Elected vs. appointed? How Florida school districts choose their superintendents can be messy

| 12/21/2023

Elected vs. appointed? How Florida school districts choose their superintendents can be messy

As the sassiest state in the union, Florida loves to set herself apart from the others. One major way is how Florida school districts decide who will run their schools. Of Florida’s 67 school districts, a majority elect their superintendents. The practice is uncommon, nationally. Florida and Alabama are the only two states in the country that allow some voters to select the head of their school district. However, the state’s ten largest school districts operate under an appointment system. [Source: Florida Phoenix]

Specialized centers help high school students find way to college, career

For many Florida teens, college is a goal that can seem out of reach. Often, they don’t know where to start the process. Everything from applying to seeking financial support is alien to them and their parents or guardians. The Pinellas County school district created college and career centers at all its high schools to help direct the students. They’ve been making a difference. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Proposal seeks multiple finalists in college president searches

The proposed law would require colleges and universities to consider three to five finalists in presidential searches, after some high-profile searches have yielded a sole candidate. The bill would tweak part of a law that provides a public-records exemption for presidential searches. The law, in part, shields from public disclosure identities of applicants for presidencies. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Florida faculty question if they can hire grad students from ‘countries of concern’

Earlier this year, the state began requiring its public colleges to seek permission before working with so-called “countries of concern.” But university department chairs have issued differing instructions on how this impacts international graduate student recruitment, faculty said in a letter to university leaders. [Source: Higher Ed Dive]

Hillsborough has more D and F schools than any district in Florida

The Hillsborough County school district, known a few years ago for a large group of low-performing schools, is once again saddled with an unwelcome distinction. The district has more D- and F-graded schools than any other in the state, according to data released last week by the Florida Department of Education. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› University of Tampa Names TCU Provost Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg as its 11th President [Florida Trend]
After a comprehensive, nationwide search that attracted more than 160 candidates, Dahlberg will become the 11th president at UT, and will provide overall strategy, general management, administration and leadership of UT’s dynamic campus of more than 11,000 students. She will begin her presidential tenure at UT on June 1, 2024.

› Not all Miami-Dade high schools require uniforms. A new proposal could change that [Miami Herald]
The Miami-Dade County School Board on Wednesday is expected to determine whether it should extend its policy mandating uniforms to include pre-kindergarten and high school students. Though district policy only requires students in K-8 schools to wear uniforms, most pre-kindergarten and high school students already wear some sort of uniform required by their school, district staff said at a committee meeting last week. The move would simply codify what many students in those groups are already required to do.

› Alachua County School District, teachers' union reach tentative salary agreement [Gainesville Sun]
After failing to meet the state’s October deadline for negotiating teacher salaries, Alachua County Public Schools and the Alachua County Education Association (ACEA) have reached a tentative salary agreement. The tentative agreement between the district and the union includes an all-around salary increase of 3.5% for instructional and non-instructional personnel in addition to the automatic “step” increase — typically around 1% — which employees receive at the beginning of each school year if they completed half of their contract the prior year.

› PBC schools are likely to join lawsuit against Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram [Palm Beach Post]
Palm Beach County's school district is among more than a dozen in Florida and 650 across the country that intend to sue Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and other social media giants for what they say was a systematic targeting of children with products designed to become addictive.

Tags: Education eNews

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