Daytona State College English Professor Jessica Kester has received national recognition for co-authoring a report on the use of social media in the classroom. The article is featured in the spring edition of Currents in Teaching and Learning, a peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on classroom practices and explores issues and challenges facing teachers today.
Schools
Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club Will ‘Look Different,’ Superintendent Cautions, Its Funding Model in Question
Flagler School Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt today prepared the school board for difficult decisions about the district-owned and district-run Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club, where deficits are making the funding model unsustainable, and changes likely scaling back the operation–or bringing in different partners–may be ahead.
Gov. DeSantis Could Use a Civics Lesson on the Florida Constitution
Even as they push a $106 million proposal to improve civics education, our legislators and our governor persist in violating the Constitution by supporting legislation authorizing programs to send nearly $1 billion to private, religious schools in our state.
The Fabricated Fear of Transgender Athletes in High School Sports
Randall Bertrand, who led last year’s campaign to add “gender identity” to the Flagler school board’s protections against discrimination, lays out a case against the Legislature’s baseless fear-mongering over transgender participation in high school sports.
Flagler District Enables Parents to Track Children’s School Bus in Real Time Through App
The app is designed to improve safety and peace of mind for students and parents, reducing unnecessary wait times at bus stops, which have been and continue to be the site of accidents involving children and vehicles across the country.
Overriding Florida High School Athletic Association, House Backs Banning Transgender Female Athletes
Critics of measures targeting transgender student athletes argue the proposals are rooted in fear, misunderstanding and politics as a Florida House panel on Wednesday approved a controversial proposal that would ban transgender girls and women from competing in women’s high-school and college sports.
Lawmakers Still Aim to Penalize Bright Futures Recipients for Not Taking ‘Approved’ Majors
Under the amendment filed by Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, Bright Futures scholarships would be “reduced” for students who don’t choose an academic discipline deemed promising for job prospects.
Should School Board Members Be Paid $35,000 a Year? Voters May Decide in 2022.
After debating whether county school board members should be paid, and if ending salaries would threaten diversity on the boards, a House panel took a first step toward letting voters decide the issue in 2022.
Three Palm Coast Teens, 16 and 17, Accused of Terrorizing and Beating an Autistic Woman
Three teens, ages 16 and 17, face a list of felony and misdemeanor charges after allegedly briefly imprisoning and terrorizing a 19-year-old autistic and developmentally disabled woman in a car in a W-Section cul de sac in Palm Coast.
Vast Voucher Expansion Would Include Homeschooled and Private-School Students, at Taxpayers’ Expense
The plan would allow students who have never been enrolled in public schools to participate in the tax-supported program. The expansion would include students who attend private or religious school or are homeschooled.
Scaling ‘Dramatization,’ Indian Trails Middle’s Daniel Belkin Wins Flagler Spelling Bee and Will Compete Statewide
Indian Trails Middle School 7th grader Daniel Belkin was declared the winner, spelling the word “dramatization.” Cal Zwirn, a Bunnell Elementary 5th grader was runner-up, slipping up on the word “centipede” in the 16th round.
Sharply Rebuking More McDonald Falsehoods, School Board Says No Mask-Rule Changes This Year
School Board member Janet McDonald was again the outlier on Tuesday as she pressed for a relaxation of mask rules while repeating falsehoods about masks and vaccines. Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt took her strongest stand yet, saying the district would not alter its current covid-safety protocols. A majority of the school board agreed.
It’s a County Priority, But Quest to Bring Broadband to Flagler’s West Side Runs Into County Hurdles
County Commissioner Joe Mullins is seeking county staff’s help with an informal broadband “task force” he leads to land a grant that could improve internet services on the west side, raising questions about the extent to which the county can get involved in a group it has not formally recognized or knew much about even though broadband access is now a county priority.
School Board Will Not Sell the County 20 Acres of Pristine Hammock Land It’s Owned Since 1984
Flagler County government’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands program began showing interest in the district’s 20 acres on the Intracoastal around the same time that a flood-control issue had arisen at nearby Pamela Parkway, involving residents there.
Janet McDonald Again Hawks False and ‘Dangerous’ Claims About Masks and Vaccines at School Board Meeting
Calling for rejecting “outside” guidelines on the pandemic, Janet McDonald said communities with mask-wearing have more virus transmission than those without and claimed the covid-19 vaccine “is not a vaccine.” She spoke at a school board workshop, and offered no evidence.
Belle Terre Swim Club, in Deficit, is Not Closing Yet. But the School Board Needs Help Keeping It Open.
School board members don’t want to close the facility. But for the second time in six years, the club is in deficit and the district is using dollars designed to run its K-12 operations to keep it afloat, though the club is used primarily by adults. That’s not a tenable situation.
Stetson University Elementary Education Program Ranks in Top 5% Nationally for Admission Standards and Diversity
Stetson University’s Elementary Education program placed in the top 5% (59 out of 1,256 institutions) nationally for admission standards and diversity, and is one of three leading universities in Florida.
