Florida authorities arrest girl, 12, for posting kill list

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida authorities arrested a 12-year-old girl after discovering at least two social media posts that threatened to kill fellow students at her middle school.

In one Snapchat post, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said, the girl listed the names of potential victims.

A later post warned that the students were not safe and that they would be killed on Monday.

Investigators were made aware of the threats on Friday night by a parent and student at Falcon Cove Middle School north of Miami.

The girl was later taken into custody and taken to a juvenile center. Authorities said they arrested the girl on two counts of making a written threat to kill and making a false report about a firearm.

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Trump food stamp change could affect 200K Florida students

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida education officials and advocates say about 200,000 students could become ineligible for automatic free school lunches under a Trump administration proposal expected to reduce the number of food stamps enrollees.

News outlets reported the figures this week and say a finalized rule could come as soon as the end of the month.

Children automatically qualify for free lunches if their families receive food stamps, but in July the Trump administration proposed tightening eligibility for what was formerly called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The U.S. Agriculture Department released an analysis in October showing nearly 1 million students nationwide could be affected.

News outlets say impacted Florida households would still be eligible for free- and reduced-price meals if they individually file an application for the National School Lunch Program.

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Florida school finds alternative for frog dissections

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) — No frogs were harmed in the making of a Florida high school’s science class.

J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey began using synthetic frogs for educational dissections last Wednesday. Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning says it’s the first school in the world to use the technology.

The lives of real frogs are being spared at a cost of $150 per synthetic frog. Tampa-based developer SynDaver received funds from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to help create the “SynFrog.”

SynDaver says the fake frogs are made of water, fibers and salts and can be reused. Founder and CEO Dr. Christopher Sakezles says the synthetic frogs are also safer because there are no potentially harmful chemicals.

PETA says 3 million frogs are killed for classroom use each year.

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An earlier version of this report incorrectly reported that PETA says 1 million frogs are killed for classroom use each year, instead of 3 million.

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Ex-Florida sheriff in school shooting sues over ouster

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida sheriff ousted following the Parkland high school massacre is suing over his removal from office.

Attorneys for ex-Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel say a federal lawsuit contends Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Senate deprived him of due process and failed to follow a special master’s recommendation that he shouldn’t have been suspended from office.

The lawsuit is pending in Tallahassee federal court.

DeSantis removed Israel earlier this year, deeming him incompetent in his department’s response to the February 2018 shooting that killed 27 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. DeSantis appointed Gregory Tony to replace Israel.

Israel is running against Tony to get his old job back in the 2020 election.

Five other Democrats, a Republican and an independent also filed to run.

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Florida governor’s budget plan: Teacher pay, fewer pythons

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday proposed a $91.4 billion state budget for the fiscal year that begins in July, a spending plan he says will help attract teachers to the state while getting rid of more pythons.

The proposal is about $400 million over the current Florida spending plan. One of the largest increases in the proposal is $600 million to raise the minimum salary for public school teachers to $47,500. DeSantis said that means 101,000 teachers would see a pay increase.

It also includes a $1 million boost to hunt down and remove pythons that have overrun the Everglades.

“We are upping the investment to help eradicate the Burmese python out of the Everglades,” DeSantis said. “That’s been a problem for a number of years. The efforts have been stepped up recently. We want to go ever further and get that done.”

DeSantis has enjoyed high approval ratings since taken office in January, in part because he’s gone far beyond his predecessor, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, in pushing environmental issues. While Scott was a climate change skeptic, DeSantis has said it’s one of the low-lying coastal state’s top concerns.

DeSantis said he wants to spend $625 million a year for the next three years on environmental projects.

“That’s over $300 million for Everglades projects, $150 million for water quality improvements, $50 million to reduce nutrients in the water, $50 million for springs restoration, more than $22 million to combat the effects and impacts of algae and red tide, over $50 million for beach renourishment, $9 million to protect coral reefs,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis is also proposing creating 549 new state jobs, mostly for the Department of Corrections and to staff new nursing homes for veterans.

“The total top line recommendation is actually a decrease in per capita spending,” DeSantis said, noting the state’s population growth over the year. “The initiatives we’re doing, I think are bold, I think they’ll be very meaningful. That’s all taking place within a context of a budget that’s very, very healthy.”

