arrest for making threats at school since school resumed on Aug. 10, the third involving a child making such threats on or off campus.

U.S. School Boards Association Asks Biden for Better Security at Meetings. Florida Association Says Count Us Out.

October 12, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Far-right extremists, some in camouflage, some belonging to the Three Percenters, the anti-government militia, preparing to enter the Flagler County School Board meeting last month in Bunnell. (© FlaglerLive)

The Florida School Boards Association is refusing to pay membership dues to the National School Boards Association after the Washington, D.C.-based organization wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration that the country’s “public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat.”

4 Months Late, Last in Nation, Florida Submits Plan to Feds on How It’ll Spend $2.3 Billion in School Covid Relief Funds

October 11, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

covid relief florida schools

Back in March, the Biden administration announced that $122 billion dollars nationwide was available for schools from the American Rescue Plan act, with two thirds of the money immediately available to states and the remaining third contingent on the U.S. Department of Education’s approval of a state plan indicating how the funds will be used.

We’re Losing Our Humanity: Cruelty and Hostility From School Boards to Vaccination Centers

October 10, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

A scene at the Aug. 17 school board meeting in Bunnell. The meeting had to be recessed for half an hour because of hostility and chaos. (© FlaglerLive)

It’s not just Flagler County, and certainly not just at the Flagler school board: The stories of cruel, seemingly irrational and sometimes-violent conflicts over coronavirus regulations across the country have become lingering symptoms of the pandemic as it drags through its second year.

What a Difference an R-Section Makes: New, Limited School Rezoning Proposal Draws Near-Empty Hall

October 7, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

That was all the audience there was at a "listening session" at the Indian Trails Middle School cafeteria Wednesday evening, a contrast with previous listening sessions, when the rezoning proposal was much broader. (© FlaglerLive)

In contrast with two previous “listening sessions” on school rezoning, which drew dozens and reflected sharp if concentrated opposition to the proposal at the time, the session the Flagler school district held at Indian Trails Middle School’s cafeteria Wednesday evening drew at most five people, not counting double that number in district staffers, including Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt.

James Egan Jr., 64, a Flagler School Bus Driver, Is Killed in Motorcycle Wreck on Belle Terre and Ponce de Leon

October 6, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 44 Comments

jim egan motorcycle crash

James Egan Jr., a 64-year-old Palm Coast resident and school bus driver with the Flagler County school district since 2016, was killed in a motorcycle crash at Belle Terre Parkway and Ponce De Leon Drive Tuesday evening.

Scholarships for ‘Career Online High School’ Diploma and Certificate Program Available at Flagler Public Library

October 3, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

library ged

Flagler County Public Library is offering the Career Online High School program to adults, 19 and older, who want to earn a career certificate and a high school diploma. Scholarships are funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Federal Judge Refuses to Reconsider Decision Backing DeSantis Ban on Mask Mandates

October 3, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

It's how they mask up in broward schools. (Facebook)

Rejecting arguments by parents of children with disabilities, a federal judge has refused to reconsider a decision that backed Gov. Ron DeSantis in a battle about student mask requirements in schools.

Nicole Critcher Appointed Principal at Old Kings Elementary

October 1, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

nicole critcher

Critcher has been with Flagler Schools for 20 years. She taught at Rymfire Elementary School and Indian Trails K-8 for 13 years. She was an instructional coach at OKES for three years. Following a year with the Teaching and Learning Department before taking the assistant principal position at Matanzas High School.

Angered by Dean’s Office Visit, 12-Year-Old Girl at Buddy Taylor Middle Threatens to Shoot Classmates in Violent Language

October 1, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Though the incident took place a Buddy Taylor Middle, a school struggling with its reputation, similar incidents have taken place on every campus in the district. (© FlaglerLive)

A 12-year-old Buddy Taylor Middle School student was arrested and charged with sending written threats to kill, a second-degree felony, after her teacher overheard her say she was going to “shoot up the school” at around 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

Why is the Flagler County Commission Holding New School Construction Hostage?