Daytona State Awarded $100,000 Entrepreneurship, Education and Training Grant
The grant is designed to introduce students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs to the mindset required of successful entrepreneurs, while guiding and developing their entrepreneurial skills.
At Belle Terre Park, a Confederate Flag, a Swastika and Other Obscenities Elicit Distress But Little Action
Twin 5 year olds and their mother found a swastika and other obscenities spray-painted on play equipment and concrete at Belle Terre Park Sunday, where teens later brandished and paraded a Confederate flag , daring a reporter to photograph it.
CDC School Guidelines May Have Little Effect in Flagler and Florida
As debate rages over how to reopen schools in various cities and states across the country, the CDC issued guidance Friday that includes mitigation strategies, indicators of Covid-19 transmission and testing for coronavirus in schools.
Struggling Elementary Students Could See Books Delivered to Their Homes
A priority of House Speaker Chris Sprowls that would lead to books being delivered to the homes of struggling elementary school readers got unanimous approval Thursday from a House panel.
Senate Panel Signs Off on Vast Expansion of Use of Tax Dollars for Private Schools
The measure (SB 48), filed by Republican Sen. Manny Diaz of Hialeah, would expand eligibility for school-voucher programs and allow parents to use taxpayer-backed education savings accounts for private schools and other costs.
Flagler Student Is Arrested on Felony Charge of Threatening School Shooting For 3rd Time in 8 Days
A 12-year-old student at Bunnell Elementary School on Wednesday told classmates not to show up for school today as he’d be shooting up campus. He was arrested and charged the way an 11-year-old and an 18-year-old were charged last week for similar, joking threats.
Even With Remote Option, Enrollment in Flagler’s 9 Traditional Schools Is at Lowest Level Since 2005
With Flagler schools reflecting some decline, Florida legislators and local education officials are trying to pinpoint what happened to nearly 90,000 “missing” public school students across the state, as public school enrollment estimates have dropped amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
2 Buddy Taylor Middle Students Struck By a Car at Belle Terre and White View Parkway
Two eighth graders, students at Buddy Taylor Middle School, were struck by a car early Monday morning (Feb. 1) as they were walking to school, sheriff’s office and school officials say. Both students were taken to AdventHealth Palm Coast.
Teacher Khady Harmon and Plant Services’ Chuck Coates Are Flagler Schools’ Employees of the Year
In a first for Flagler Schools, this year’s District Teacher and Employee Celebration was held entirely online. In all, 17 employees and 11 teachers from across the district were honored.
School Chancellor Jacob Oliva Makes English-Proficiency Exam Optional for Now
In a win for advocates of English-language learners, Florida is allowing students to opt out of taking an annual English proficiency exam that is administered in person. Florida has more than 265,000 students for whom English is not a first language. They collectively speak more than 300 languages.
3 Arrested in Shooting Spree at K-Section House Involving 3 Guns and at Least 35 Bullets
Three men were arrested two minutes after they allegedly were involving in a shooting spree at a house on Kalamazoo Trail Thursday evening, a shooting that caused ripples of alarm in the neighborhood.
11-Year-Old Student at Palm Coast Catholic School Arrested Over Threats to Bomb Campus
For the second time in two days, a student in a Palm Coast school was arrested on a felony charge of related to threats against the school.
Controversial Bill Requiring ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ Surveys on Florida Campuses Wins Senate Backing
A controversial Senate proposal that would require Florida state colleges and universities to survey students about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on campus cleared its first hurdle Tuesday.
18-Year-Old Matanzas High Student Faces Felony Charge Over Song Threatening to Kill Administrator
Joseph Washington, a senior at Matanzas High School, wrote, sang, recorded and posted a song about a Matanzas administrator who’d suspended him over a dress-code violation. The song is a succession of obscenities, racism, sexual put-downs, misogynism, and explicit threats to kill not only the administrator but his family.
Florida Senate Proposal Would Vastly Expand “School Choice” and Use of Tax Dollars for Private Schools
The legislation, filed by Republican Sen. Manny Diaz of Hialeah, would expand eligibility for school-voucher programs, consolidate existing school-choice programs and allow parents to use taxpayer-backed education savings accounts for private schools and other costs.
Stetson University Receives Nearly $1 Million National Science Foundation Grant for STEM
The National Science Foundation officially awarded Stetson $999,823 for a project titled Cohort-Based Interdisciplinary Learning to Increase Retention and Graduation Rates of Undergraduate Students in Science, Technology and Mathematics.
Gardens Development Agreement to Pay $719,000 to Offset School Overcrowding Raises ‘Worrisome’ Questions of Accuracy
Calling it “worrisome” and “nebulous,” Flagler County School Board members said today they are not ready to sign off on an agreement with the planned 335-home Gardens development on John Anderson Highway that would offset projected overcrowding costs in the district’s schools.
Teachers and School Staff Will Still Not Be Prioritized for Covid Vaccine, DeSantis Says
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices lists teachers and school employees as part of roughly 30 million “frontline essential workers” who should be prioritized for vaccinations. But DeSantis has repeatedly said that his focus is on Florida’s seniors.
