The Sarasota County School Board got straight to business at its first meeting of the new year.
The board discussed a tentative facilities budget, potential science textbooks and the ongoing debate over cell phone use in schools at its first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday. The meeting was the first under the board’s new once-a-month meeting schedule and the first to employ a new online public comment registration, changes implemented in the name of efficiency.
Sarasota County Schools releases shortlist for potential K-12 science textbooks
The board advertised the district’s recommended instructional materials for K-12 science. Tuesday’s public hearing allowed speakers to provide input on the listed publishers before the board votes.
Five speakers were mostly uniform in their concerns that the list was too limited and that state guidelines could promote censorship.
Ken Miller, a Brown University biology professor and author of a high school chemistry book published by Savvas, told the Orlando Sentinel last July that his publisher removed 90 pages from the book regarding climate change to adhere to “Florida edition” standards. The directive followed a bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last May that deleted most references to climate change from state law.
Though Savvas isn’t listed as a finalist for Sarasota County’s high school chemistry textbook, commenters considered Miller’s testament a warning for the kind of restrictions the county could face. Robin Williams, a former science teacher, said state guidelines take books that other students nationwide use out of the running for Florida students.
“It is book banning when virtually all our science textbooks have to be Florida editions,” Williams said. “What was removed from the Florida editions? What was modified to not offend?”
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The board did not respond to public comment, as the hearing was only intended for public input and not member discussion. Board members have the opportunity to comment when they vote on the final textbooks in February.
However, board member Liz Barker noted that selections were notoriously difficult to determine. As a former member of a K-5 math textbook selection committee, Barker said the process was thorough and rigorous, and she commended those serving on this year’s selection committee for their work.
“It is hours and hours and hours of painstaking reviewing and rating textbooks,” Barker said. “It is not a willy nilly process.”
Below are the listed finalists for science textbooks:
Elementary school
McGraw Hill, Discovery, Savvas
Middle school
Comprehensive science 6-8: McGraw Hill, Savvas
Physical science: McGraw Hill
High school
Astronomy: National Geographic Cengage
Chemistry: McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage
Forensic: National Geographic Cengage
Physics: Pasco Scientific, Kiddom
Marine Science: McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage
Biology: McGraw Hill, Savvas
Environmental: Savvas, McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage
Earth space science: McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage
Anatomy: McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage
A committee of parents, teachers and other county education personnel will select a textbook in each category among the finalists before the school board votes to approve the final list at its next meeting Feb. 18. McGraw Hill, National Geographic Cengage, Pasco Scientific and Savvas published the county’s chosen science textbooks for the current school year.
The Florida Department of Education has yet to release its list of approved publishers for the 2025-26 school year, though its 2023-2024 list — the latest available on its website — includes 12 approved publishers across all grade levels.
Sarasota School Board adopts tentative five-year work plan
The board adopted a tentative five-year facilities work plan that projects a cumulative revenue total north of $1.7 billion and around $1.1 billion in costs. Revenue sources include a combination of local funds like those from the county’s recently approved millage referendum and state funds from the state’s Public Education Capital Outlay program.
Several new schools either slated for or amid construction between this school year and the 2028-29 school year are listed in the report:
Lorraine Road and Clark Road K-8 school
Wellen Park High School
Wellen Park K-8 school
Lakewood Ranch elementary school
North Port Woodlands high school
North Port elementary school
Other projects scheduled later include a stadium enhancement for Venice High School, a science wing refresh for North Port High School and a total rebuild for Garden Elementary. The board also approved materials contracts for LED lighting installation, air conditioning installation and radio communication systems as more immediate provisions.
The work plan projects a $112 million district payout to charter schools in the five-year stretch. Among the district’s 14 charter schools, only College Preparatory Academy at Wellen Park is private and only State College of Florida Collegiate School is fully state sponsored. The remaining 12 are funded through a combination of state and local funding.
The district’s work plan projects Sarasota County charter schools will enroll more than 7,400 students in the 2028-29 school year. Charter schools currently enroll 7,231 students, while the work plan estimates more than 37,000 students are currently enrolled in public schools.
Cell phone use debate persists, will appear on future workshop agenda
A long-brewing debate on cell phone use in schools resumed at the end of the meeting. Though the county is in compliance with state standards on cell phone use, board member Tom Edwards said the board should revisit the conversation to potentially institute specific district standards.
Board members indicated they’d be open to discussing the cell phone issue at a workshop, instructing Superintendent Terry Connor to add the item to a future agenda. The topic was particularly pertinent for board member Bridget Ziegler, who’s advocated for restrictions on student cell phone use for most of her decade-long tenure on the board.
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Ziegler has long pushed for what she calls a “bell-to-bell” ban — or a ban from the beginning of the school day to the end of the school day — on cell phone use. She cited data on cell phones and social media damaging students’ mental health as reasons to restrict use.
“It has been proven over and over again through studies that it does have a detrimental impact,” Ziegler said. “I know exactly where I stand on this. I don’t mind being the one on the island.”
The debate is complicated by the issue of school safety, with parents advocating to preserve direct contact with their students in case of an emergency. Though she hasn’t taken a definitive stance on the cell phone issue, board member Barker said that, as a parent, she’s reassured by the ability to contact her children via their cell phones.
“We want our children, when they get on the bus on the morning, to come home to us in the afternoon,” Barker said. “I’m very torn, but I welcome the conversation.”
Contact Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Heather Bushman at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.
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