September 30, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

The Flagler County Commission is posing an unexpected and unnecessary challenge for Cathy Mittelstadt, the Flagler Schools superintendent. (© FlaglerLive)

Pandering to home builders, the Flagler County Commission is rashly scuttling the school district’s plan to double impact fees on new construction for the first time since 2005, even though the county is doubling its own impact fees. It’s an unjustified and hypocritical assault on district planning and future student needs.

Why Charter Schools Are Not as ‘Public’ as They Claim to Be

September 30, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

charter schools are not public

Charter schools are not as accessible to the public as they are often made out to be. This finding is particularly relevant in light of the fact that charter school enrollment reportedly grew by 7 percent during the pandemic. Here are four examples of how charters bring certain types of students in and push other kinds of students out.

State School Board Will Meet to Police 11 School Districts’ Compliance with Ban on Mask Mandate

September 30, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

Masking the masks: Brevard County public school students earlier this month. (Facebook)

The board will meet Oct. 7 and focus on the school districts in Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota counties, according to a notice published Wednesday in the Florida Administrative Register.

Makenna’s Story: 9-Year-Old Palm Coast Student’s Covid Hospitalization Upends Glib Assumptions

September 28, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

One of the cards at Makenna's bedside at Wolfsons Children's Hospital. (Simon family)

Makenna’s story illustrates the pernicious tenacity of a disease that upends, separates and traumatizes families, cuts off income, creates unspeakable loneliness even for those not hospitalized, and leaves its casualties fuming at a community’s refusal to embrace–beyond thoughts and prayers–the small, effortless measures that could prevent much of the harm to most.

County Goes Over Redistricting Boundaries in ‘Numbers Game’ That Will Barely Affect Voters, Maps or the Elected

September 27, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Flagler County's current districts, which apply both to the county commission and the school board.

The process is formal and obviously important as a reflection of fairness in elections and representation. But at the local level, it is far less consequential than at the state and federal level, especially in counties like Flagler, where school board and county commissioners serve at-large–meaning they are elected by voters across the county, not just by voters in their districts.

How Some Schools Use Weekly Testing to Keep Kids in Class And Covid Out

September 27, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

It's rather simple. (World Bank)

These measures stand in sharp contrast to the confusion in states, including Florida, where people are still fighting about wearing masks in the classroom and other anti-covid strategies, places where some schools have experienced outbreaks and even teacher deaths.

Charlie Crist Denounces New Covid School Policy and Seeks Ouster of New Surgeon General

September 24, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Charlie Crist at a speaking engagement in late August. (Facebook)

Democrat Charlie Crist denounced Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday as an “oppressive tyrant” willing to send coronavirus-infected children into the public schools and risk the health of other children to please his covid-skeptical political base.

Stetson University Achieves 70% Vaccination Goal on Both Campuses

September 24, 2021 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Stetson University President Christopher F. Roellke and Lana Kolchinsky (Stetson University/Ciara Ocasio and Stetson University)

The DeLand campus hit its +70% vaccination rate following its recent on-campus vaccination clinic on Wednesday, Sept. 22. The campus includes nearly 3,000 undergraduate students, along with more than 400 graduate students and approximately 400 faculty and staff. Stetson’s College of Law campus in Gulfport topped the 70% vaccination rate nearly two weeks ago and is currently closer to 77%. 

Alachua School Board Gets $150,000 Federal Grant to Cover Salaries DeSantis Cut Over Mask Fight

September 23, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

The Alachua County School Board meeting on Sept. 21 in a screen capture from its meeting video.

State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Aug. 30 that the Florida Department of Education had started to withhold funds from the Alachua and Broward County school districts in amounts equal to the monthly salaries of school board members who voted for student mask requirements.

Stop Yelling. Have a Point: Advice for School Board Meeting Disrupters from Someone Who’s Been There.

September 23, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

Randy Bertrand addressing the Flagler County School Board at a meeting last year.

