oladhealthy Florida education news: Board appointments, tax credit scholarships, teacher vacancies and more

OFF BOARD: Gov. Ron DeSantis withdraws two Florida Board of Education appointments that Rick Scott made just before leaving office. Broward County parent Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, says he anticipates being reappointed, WLRN reports.
TAX CREDIT SCHOLARSHIPS: DeSantis announces during Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities that he wants to fully fund Florida’s tax credit scholarship program so it has no waiting list, GateHouse Media reports. More from Florida Politics, WPLG.
TEACHING VACANCIES: Volusia County schools feel the effects of not having enough full-time certified teachers in their classrooms, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. • Several Northwest Florida school districts also struggle to find qualified educators to fill job openings, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports. • More from the Palm Beach Post.
AdvertisementBOARD POLITICS: Sarasota County School Board members seek ways to get along amid wide divides on several issues, the Herald-Tribune reports. • The Lee County School Board, with a majority of new members, gets off to a rocky start, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.
OVERQUALIFIED? The Broward County school district administration blocks a School Board member from hiring her chosen executive secretary, saying the candidate — who holds a doctorate — is not qualified for the position, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
CHARTER CHALLENGE: A shuttered Osceola County charter school heads to court to challenge the school district’s action, the Osceola News-Gazette reports.
PUBLIC RECORDS: Florida Virtual School’s recent problems have gained less attention than might have been expected because of its secretive approach to public records, elearninginside.com reports. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
GO VEGAN: A Pinellas County charter school applicant aims to become the first vegan high school in Florida (and maybe the world), Raise Vegan reports.
DOCUMENTATION: A Manatee County School Board member calls for an audit of the district’s home-schooling records, amid concerns about graduation rate inflation, the Bradenton Herald reports. • Manatee board members say they weren’t informed that their choice for interim superintendent was under investigation about the grad rates, the Herald-Tribune reports.
SECURITY: The Lake County school district gets new emergency services radios for better communication with other agencies, the Daily Commercial reports. • Citrus County school district leaders ask other county officials to support changes to the state’s school guardian law, the Citrus County Chronicle reports.
TURNAROUNDS: Two Polk County schools under outside management see improvements in performance and attitudes, the Ledger reports. • A Duval County high school that struggled with test results for years sees major gains after transforming into an advanced technology magnet, the Florida Times-Union reports. • The Leon County School Board prepares to hire an outside management firm to run one of its lowest performing schools, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.