New College of Florida struggles through overhaul

The big story: New College of Florida has undergone dramatic, rapid change in the past six months, as Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led state Legislature have used the school as a focal point to roll out their higher education agenda.

Implementation of the contentious plan has not always gone smoothly.

An effort to attract more students to the school, which suffered low enrollment, has succeeded, for instance. But as the school used housing as an incentive to lure new students, returning juniors and seniors expecting to live in apartment-style dorms were shuffled off to mold-infested, structurally aging buildings.

Officials have started looking into solutions. But for some students, it proved one insult too many. Read more here.

The school also shifted its academic focus and its leadership style, eliminating diversity programs and denying tenure to rising faculty members. Resignations started coming soon afterward.

Now with the new semester just weeks away, New College faces 36 faculty vacancies, a number the provost calls “ridiculously high.” Read more here.

Hot topics

Superintendents: Days into the job, Hillsborough County interim superintendent Van Ayres announced an overhaul of the district’s top administrative team. Former superintendent Addison Davis meanwhile took a job with a consulting firm. • New Broward County superintendent Peter Licata took his official oath of office, the Miami Herald reports.

School rules: The State Board of Education will consider several controversial new rules when it meets at 9 a.m. today in Orlando, WKMG reports. More from Spectrum 13. You can see the agenda here, and watch the proceedings on The Florida Channel.

Salaries: A Broward County School Board member is pushing a plan to increase teacher compensation to $100,000 by 2025, WPLG reports. Some board members had concerns about how to implement the idea, WLRN reports.

Cell phones: Orange County School Board members debated whether students should be allowed to keep their cellphones in their pockets during classes, or if they should be stored elsewhere, WKMG reports.

Book challenges: The Freedom From Religion Foundation has called on the Leon County school district to ban the Bible or stop banning books, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. It acted after superintendent Rocky Hanna pulled five books from the shelves at the request of the Moms for Liberty group.

Other school news

A popular Pinellas County preschool announced it would close in August. The unexpected news left families and staff members scrambling.

The Sumter County school district closed its PREP Academy in 2010 amid declining enrollment. It’s reopening the school this fall as student numbers surge, WESH reports.

The Broward County School Board said it held an improper closed meeting to discuss software. Officials said they are working to improve their safeguards for transparency, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

From the police blotter ... An Osceola County School Board member is accused of inappropriate conduct by an 18-year-old girl, WESH reports. No charges have been filed.

Don’t miss a story. Here’s a link from yesterday’s roundup.

Before you go ... Maybe you were wondering about the Grimace shake murders? You can’t get the drink any more. But you can watch this amusing Food Theory video about the short lived trend.

• • •

Sign up for the Gradebook newsletter!

Every Thursday, get the latest updates on what’s happening in Tampa Bay area schools from Times education reporter Jeffrey S. Solochek. Click here to sign up.