PUBLIC SCHOOLS

After Monday’s devastating attack at a Christian school in Nashville, News4JAX is looking at how Duval County schools have been working to bolster safety and security at its schools.

The Florida Department of Education has banned 41% of submitted textbooks for not aligning with Florida's new standards on prohibited topics.

More than a half-dozen public high schools in Washington, D.

In this Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, photo fifth grade teacher Lauren Furst leads an online class at Meridien Public Charter School, in Washington. It's a process that D.C. Public Schools has watched closely as it plans its own return to the classroom. “There’s a tremendous amount of trial and error,” said Shannon Hodge of the D.C. Charter School Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for the charter system. An automatically strange educational challenge has been made even stranger at the Social Justice School, which has never actually functioned under non-pandemic conditions. The school received its approval from the D.C. Public Charter School Board over the summer and opened its doors for the first time this fall.

State education leaders are working to make sure mental healthcare is accessible to students and families this upcoming school year. This week, the states Department of Education and the Department of Children and Families presented a framework for how school districts can develop their mental health plans. Mental health is more important than ever as we battle a pandemic, and that care needs to be accessible to everyone. It also includes $5.5 million for youth mental health first aid. State law required that school districts should submit their approved plans to the education commissioner by Aug. 1.