The proposal is simply a recommendation, and the state’s spending plan will largely be shaped by the Legislature after it begins its session Jan. 14. Once lawmakers present him with a budget, DeSantis will be able to veto individual items.

Last year, DeSantis originally proposed a $91.3 billion spending plan. The Senate proposed a $90.3 billion spending plan and the House suggested $89.9 billion. The Legislature eventually approved $91.1 billion at the end of their 61-day session, and DeSantis vetoed $131 million out of the plan.

“Governor DeSantis’ budget recommendations reflect many priorities my Senate colleagues and I share. We very much appreciate the Governor submitting these recommendations nearly a month in advance of the deadline,” Republican Senate President Bill Galvano said in a news release. “In the coming days and weeks, we will evaluate the Governor’s budget in more detail.”

DeSantis made it a point to highlight his proposals on school spending, including $75 million to help make schools more secure. That’s $25 million more than what’s in the current budget.

And while his proposal creates more state jobs, he’s also recommending 141 be eliminated, nearly all of which are vacant. The positions are from a variety of government agencies.

While DeSantis wants $300 million for teacher and principal bonuses on top of raising teachers’ minimum salary, he isn’t proposing across the board raises for state workers.

“The Governor’s budget recommendations are most encouraging. He is to be commended for a strict adherence to fiscal restraint,” Republican House Speaker Jose Oliva said through a spokesman. “While the details of his ambitious teacher-pay program remain obscure — not a small matter — his commitment to responsible spending is crystal clear.”

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Florida Judge Draws Town’s Wrath Over School Violence Case

In this Oct. 16, 2019 photo, Baker County Sheriff's Maj. Randy Crews and Angela Callahan speak, outside at Baker County High School in Glen St. Mary, Fla. They share concern about a judge's decision to dismiss second-degree felony charges against a 15-year-old who had written a six-plan describing a massacre at the county's only high school. Each has a child attending Baker County High School.

In this Oct. 16, 2019 photo, Baker County Sheriff’s Maj. Randy Crews and Angela Callahan speak, outside at Baker County High School in Glen St. Mary, Fla. They share concern about a judge’s decision to dismiss second-degree felony charges against a 15-year-old who had written a six-plan describing a massacre at the county’s only high school. Each has a child attending Baker County High School.
—AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan

Macclenny, Fla.

Anxieties multiplied quickly across Baker County, a mostly rural community of 28,000 in northern Florida, when news spread that a 15-year-old had planned a massacre at the county’s only high school.

“MAKE SURE THE TEACHERS ARE DEAD,” he ranted in a notebook. “Then rinse repeat.”

When the sophomore shared his six-page “School Shooting Plan” with a classmate in early September, it set in motion what authorities called a textbook response to averting another Parkland school shooting, which took the lives of 14 students and three school staffers last year.

Within minutes, the student was in custody. By most accounts, parents felt reassured by the swift action of school officials and law enforcement.

But unease resurfaced last month when a judge dismissed second-degree felony charges against the boy and released him back into the community west of Jacksonville. Thursday’s shooting at a California high school—which left three students dead, including the 16-year-old gunman—only deepened their worries.

In a place where churches outnumber gas stations and traffic lights, some residents expressed compassion for the teenager but reserved less mercy for the judge, who they say failed their community and the boy she spared.

“We have a sense of safety built into this community. We trust each other, and when I drop my kids off at school, I have a feeling they’re going to be safe,” said Macclenny resident Tracy Lamb, whose 15-year-old daughter attends the high school along with about 1,400 other students.

“Our judicial system is dropping the ball. It’s failed us, and the system has failed him. I want this child to receive help,” she said. “Everybody’s left wondering now about what’s going to happen to this particular kid.”

After the Parkland shooting that killed 17, Florida lawmakers acted quickly to beef up security and improve safety across the state’s 4,300 public schools. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act widened the authority of schools and law enforcement to act against any threat to campus safety.

To authorities and school officials, one provision in the law seemed clear: Anyone who “makes, posts, or transmits” a threat of mass shooting “in any manner that would allow another person to view the threat” has committed a crime.

