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The latest round of a controversial state survey of Florida college and university students includes a slew of new questions probing how their political views have affected relationships on campus — and whether it’s hard to be friends with people who have voted for Joe Biden or Donald Trump.The anonymous and voluntary annual survey — which is loaded with ideological political and free speech questions — was distributed by email and text to public higher education students and was to be completed by Friday. Some students said they viewed participation in the survey as a responsibility. Others, along with faculty members, expressed skepticism about the survey's content, methodology and security.
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After more than 1,200 objections were filed to school-library books and other materials last school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will limit challenges by some people.The wide-ranging bill (HB 1285) also includes making changes designed to ease the process of charter schools taking over operations at traditional public schools that lag in performance.
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Lee County school board members learned their current superintendent, Christopher S. Bernier, wanted to end his reign over the past weekend. In spite of knowing his intentions to no longer serve in Lee County at least past this fall's election, they seemed stunned by the suddenness. They then turned again to Ken Savage. He had been interim superintendent prior to Bernier's appointment in 2022.
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Christopher S. Bernier has lead the 9th largest school district in the state since May 2022. Ken Savage is expected to take over as interim superintendent — again.
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A behind-the-scenes look of the new Mote Science Education Aquarium was provided recently as construction continues and the facility gets closer to its anticipated 2025 opening date. Mote SEA differs from other aquariums and attractions since science and education is in its name and is the focal point for all guest experiences.The new facility will embody Mote’s vision of Oceans for All, doubling the number of visitors exposed to marine science each year and providing no-cost opportunities for schools to utilize specialized STEM teaching labs to ensure that every child has hands-on marine science and technology experiential learning opportunities.
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Craig Kowalski has accepted the position of Chief of Police for Florida Gulf Coast University and will begin work officially on April 15.The acceptance was announced Thursday by David Vazquez, Vice President of Administrative Service and Finance.
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Registration for Voluntary Prekindergarten is now open for summer programs in Lee, Collier, Hendry and Glades Counties. The free educational program is available to 4-year-olds that reside in Florida, regardless of family income.Voluntary Prekindergarten gives children a jump-start by preparing them for school and enhancing their pre-reading, pre-math, language, and social skills. VPK classrooms are taught by certified teachers with a focus on school readiness and social and emotional well-being. By developing the early skills children need to become strong students, they are more likely to be successful in school.
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A local organization has distributed nearly two million books to children since 2005.
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A staggering 64 percent of Collier County public school employees who took part in a survey say they fear they will have to leave their jobs because of lack of affordable housing.
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he U.S. Education Department said it has discovered a calculation error in hundreds of thousands of student financial aid applications sent to colleges this month and will need to reprocess them — a blunder that follows a series of others and threatens further delays to this year’s college applications.A vendor working for the federal government incorrectly calculated a financial aid formula for more than 200,000 students, the department said Friday. The information was sent to colleges to help them prepare financial aid packages but now needs to be recalculated — even as the department works through a backlog of more than 4 million other financial aid applications.