In the wake of two turbulent school board meetings, Randall Bertrand was left wondering what all the sound and fury was about since many speakers’ loud and disruptive message was already made moot by school board votes or state policy.

After Parents Object to ‘Equity’ and Race-Driven Balance, Rezoning Plan Now Limits Impact to Palm Coast’s R-Section

September 22, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Steven Furnari, right, addresses the Flagler school board on behalf of a citizens' group opposed to the district's original rezoning plan. (© FlaglerLive)

After facing a relatively small but angry group of parents who accused the district of wanting to balance school populations in part based on racial and socio-economic equity, the Flagler County school administration on Tuesday announced it was drastically scaling back what would have been a county-wide rezoning plan set for next year. The district is opting instead for rezoning that will affect only the two middle schools, the two high schools and the entirety of Palm Coast’s R-Section and parts of west Flagler, but none other. 

Quarantining for Asymptomatic Students Is Now Optional as Florida Issues New Rules Further Limiting Safety Measures

September 22, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Flagler County School Board member Jill Woolbright, seen here at a workshop last week, complained Tuesday evening during a board meeting that asymptomatic children deemed close contacts to known infections were having to quarantine. (© FlaglerLive)

Pointing to a need to “minimize the amount of time students are removed from in-person learning,” the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday issued a revised rule that gives parents more authority to decide whether children go to school after being exposed to people who have covid-19. The new rule replicates the same standard in effect for masking: it’s permissible, but only at parents’ discretion.

Anti-Maskers Turn Another Flagler School Board Meeting Into Virulent, at Times Bigoted and Threatening Spectacle

September 21, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 53 Comments

Members of the Flagler County School Board in a huddle with Flagler County Sheriff's deputies before this evening's meeting as they were being cautioned--and directed--on following deputies' directions in case the meeting turned chaotic. It was an unprecedented caution. (© FlaglerLive)

Even though there was no chance of a mask mandate, the Flagler County School Board meeting Tuesday evening again devolved into an ugly spectacle of anti-mask militancy that at times turned threatening, homophobic, Islamophobic and covid-denying, and required the meeting again to be briefly recessed and board members sent to a safe room.

Flagler District Prepares to Re-Zone Schools for the First Time in Over a Decade in Face of Some Sharp Objections

September 20, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

A hallway at Indian Trails Middle School, where, along with Buddy Taylor Middle, sixth graders will be attending starting next year. The shift is making the two middle schools the front runners in the district's rezoning. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School Board will vote on a rezoning plan in December, and on Tuesday will hear an updated, phased-in approach that will focus on the two middle schools first, where sixth graders will be shifted starting next year. Localized but intense opposition to rezoning plans compelled the administration to propose a more phased-in approach than a county-wide rezoning.

Covid Numbers Fall Across the Board in Flagler and Florida, Now Matching Winter Peak; Experts Stress Continued Caution

September 20, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

(© FlaglerLive)

The covid numbers are falling across the board: in the community, in schools, in hospitals locally and across Central Florida, but with a caveat: the numbers today, while falling, are at the exact point where they were at the height of the winter wave–the third and until then most severe wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Flagler School Board’s ‘Retreat’ Unravels in Rancor and Accusations as Deep Dysfunctions Are Laid Bare

September 17, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 19 Comments

The Flagler County School Board at its 'retreat' on Sept. 9: it has a long way to go to scale the eight pillars of trust. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School Board’s day-long “retreat” on Sept. 9, designed to hone leadership and cohesion skills, was a grueling, at times a shocking display of mistrust, dysfunction, dissembling and exasperation by the board members as the fallout from recent issues revealed deep fissures. Whether the board can bridge huge gaps of mistrust remains uncertain.