Judge Gloria R. Walker saw things differently and dismissed the case because she said prosecutors could not prove the threat had been transmitted as described in the law.

Walker didn’t return calls requesting comment.

Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission expressed exasperation last month when Baker County Sheriff’s Maj. Randy Crews described the incident.

That was the first time many in the county heard of the judge’s decision, and it spawned immediate outrage. Community leaders urged neighbors to bombard the judge with emails and phone calls to voice their displeasure.

“We count on the laws to keep us safe. Are there laws to do that? We thought so, and then recently we had a judge who said that the law wasn’t good enough to keep us safe, or to get this child some help,” said Angela Callahan, a middle school teacher, union officer and mother with a son attending Baker County High School.

The boy’s plan described killing teachers and fellow students in chilling detail. To maximize the carnage, he’d deploy an arsenal of knives and guns at a pep rally or some other high-traffic venue. He calculated he’d have nine minutes before squad cars and medics could reach the scene. He wouldn’t be acting alone, he hoped, having recruited at least three schoolmates who, like him, were “100% down that they might die that day.”

Investigators said the teen acknowledged writing the plan but he denied any intention of carrying it out.

The Associated Press is not naming the student because he is a juvenile.

Florida law allows authorities to hold anyone deemed a threat to themselves and others for up to 72 hours. From July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, authorities took temporary custody of 36,078 children under the Baker Act—up by 83 percent from a decade earlier. Many of those cases were initiated while a child was at school.

The Stoneman Douglas commission has called for greater state funding for mental health programs for children and wants judges to offer mental health services to children who get into trouble with the law.

That’s what folks across Baker County say should have happened when the 15-year-old appeared before Judge Walker.

The Rev. Tommy Richardson, who serves as the chaplain for the sheriff’s department, said his community is a place of forgiveness.

“I don’t think none of the community ever expected him to get life in prison,” Richardson said. “We’re a community that will help him, pray for him.”

Baker County Schools Superintendent Sherrie Raulerson declined to discuss the case but reassured residents that protocols are in place to keep students safe.

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Still, concerns linger.

Courtney Fiser, whose daughter attends the high school, said she is relieved the boy hasn’t returned to school but remains troubled by the judge’s decision.

“We work so hard to protect our children, and we have someone who is not there helping us,” she said.

Daughter Lauren, a cheerleader, described the unease on campus.

When the school intercom blared a code yellow a few weeks ago, nerves remained frayed until school officials declared it a false alarm.

“Every time the doorknob makes a noise, we’re scared,” she said. “Now, It’s just an ongoing fear.”

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An Unexpected ‘Education Governor’ and What’s Next for Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a signing ceremony at the William J. Kirlew Junior Academy in Miami Gardens for a bill creating a new voucher program for thousands of students to attend private and religious schools.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a signing ceremony at the William J. Kirlew Junior Academy in Miami Gardens for a bill creating a new voucher program for thousands of students to attend private and religious schools.
—Lynne Sladky/AP

When he was elected Florida’s governor last year, Ron DeSantis was famous for telling his daughter to “build the wall” out of toy blocks in a TV campaign ad, not for his track record on education issues. But to this point, the Republican former congressman has eagerly embraced policies that have helped make Florida a high-profile and controversial state for K-12 policy.

So far this year, DeSantis publicly and successfully pushed state lawmakers to create a new voucher program designed for middle-income families, telling them at one point to “send me a bill” to that effect. It’s intended to augment Florida’s landmark tax-credit-scholarship program. The new state-funded vouchers, called Family Empowerment Scholarships, are expected to be the subject of a lawsuit.

He signed off on the expansion of other avenues of school choice, including new funding for Gardiner Scholarships for students with special needs. He initiated a review of academic-content standards. And he approved new funding for computer science and workforce-apprenticeship programs.

DeSantis shows little sign of slowing down. For next year, he’s proposed a hike in the minimum salary for new teachers, to the tune of $603 million annually, and is looking to revamp the teacher-bonus-pay program. Early education and career-technical-education issues could also be on his radar.

