Pop-Tarts chewed into the shape of a gun would not be grounds for suspension under a bill passed Thursday by the House Education Committee. The bill is supposed to cut down on the number of students arrested because of zero tolerance policies. The ‘Toaster Pastry Gun Freedom Act’ is known as the Pop-Tart bill after […]

In many schools, zero tolerance discipline policies dictate harsh punishment—expulsion, suspension and arrest—for breaking rules. But, as StateImpact Florida has been reporting, some districts are reconsidering zero tolerance over concerns about a rise in the number of children arrested on campus. One of those districts walking away from zero tolerance is in Broward County, where the schools formed a […]

The Florida Board of Education meets Friday to discuss the search for a new Education Commissioner. Education advocates and community groups sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott today asking him to consider search criteria offered by people other than state board members. The coalition, led by Fund Education Now, says the Board of Education […]

A dance team at Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee has been suspended because of an alleged hazing incident off campus last weekend. FAMU Interim President Larry Robinson is putting the “zero tolerance” policy for hazing into practice. “The University takes very seriously any allegation of hazing and has moved quickly to shut the organization […]

This was a good year for us at StateImpact Florida. We launched six months ago with the mission of becoming Florida’s source for education news and analysis brought to you by NPR and WUSF in Tampa, WLRN in Miami, and WJCT in Jacksonville. We had a few successes and learned a few lessons along the […]

When is a hug innocent or inappropriate? Administrators at Southwest Middle School in Palm Bay adopted a zero tolerance, no-hugging policy so school officials would not have to differentiate. But, that policy resulted in the in-school suspension of two Florida middle school students for hugging even though the principal said it appeared innocent. Zero tolerance […]

A hug is as popular as a handshake in the South.  We greet friends and family with a hug. We bid farewell with a hug. Just tell your kids not to do it in school. Two Brevard County middle school students received a day long, in-school suspension last week after the principal saw them hugging. […]

Federal officials are concerned too many disruptive students are winding up in the juvenile justice system — and therefore not completing their education, according to Education Week‘s Politics K-12 blog. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan describes what he saw leading Chicago schools: “A small group of principals were calling the police too often to […]