School District’s Request to Double Impact Fees Turns Into Hostile Inquisition by County Commission and Builders

September 16, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker, seen here in a different context, was left pleading last Tuesday with members of the County Commission to grant the district's request for a new schedule of impact fees. He did not get a warm reception. (© FlaglerLive)

In an unexpected turn, what the Flagler County school district thought was a mere formality before the County Commission turned into a 90-minute grilling by commissioners and a parade of doubt by builders who consider the district’s request to double impact fees ill-thought and ill-timed.

Volusia and Other School Districts Are Backtracking on Mask Policies and Broadening Opt-Outs at Parents’ Discretion

September 16, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Volusia County’s school board votes to allow parental opt-out of mask policy, backtracking on a previous decision to only allow students to opt-out for medical reasons. Source: Volusia County school board YouTube channel

At least two school districts — Volusia and Lee — that previously adopted strict mask mandates have decided to allow parents to opt their students out of the policy for any reason, while a third, Indian River, now requires masks only at certain times when Covid-19 surges in isolated schools.

University of Florida Is Ranked 5th Best Public University in the Nation as Other State Schools Also Rise

September 16, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

uf top five iniv ersities

Florida universities on Monday heralded their advancement in a national ranking of public universities, but none celebrated harder than the University of Florida after cracking the top five on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” for the first time.

DeSantis Calls for Ending Standardized Tests, Replacing Them With 3-Times Yearly ‘Monitoring’

September 14, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

Enough already. (Thomas Galvez)

DeSantis said the proposal would lead to assessing students in the fall, winter and spring, which would reduce the amount of time spent each year on testing. The state Department of Education said the proposed system will be dubbed F.A.S.T., Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking.

Simplistic and Damaging: How Schools Teach 9/11

September 11, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

An inscription on a wall at the 9/11 Memorial Museum at the site of the World Trade Center towers. Behind the wall is a repository of some 8,000 unidentified human remains. Virgil's quote, however, was taken out of context, and misapplied to the memory of the 9/11 victims. (© Pierre Tristam/FlaglerLive)

Narratives reduced to a focus on heroism and simplistic interpretations of good and evil do not help students reflect on the many controversial decisions made by the U.S. and their allies after 9/11, such as using embellished evidence to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And they potentially reinforce political rhetoric that paints Muslims as potential terrorists and ignore the xenophobic attacks against Muslim Americans after the 9/11 attacks.

Set in Tallahassee, Flagler School Tax Rate Declines for 7th Year in a Row, and to Another Historic Low

September 10, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

The local school district's tax rate is set by lawmakers in Tallahassee. It has declined almost every year for two and a half decades. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School Board on Sept. 7 adopted its property tax rate and $212 million budget for 2021-22. The tax rate, set by lawmakers in Tallahassee, continues a two-and-a-half decade downward trend, to $5.865 per $1,000 in taxable value, down from $6 last year.

As Tempers Flare, Attorney and Flagler School Board Members Attempt Unprecedented Ban of Meeting’s Recording

September 9, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin, standing, explaining the legalities of recordings at public meetings, an issue that caused Flagler County School Board members to stop their training workshop today for 27 minutes. Two of the board members wanted to bar recordings at the session, which would have violated open-meeting laws. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin, School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright attempted to ban recordings by a reporter and others of today’s daylong training workshop. A lawyer with the Attorney general’s office prevented the ban after a nearly 30-minute recess of the workshop.

Students Now Begin the Day With 1 to 2 Minutes of Silence, Costing Teachers Up to 6 Hours of Instructional Time

September 8, 2021 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

moment of silence florida schools

Public schools across Florida are under a new requirement to hold a daily moment of silence for at least a whole minute and up to two minutes, according to a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in June. How that plays out could mean less instruction time for teachers, improved mental health for students or maybe just a waste of time.

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  • Deb on Flagler County’s and Palm Coast’s Unemployment Rates Hit 4-Year Highs, Housing Inventory at 15-Year High
  • Jim on Flagler County’s and Palm Coast’s Unemployment Rates Hit 4-Year Highs, Housing Inventory at 15-Year High
  • Pogo on Alaska Summit Bust, and Possibilities

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