His administration is eager for DeSantis to assume the mantle of past governors like fellow Republican Jeb Bush, who helped institute test-based accountability and a dramatic expansion of school choice, renowned—or infamous—in education policy circles. Earlier this month, to promote his proposal to increase new teachers’ salaries, the Florida education department called DeSantis “the next ‘education governor.’ ”

“There’s a general sense of surprise about how much attention that he has paid to K-12 education,” said Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida who studies Florida politics. He added that members of Florida’s political scene “weren’t really sure if he would have a detailed policy agenda … on things like education.”

Florida’s Footprint

The state’s polarizing status as either education’s shining star or stinking swamp, depending on people’s views on testing, choice, and labor policies, means Florida governors are never too far from major K-12 debates and decisions. Florida has the third-largest public school enrollment of any state at roughly 2.8 million students, and for roughly two decades, it has been a bellwether for debates about education policy and who should exercise control over K-12 decisions and systems.

Ryan Petty, a school safety advocate whose daughter Alaina was slain at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, highlighted the governor’s successful push to expand the state’s Guardian Program—a 2018 law allowing districts to arm some school staff—in order to specifically permit classroom teachers to carry guns, as an example of how engaged DeSantis has chosen to be.

“Governor DeSantis could have just let that play out. But he’s done more than that,” Petty said. “He has not lost the focus on this issue.”

Yet even DeSantis’ proposal to dramatically increase starting teachers’ pay is drawing some skepticism. Unions, for example, have said they want more details before fully supporting it. And more broadly, his political foes see DeSantis as the latest of Florida Republican leaders bent on undermining teachers’ unions and traditional public schools.

“There’s a lot of bad education policy that comes out of this state,” said Karla Hernandez-Mats, the president of United Teachers of Dade, the union for the Miami-Dade County school district. “They have been steadily rolling out these right-wing policies. It’s a continuation of the good-old-boys club.”

Common Core and Choice

In response to questions from Education Week about his record, DeSantis’ office provided a statement that highlights two new grant programs he signed, one for teachers in computer science and one for career pathways; increased state funding for Gardiner Scholarships; and the $7,672 in state per-student aid for fiscal 2020, which ranks relatively low among states. His office said the funding increase amounts to $242 per student, although the base per-pupil-allocation boost for this fiscal year is much lower, at just $75, according to state data.

“Governor DeSantis implemented a bold education agenda focused on removing barriers to opportunity for families, regardless of race, income, background, and ZIP code. With the help of the legislature, the governor delivered on many issues,” his office said in the statement.

As a member of Congress, DeSantis backed legislation dealing with higher education accreditation and student loans. But he was not on the House education committee and did not otherwise make a big name for himself on K-12 issues. DeSantis served in Congress from 2013 to 2018.

Before taking office as governor, perhaps DeSantis’ most prominent foray into education politics was a simple clarion call on his 2018 campaign website: “Stop Common Core.” His pledge to nix the standards tapped into long-standing conservative opposition to the Common Core State Standards. In January, DeSantis signed an executive order requiring Florida to replace the common core with new standards; this process is ongoing.

Whether this was flashy but flimsy political posturing remains to be seen. The state revised the English/language arts and math standards in 2014 amid political pressure that ultimately left much of the common core in place. The current review might turn out to be not so different. Educators recently told the Orlando Sentinel they see little need to revise the current standards, and that they worry the possible revisions could lower expectations for students.

It’s unclear if DeSantis himself will continue to weigh in or simply applaud whatever the review produces.

Elsewhere, DeSantis as a candidate in 2018 pledged to back innovation in education “coupled with choice for families and public accountability.” He certainly made good on the choice part. The accountability piece is where critics say Florida falls down on the job.

The Family Empowerment Scholarships program was perhaps his biggest triumph and a resounding success for school choice advocates in Florida and around the country, although the University of Central Florida’s Jewett stressed that the legislature played a big role.

The new program extends scholarships to families with an income of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty threshold (with a priority for families with an income of 185 percent or less of the threshold, which is $25,750 for a family of four); to families with a student in public school the prior year; and to families with a child about to enter kindergarten. For the 2019-20 school year, there’s a cap of 18,000 students. Unlike other scholarships in the state that are supported by tax credits, it receives direct state aid.