TR, as FPC Principal Tom Russell Was Known to Most, Is Celebrated as Learner, Leader, Tweeter and Jovial, Heroic Dad
James Tom Russell, who died on Dec. 9 after leading Flagler Palm Coast High School for just a year and a half after a long career in leadership of Volusia County schools, was celebrated at a memorial at Jackie Robinson Stadium Friday evening with broad-ranging affection and admiration.
On Eve of Tom Russell Memorial, School Board’s McDonald Downplays Covid Deaths and Calls for ‘Backing Off This Fear’ of Virus
Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald falsely claimed at a workshop that overall deaths are down this year, that masks are harmful, testing unreliable, and that the district should focus on “wellness” rather than additionally “ramp-up” safety measures. She did so days from the memorial for Tom Russell, the FPC principal who died of complications from Covid.
Florida Lawmakers Again Will Consider Requiring Moment of Silence in Schools
An effort to require public-school students to engage in a moment of silence at the start of each school day is back before the state Legislature. Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, refiled legislation (SB 282) on Thursday that would require principals to direct first-period teachers to set aside one to two minutes for “quiet reflection.”
Flagler Schools Will Replace Most Covid-Positive Alert Letters With Web-Based Dashboard Updated Daily
A new dashboard tracking positive Covid cases throughout the school district will go live Jan. 4. Parents and others have grown increasingly jaded with the Flagler school district’s drizzle of notification letters whenever positive Covid cases are confirmed.
Trevor Tucker, in Remarkable Shift, Provides 3-2 Majority to Add ‘Gender Identity’ to Long-Sought School Protections
The Flagler County School Board this evening reversed its April vote and added “gender identity” to its anti-discrimination policy, ending a year-long and at times controversial and embittered debate over the identity and rights of LGBTQ students.
Palm Coast Council Awards Jacksonville University $2.5 Million to Open Town Center Campus, But Without Unanimity
While the Palm Coast City Council’s majority supported the subsidy with enthusiasm, Council members Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa opposed awarding some or all of the money to the University of Jacksonville for different reasons, a split that did not exist when the council welcomed the University of North Florida with a $1.5 million subsidy.
Jacksonville University Plans Major Campus Expansion in Palm Coast in City’s 2nd Higher-Ed Partnership
Jacksonville University and Palm Coast announced a joint partnership that will open a JU campus in town–the university’s first-ever expansion beyond Jacksonville in its 86-year history–and enroll 150 to 200 full-time students within 24 months. The focus will be health-care education, and more specifically, nursing.
Jessica Paugh Selected as DSC’s New School of Emergency Services Director
Over the last five decades, the DSC School of Emergency Services has produced thousands of law enforcement officers and first responders, and graduates who pass the State Officer Certification Exam qualify for employment anywhere in the State of Florida.
Tom Russell, Flagler Palm Coast High School Principal, Dies of Covid Complications, Leaving ‘Legacy of Kindness and Decency’
James Tom Russell, Flagler Palm Coast High School’s principal since 2019 and a former superintendent in Volusia County, where he built a 30-year career in education, died today of complications from covid-19. Russell had been diagnosed with Covid-19 on Nov. 16 and more recently was hospitalized.
Talk of Stimulus: Cancel All Student Debt
Research by the Federal Reserve and the Levy Economics Institute shows that debt cancellation would boost the national economy. Freed up from these financial burdens, former debt holders would have more buying power just when we and they need it most.
Matanzas’s Jeff Reaves and Buddy Taylor’s Stacia Collier Are Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year
Jeff Reaves has been principal at Matanzas High School since 2017. He’s been in education for 15 years, 12 of those in Volusia County. Stacia Collier is a 2000 graduate of Flagler-Palm Coast High School.
Officials Discredit False Rumors About FPC Principal Tom Russell as His Covid Battle Continues
Sometime on Monday a rumor started flying around Volusia County that Tom Russell, the Flagler Palm Coast High School principal and former Volusia County superintendent, had died. By evening the rumor was rampant in Flagler County as well. The rumor, which has upset Russell’s family, is false.
Flagler Sees Highest 2-Week Tally Yet as Covid Hits School, County and City Leaders and Passes 1 Million Mark in State
Leaders in Palm Coast, the Flagler County Fire Department and the district’s largest school are battling Covid-19 in a two-week stretch that’s also seen the highest number of infections in schools, where the plan is to continue the option of remote learning past Christmas.
Court Refuses to Revisit School Reopening Ruling, Leaving State’s In-Person Preference in Place
An appeals court Monday refused to reconsider a decision that backed Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran in a legal battle about the state’s push this summer to reopen schools amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Pendulum Was Swinging Toward Reopening Schools. Then Came the Surge.
The national Covid-19 surge that is overwhelming hospitals in some states has stalled any further movement toward opening classrooms. Scores of schools are closing in hard-hit states, and major cities are shelving plans to reopen schools for the first time.