The big story: Ten years ago, a Tampa-area Christian school wanted to offer prayer before its football team played in its state championship game.<\/p>\n
The FHSAA denied the request to use the public announcement system for that purpose. It raised concerns about permitting what might be considered \u201cgovernment speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cambridge Christian has been fighting the decision ever since.<\/p>\n
The school hasn\u2019t found much luck in the courts pursuing the argument that First Amendment rights were violated, though. Its latest loss could be the final one.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider the school\u2019s appeal of an appellate court ruling against it. Several high profile politicians including Florida\u2019s attorney general had called on the court to take up the case. Read more from News Service of Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n Civic education: Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady announced he would leave to bench<\/a> to head the University of Florida\u2019s Hamilton School for Classic and Civic Education.<\/p>\n Closures: The Brevard County school board will consider a hotly contested proposal to shutter a local elementary school<\/a> that has seen its enrollment decline, WKMG reports.<\/p>\n Ethics: The state has dismissed an ethics complaint<\/a> against former Polk County school board member Lori Cunningham, the Ledger reports.<\/p>\n Parking spaces: The Escambia County school district is poised to crack down on people parking on school property<\/a> for non-school events, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.<\/p>\n Phoenix Declaration: Florida House Democrats raised concerns that the State Board of Education is politicizing public education<\/a> with the adoption of the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Phoenix Declaration, Florida Phoenix reports.<\/p>\n Rezoning: The Indian River County school district received little complaint during a public hearing over plans to relocate two K-8 schools and rezone under-capacity campuses<\/a>, TC Palm reports.<\/p>\n Schools of Hope: The Miami-Dade County school district received requests from Schools of Hope operators to take up space in 85 schools<\/a>, the Miami Herald reports. \u2022 Operators are seeking access<\/a> to two Collier County schools, neither of which is low performing, WGCU reports. \u2022 Statewide, the program has drawn interest in tens of thousands of public school seats<\/a>, Florida Politics reports.<\/p>\n Security: Three Florida school districts will participate in a new state pilot program using drones<\/a> to assist law enforcement during active shooter incidents, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.<\/p>\n From the court docket … A Brevard County family has sued the school district<\/a> alleging their daughter was subjected to racial discrimination, retaliation and defamation at multiple county schools, Florida Today reports. \u2022 A federal lawsuit accuses the Palm Beach County school district of hiring a substitute teacher<\/a> who had resigned from another school for inappropriate behavior with students, WPTV reports. The teacher now faces two counts of lewd and lascivious battery against students.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a story. Here\u2019s a link to yesterday\u2019s roundup<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before you go … Could you come up with a better duet than Kermit and Debbie Harry?<\/p>\n