Hurricane Milton took much of Florida’s attention away from education news over the past week. Many schools districts hit by the storm, including all of them in the Tampa Bay region, remain closed Monday and perhaps longer.
In Hillsborough County, schools are cleaning up in preparation for the eventual return. Many parents and students have been talking on social media about heading to their campuses to help the effort.
Officials from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties said they would announce by noon today their plans for Tuesday. See a full list of who’s open and closed today from the Florida Department of Education.
Brevard County district officials said they were able to protect the Thanksgiving holiday from being used as makeup days, Florida Today reports.
Still, some news did happen away from the storm. Here are some of the stories you might have missed.
K-12 hot topics
Public comment: Moms for Liberty claimed court victory in its legal challenge against restrictions the Brevard County school board placed on members of the public who want to speak at board meetings, Florida Phoenix reports.
Vaping: Leon County schools placed vape detectors in high school restrooms as a preventive measure, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
School zones: Alachua County and the city of Gainesville took steps to place cameras in school zones to catch speeders, MainStreet Daily News reports.
Gender discrimination: A Broward County mom of a transgender student athlete sued the school district, claiming it retaliated against her over her fight against laws barring transgender students from girls high school sports, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
In higher ed
University admissions: Some Florida universities extended their application deadlines because of Hurricane Milton, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Higher education agenda: The overhaul of New College of Florida is a “dry run” for conservatives’ plans for higher education across the nation, as laid out in Project 2025, Washington Monthly reports. • Florida public universities are removing several courses from general education requirements, suggesting they advance “woke ideology,” Politico Florida reports. Officials said the material will remain available through electives.
Pay raises: St. Petersburg College has ratified a new faculty contract that includes pay raises and increased funding for professional development, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reports.
Before you go … You know you need a cute cats and dogs video to get your week started.