January 19-22, 2013
Broward County Public Schools Announces New BCPS Calendar of Public Meetings & Events
The District is excited to announce the launch of a new BCPS Calendar of Public Meetings and Events on the District’s website http://www.browardschools.com/bcpscalendar/index.asp
Broward School Board questions district's class reduction strategy
The
Broward School Board is expected to finalize its plan to reduce class
size on Tuesday, with hopes of lessening a $5.6 million fine for not
meeting the state mandate. If the district submits the plan by Feb. 1,
the state will reduce the fine to $1.3 million. But some school board
members are concerned the district is pushing too many students into
already over-enrolled advanced placement classes in an attempt to avoid
fines for crowded classrooms.
Broward school workers going elsewhere for health insurance
Broward County
third-grade teachers Kimberly and David Plaksin are stuck. Expecting
twins next month, the Plaksins can't get around having to pay Broward County
Schools' high health insurance rates for dependents – rates so high the
majority of those who work at the sixth-largest school district in the
nation refuse to pay, going elsewhere if they can. From the lowest-cost
option to the highest, Broward County's
largest employer offers its 26,500 employees health care premiums to
cover spouses and children that far outpace rates paid by employees in
other South Florida school districts.
Broward district changes school-naming guidelines
With
hundreds of schools,stadiums and athletic fields under its care,
Broward’s school district has no shortage of facilities that are named
after people, living and dead. But getting your name onto a Broward
school campus will be tougher from now on, after School Board members
recently gave final approval to stricter naming guidelines. Entire
schools can now only be named after deceased individuals, and portions
of a school campus can only be named after elected officials or district
employees if that person has been out of office, or off the district’s
payroll, for at least two years.
After Sandy Hook, teachers prepare for classroom battle
There
was a time when classrooms were not potential "kill zones," when
teachers had no call for martial arts, when staplers, chairs and books
were tools, not weapons. But that was before horror of the Sandy Hook school shootings.
Miami-Dade, Broward grapple with how to put more police officers in schools
South
Florida’s police and elected officials say they want a cop assigned to
every public school, but turning that dream into reality is proving
complicated. Politicians and police in South Florida grappled Friday
with how to man every public school with a police officer, but a
consensus solution still seems a long way away.
January 23, 2013
Broward to hold re-engagement fair for dropout students
It's
not too late to graduate, according to officials at the Broward school
district. They will be hosting a re-engagement fair Feb. 2 for students
that left high school before earning their diplomas. The fair will help
individuals who attend learn what the requirements are to obtain their
diplomas and offer education options and training opportunities.
A generation of growth: Broward Education Foundation launches 'Garden Delights – Team Up for Healthy Choices'
Students
in Broward Schools consume 2 million servings of chicken nuggets, 3.4
million servings of pizza and 10 million pouches of juice each year,
which is considered by some to be contributing to the epidemic of U.S. obesity.
In an effort to help curb that trend and encourage kids to eat more
fresh vegetables, the Broward Education Foundation has launched "Garden
Delights - Team Up for Healthy Choices" with more than $50,000 in
donations from the Health Foundation of South Florida, Wells Fargo and
Flamingo Road Gardens Nursery.
Runcie earns top marks from Broward School Board
The
transportation blunder that left thousands of students stranded at the
start of the school year has overshadowed many of Superintendent Robert
Runcie's accomplishments to date, the Broward School Board said Tuesday.
In an interim evaluation Tuesday, the board praised Runcie's visionary
leadership and ability to foster a culture of collaboration and
teamwork. He was given an overall rating of "highly effective" for
securing a teacher pay raise, winning a $48 million grant for teacher
evaluation reforms, and having more than 80 percent of schools receive a
state-issued A or B grade.
Broward schools superintendent earns high marks
The
Broward schools chief is lauded for restoring art and music into the
classrooms, and seeing to it that teachers got raises. But he’s also
chided for his handling of late and no-show buses. The honeymoon may be
long over, but Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie still boasts
the solid support of the majority of the Broward School Board — with
six board members rating Runcie “highly effective” during his latest
semi-annual performance review.