“I think Governor DeSantis has shown incredible leadership on making sure families are empowered to pick schools that best meet their child’s educational needs,” said Patricia Levesque, the CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit group founded by ex-Gov. Jeb Bush that backs choice and test-based school accountability. “It was a new program that allowed even middle-class, middle-income families to participate in finding the school that’s the best fit for their child.”

But others have sounded the alarm. Writing in the Progressive, a news website, veteran Florida education activist Kathleen Oropeza warned that the shift of state tax revenue directly into a private school choice program would only aid unaccountable private schools.

“This is a dangerous co-mingling of the already thin dollars designated for Florida’s district public schools,” Oropeza wrote.

The teachers’ union’s Hernandez-Mats was even more blunt: “For a lot of the GOP, they see public education as a cash cow.”

Looking to 2020

One of the early signs that DeSantis would make education one of his touchstones was appointing Richard Corcoran, a former Florida House speaker, as the education commissioner, Levesque said. A Republican lawmaker, Corcoran was known for his extensive advocacy for charter schools and other forms of choice during his time in the legislature.

In discussions with people close to DeSantis, Levesque said, she’s heard his administration feels a certain responsibility—if not pressure—to maintain the strong performance of the state this year in areas such as Advanced Placement scores, where Florida ranked third in the nation in terms of success rate (scores of 3 or higher) in the most recent tally.

“There’s so much good news about where Florida has been headed that we need to keep the outcomes going up,” Levesque said. “He’s actually done what he campaigned on.”

Aside from his intention to address teacher pay next year, DeSantis and Corcoran have also expressed an interest in addressing the quality early-childhood education. Levesque cited a state statistic from last year that 42 percent of the children in the state-backed, voluntary pre-K program tested as not ready for kindergarten.

Earlier this year, DeSantis also signed an executive order to help Florida become number one in the nation in “workforce education” by 2030. That tracks with a Florida Chamber of Commerce call issued last year for 60 percent of Floridians to have a “high-value” postsecondary degree, training, or certificate by the same year.

All the same, Republicans aren’t necessarily eager to simply wave through whatever DeSantis wants—especially if it costs money.

Responding to the governor’s $603 million teacher-raise pitch, Florida Speaker of the House José R. Oliva said in a tweet that he would “vet” the proposal like any other.

Instead of praising the idea, Oliva nodded toward fiscal restraint: “My initial thought is one of gratitude for those who came before us and saw it fit to bind us and all future legislatures to a balanced budget.”

Jewett said there should be no expectation the legislature passes any sort of tax increase to pay for the idea. But, he added, the odds are good the state will pass some sort of pay increase eventually, given DeSantis’ quick adaptation to state politics.

“[Ex-Gov. Rick] Scott had a reputation of not being particularly engaged with the legislature; DeSantis has taken a different approach.”

Division and Promise

Regardless of how that teacher-pay plan works out, what will continue to motivate the coalition united against DeSantis, including labor unions and many Democrats in the state, is his expansion of the state’s school choice system.

As an example of what she said was the kind of unfairness condoned by the DeSantis administration, Hernandez-Mats of United Teachers of Dade pointed to how Corcoran’s wife, as the founder of a charter school, had benefited from a 2016 bill passed by the legislature during his time as speaker dealing with state funding for construction projects. (Corcoran has denied trying to help his wife, saying that bill addressed larger issues.)

What’s happening now, Hernandez-Mats said, reflects neglect of traditional public schools at a time when Florida’s per-pupil spending on K-12 languishes at fourth from the bottom on recent state rankings. Even the teacher-pay plan is suspect, she says, because among other potential problems, it wouldn’t consider cost-of-living differences between different regions.

“Teachers do not see him as an advocate of public schools,” Hernandez-Mats said.

The expansion of the 2018 Guardian Program, which lawmakers passed after the Parkland killings, to permit districts to arm teachers, also remains divisive. Roughly half the districts in Florida now participate. Petty, the school safety advocate, said the governor backed that expansion while others might have retreated: “It was a political risk. Amongst educators, it wasn’t necessarily a popular idea. But Parkland shows how important it is to stop the killing” as quickly as possible.

