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View TopicsAround the state: President Trump questions the state’s announcement that it intends to end mandatory vaccinations including for schoolchildren even as the state’s surgeon general defends it, a study suggests that a projected Florida budget surplus for the 2026-2027 fiscal year will turn into deficit the following two years because of spending on state K-12 scholarships and more, a report shows the number of Florida students using state scholarships was up 30% this past school year, and Brevard teachers agree to a three-year contract with the school district. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:
Miami-Dade: A former coach and security monitor at a Doral charter school was sentenced to seven years in state prison Friday after his conviction on charges of offenses against a student by an authority figure, video voyeurism by a school employee over the age of 18, and promoting a sexual performance by a child. Yuniesky RamÃrez MartÃnez, 39, was arrested in 2023 for directing two students to a private media classroom at Downtown Doral Charter Upper School so they could have sex without being caught on security cameras and he could watch and record them. WTVJ.
Hillsborough: A substitute teacher at the Pepin Academy in Riverview has been arrested and accused of showing sexually explicit from her phone to two minors. Tanaya Jordan, 26, is charged with selling or distributing obscene material to a minor and unlawful use of two-way communications device. WFLA.
Duval: District officials say an employee has been counseled about proper document disposal protocols after student records were found strewn in a city street in July. The files were improperly stored and mistakenly treated as regular trash, those officials said. WJXT.
Polk: A teacher has been arrested and accused of striking a student last week at Floral Avenue Elementary in Bartow. District officials say they have started the process of firing Jane McGinn. WTSP.
Pinellas: A district school bus driver has been arrested and accused of possession of child pornography. Deputies say Donte Burney, 35, had images of children between the ages of 1 and 11. WTVT. WFTS.
Pasco: District officials say they intend to build and open a new high school on the east side of the county in 2028 to relieve overcrowding at Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel highs. The new school could be a magnet, though no decisions have been made on the academic focus. Superintendent John Legg says he will brief the school board Tuesday on the plans. Tampa Bay Times.
Brevard: Teachers will receive 2% raises in each of the next three years under a contract agreement reached last week with the school district. The deal also calls for lower insurance deductibles and additional pay for school psychologists and members with advanced degrees. “In these unstable times, this three-year agreement provides the stability that both our educators and our students need,” said union president Anthony Colucci. Florida Today. Space Coast Daily. Student artwork on crosswalks and bike lanes at four schools was recently removed after an order from both federal and state officials. Florida Today.
St. Lucie: The private Creative Learning Lab Academy in Fort Pierce says it doesn’t have the money to cover payroll costs. School officials blame a holdup in funding from Step Up For Students, which helps administer state scholarships and hosts this blog. SUFS officials say 27 students had their scholarships funded in August but another 99 failed to meet the state-set statutory deadline, delaying the payments. WPTV.
Escambia: Students at Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola are expected to move into a new $40 million building early in 2026. The original building was 80 years old and had persistent problems with equipment. Up to 600 students can be accommodated in the new school, an increase of 50%. WEAR.
Leon: A Tallahassee school that was built with $11 million in tax dollars is now sitting empty after a charter school closed because of insufficient enrollment and financial instability and a private school backed out of its commitment to take over the building because of “inadequate” enrollment. Superintendent Rocky Hanna suggests that the abandoned school would be a good place for the state’s Department of Government Efficiency to investigate for waste. Hanna unsuccessfully tried to convince the school board to sue the owner for the return of the building’s furniture, fixtures and supplies. Tallahassee Democrat.
Bay: The number of English language learners in the school district has grown from 913 before Hurricane Michael in 2018 to 1,925 today, according to officials. More than 50 bilingual paraprofessionals and language assistants are now on staff for intervention, teaching, evaluation and ongoing support. WJHG.
Indian River: All school employees can now call for help from authorities through a badge that includes an alert button. Responses are determined by the number of times the button is pushed. Three clicks indicates a medical situation or a maintenance issue, and eight clicks is an alert for an intruder on campus. The same system is also used in St. Lucie and Martin schools. TCPalm.
Colleges and universities: Donald Landry could make up to $2.5 million for a year as interim president of the University of Florida, according to a proposed contract, and receive $2 million in severance if he doesn’t get the permanent job. Tampa Bay Times. The University of West Florida presidential search committee is recommending that the next president be paid between $800,000 and $1.2 million a year. Pensacola News Journal. Polk State College’s chief financial officer for foundation and alumni is alleging that president Angela Garcia Falconetti redirected scholarship money overseen the Polk State Foundation to cover unpaid student fees. Lakeland Ledger. A former senior member of the state-led transformation of New College is now calling for the school to be privatized to protect it from state control. Suncoast Searchlight. A survey by the American Association of University Professors discloses that 31% of Florida faculty have applied for jobs outside the state. Florida Phoenix.
Trump on state vaccines: Florida’s announcement that it plans to eliminate mandatory vaccinations for schoolchildren was questioned by President Donald Trump last week. “I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated,” he said. “Look, you have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine, I happen to think is amazing. A lot of people think that covid is amazing.” Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, acknowledged to CNN on Sunday that no data analysis was conducted before the decision was made. “Do I need to analyze whether it’s appropriate for parents to be able to decide what goes into their children’s bodies? I don’t need to do an analysis on that,” he said. Miami Herald. The Hill. Politico Florida. Florida Politics. USA Today. Sun Sentinel. CNN. Tampa Bay Times. It’ll be 90 days before Florida’s plan to drop school vaccine mandates will start, the health department said Sunday. When it does, it will cover only chickenpox and a few other illnesses unless the Legislature extends it to other diseases such as polio and measles. Associated Press.
State budget outlook: Florida will have a $3.8 billion surplus in the 2026-2027 budget year, according to projections by state economists. But their projection warns that if spending trends continue, that surplus will turn into deficits of $1.5 billion and $6.6 billion the following two years. They say that spending increases on K-12 schools and vouchers, Medicaid expenditures, the health insurance program for state workers and an emergency response fund will drive the deficits. USA Today Florida Network. Politico Florida.
Property tax talk: A 37-member Florida House committee will begin looking at ways to revise property taxes, but will not consider Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call to end the taxes or make direct payments to homeowners from state funds. Property taxes are the largest source of revenue for 51 of 67 counties and a major source of funding for local schools. The first hearings are scheduled Sept. 22-23. USA Today Florida Network.
School library books: A free speech advocacy group has advised Florida school districts that they should resist state pressure to remove thousands of school library books after a federal court ruled that the 2023 law barring books describing sexual content is unconstitutional. USA Today Florida Network.
Around the nation: The number of U.S. students using public funds to attend private schools was up 25% this year, according to an analysis by EdChoice, a pro-school choice advocacy organization. A little more than a million students used choice funds in last year, but this past year the total was about 1.3 million. In Florida, scholarship enrollment went from 345,223 in 2023-2024 to 449,467 in 2024-2025, a jump of 30%. K-12 Dive.
Opinions on schools: There is no immediate cure for the ignorant anti-vax quackery infecting the halls of power from Washington, D.C., to Tallahassee, but we’d better come up with one quick. Sun Sentinel. By pushing for the elimination of mandatory vaccinations, Florida is endangering our children. Scott Rivkees, Tampa Bay Times. Florida’s food stamp accountability should extend to the school vouchers program. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. The state continues to pour millions into the Schools of Hope program charter schools created to serve students in Florida’s poorest, lowest-performing schools even though the evidence shows they are producing results no better, and sometimes worse, than district-run schools facing the same challenges. Crystal Etienne, Orlando Sentinel.
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