Florida’s incoming Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls warned of significant budget cuts due to the state’s dire financial crisis. He told participants in an online webinar last week that Florida experienced a “massive financial hit” due to Covid-19 and expects the state to take “three to four years” to recover. School districts are bracing…
BREAKING NEWS- Today, Leon County Judge Charles Dodson ruled in favor of the Florida Education Association in their lawsuit against the state. Read the Ruling here. From the Tampa Bay Times– Saying the state has “essentially ignored the requirement of school safety” in its requirement that campuses reopen in August, Leon County Judge Charles Dodson…
The lawsuit contending the state cannot force counties to open for in-person instruction passed its first hurdle Friday morning. The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and denied the state’s motion to dismiss the case. He said this case “cries out” for mediation and its complexity requires both sides to come together to work…
After stark testimony from Hillsborough’s medical advisory group, Hillsborough School Board members voted to delay the implementation of Superintendent’s school re-opening plan for four weeks. Members Stuart and Snively were the dissenting votes. After questioning by Member Shamburger, each of the health care professionals on the committee stated that they would not recommend resuming face…
Wednesday, Vice President Pence announced that, “It’s time to get kids back to school.” He spent time thanking America’s teachers for their work during the closures and thanked parents for helping to educate their children. In stark contrast, Dr. Deborah Birx from the White House corona virus task force followed the Vice President with graphs…
In a follow up presentation by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Tuesday, districts received additional guidance about reopening requirements after Commissioner Corcoran issued an emergency order Monday. Districts must offer a five day per week in-person option to families per the order. Districts must submit their reopening plans to the Florida Department of Education…
This is a breaking story. We will be updating this post with more information. Florida Department of Education announced an Emergency Order Monday. In part, the order states that school districts must reopen five days per week. Further, districts must offer a “full panoply of services” at schools so that families who want their children…
Reopening schools was the topic for Hillsborough County’s Superintendent Davis yesterday. His plan is fluid but likely allows families to have a choice. The plan was outlined in a 47 page presentation to the school board on Tuesday. Superintendent Davis outlined three plans to the board with varying options within each plan (Tampa Bay Times):…
School leaders across the country are sounding the alarm on looming budget cuts. The pandemic has led to a national fiscal crisis predicted to be worse than the Great Recession. In 2010, Congress responded with nearly $115 billion in state stimulus money to stabilize education funding. To date, Congress has only earmarked $16 billion to…
The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27th, gave an unprecedented $2 trillion economic relief to individuals, businesses, and states. $30.75 billion of that money went to the Education Stabilization Fund to assist early learning, K-12, and post-secondary institutions and students deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Department of Education will distribute those…