He also praised DeSantis’ swift decision in January to suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel for his actions related to the Stoneman Douglas killings, although last month a special master reviewing that decision called for Israel to be reinstated.

Meanwhile, many educators in the state have excoriated DeSantis for his approach to school safety.

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“We think it’s ridiculous,” Hernandez-Mats said. “What kind of Neanderthal would think that putting more guns in any kind of setting would decrease gun violence?”

Despite the ongoing political strife over education rooted in various issues, Jewett said that the governor, with his proposal to boost new-teacher pay, is giving himself an opening to address long-standing grievances of people and groups representing traditional public schools. Those constituencies, he noted, have felt neglected in recent years by top Florida policymakers.

In this way, he said, the governor might successfully please Florida’s muscular education advocacy movement rooted in the Jeb Bush era, while also working productively with the education establishment.

“I think he is starting to make his own way,” Jewett said. “It’s possible that DeSantis might stake out some ground there where he does both.”

Vol. 39, Issue 10, Pages 1, 16

Published in Print: October 23, 2019, as Florida Governor Puts K-12 Agenda on Fast Forward

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Florida Mandates Mental Health Training for Students in Grades 6-12

After of a mandate approved by the State Board of Education on Wednesday, public schools in Florida will have to provide students at least five hours of mental health instruction starting in sixth grade.

The new rule will require students to take courses aimed at helping them identify signs and symptoms of mental illness, find resources if they are battling with depression and teach them how to help peers who are struggling with a mental health disorder.

The five-hour minimum will be included in the curriculum for grades six through 12, but it remains unclear if the classes will begin in the upcoming academic year. The policy finalized Wednesday does not include an implementation date.

Despite the ambiguity, the district plans to move forward quickly, said Kyle Dresback, St. Johns County School District’s associate superintendent for student support services.

“By November we will plan to have it mapped out so we can get it out there for teachers and students,” Dresback said.

The district will submit its plan to the state for approval after that, he said.

“It’s a good thing. This needed to happen,” Dresback said. “More information on mental health is always a good thing.”


See Also: Schools Grapple With Student Depression as Data Show Problem Worsening


Under the new rule, school districts will be able to choose the types of classes children will be required to take, according to Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters. The instruction includes courses about cyberbullying, suicide prevention and the impact of substance abuse.

When asked in late June if the department had done an analysis on whether the new five-hour instruction requirement would have an impact on time management for other required instruction, Etters didn’t comment.

The question that the St. Johns County School District needs to figure out is how to fit mental health training into the current curriculum.

“We are not quite sure about that yet,” Dresback said shortly after the vote. “Where do you add that five hours on? It will probably have to be a combination of school counselors, classroom instruction and some of our informational tools. We are not quite sure how it will end up.”

First lady Casey DeSantis, who was appointed as the Chair of the Florida Children and Youth Cabinet, led the effort to implement the new rule.

“I thank the State Board of Education for their vote today to require every Florida public school to provide students in grades 6-12 with at least five hours of mental health instruction. This is an important step forward in supporting our kids and parents,” Casey DeSantis wrote on Twitter following the vote.

The St. Johns County School District already has some programs that talk about mental health and suicide prevention, Dresback said. But one of the classes, which is taught in conjunction with physical education classes and not all students attend those classes.

Dresback said that sixth-graders in traditional middle schools, which offer grades six through eight, receive some mental health training. But students attending K-8 schools don’t get as much, he said.

One focus of the mandate is addressing mental health issues early.

DeSantis wrote, “As I travel the state, I am hearing from many families and know that 50% of all mental illness cases begin by age 14, so we are being proactive in our commitment to provide our kids with the necessary tools to see them through their successes and challenges.”

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Dresback said he supports the idea but said implementation of the mandate won’t be easy.

“In the next few weeks, we are going to have to sit down and map out what this looks like for every grade level,” Dresback said.

News Service of Florida contributed to this story.

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Florida Governor Signs Divisive Bill Allowing for Armed Teachers

Thumbnail image for Gun-signage-blog.jpg

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed into law Wednesday a divisive measure that will allow schools to arm classroom teachers, part of a longer list of school safety changes made at the recommendation of a task force that reviewed last year’s mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The bill expands eligibility for a program created a month after the February 2018 shooting that allows districts to partner with local sheriff’s offices to train and arm some personnel. The Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, named for a coach who died in the Stoneman Douglas attack, originally limited participation to non-instructional staff.

The bill DeSantis signed Wednesday removes that restriction, allowing teachers to volunteer to carry a firearm with district approval. Florida law requires all schools to have at least one armed “school guardian” or school law enforcement officer on site.

The bill signing came a day after a shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch near Denver, where a child died and eight others were injured Tuesday.

The move to arm teachers sparked strong opposition from some, including some Parkland students who packed the state capitol to protest as lawmakers considered the measure. Those students, and advocates for stricter gun laws around the country, fear that the presence of more guns in schools may cause confusion in the event of a crisis. Teachers can’t maintain the amount of ongoing firearms training necessary to respond to an active shooter situation, they argued. And some cite incidents of mishandled guns at schools around the country.

But others, including the sheriff who led the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, believe the presence of more armed adults in schools will lessen response times and deter potential gunmen.

“The schools across Florida need a change in their culture,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chaired the commission and initially opposed arming teachers, said last year. He changed his mind after viewing security footage of the shooting in Parkland.

“Yes, those teachers are great people doing great work and they need to be able to teach, but you can’t teach dead kids. Safety has to come first,” Gualtieri said.

In some states that already allow teachers to be armed, rural districts say the move provides an extra measure of security when law enforcement are far from their campuses. And a federal school safety commission chaired by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos last year in response to the Florida shooting recommended that schools consider arming teachers, but it provided no mandates or resources to do so.

And after a debate on the issue, some Democratic lawmakers have filed resolutions that would clarify that the U.S. Department of Education cannot allow school districts to use federal funds to pay for firearms or firearms training for teachers.

But it’s unlikely Broward County, home of Parkland, will take advantage of the new freedom to arm Florida teachers. Educators there spoke out in opposition to the idea in the early days after the 2018 shooting, the school board adopted a resolution in opposition, and Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony, appointed by DeSantis, has said he opposes it.

“Sworn police officers undergo extensive firearm training to respond to crisis scenarios, and we continue working on our skills and discipline throughout our careers. Teachers enter that profession to educate children, not to serve as school security,” Tony wrote in a letter to the school board.

“Not only does public opinion indicate that this is not something teachers, parents, or students want, but many recognize that stress, fear, and the rapid response needed may put both students and teachers at extreme risk,” he wrote. “Having untrained personnel carrying firearms is more likely to create a tragic scenario where innocent people can get injured or killed.”

The bill DeSantis signed also included several other measures that won broader approval, including a standardized risk assessment for students who may present a threat to themselves or others, the creation of a working group to review “campus hardening policies,” a greater flexibility in how schools can spend state money targeted toward student mental health.

Learn more about the debate over arming teachers in this story Education Week correspondent Kavitha Cardoza reported for the PBS Newshour.

Photo: Drug and gun-free school zone signs in Phoenix, Ariz. –Matt York/AP-File


Related reading on arming teachers:

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Florida Lawmakers Approve Measure to Expand Vouchers for Private Schools

News in Brief

Florida lawmakers sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a Republican-crafted bill last week to create a new voucher program for students to attend private schools, including religious ones, using taxpayer dollars traditionally spent on public schools.

The GOP-led House voted largely along party lines to authorize the $130 million Family Empowerment Scholarship program. It would be available to as many as 18,000 students in its first year, limited to families of four with annual incomes of $77,250 or less.

DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law.

Democrats contend the program would strip away money from cash-strapped public schools.

Florida already has other voucher programs, including a tax break for businesses that provide private school scholarships for low-income students. Other programs provide vouchers for students with special needs, those who are disabled, and those who are bullied.

Vol. 38, Issue 32, Pages 4-5

Published in Print: May 8, 2019, as Florida Lawmakers Approve Measure to Expand Vouchers for Private Schools

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