Some Tampa Bay schools are taking a new approach to helping improve students’ mental health.

They’re adopting a more welcoming model that officials say will give students the opportunity to take a pause and recalibrate before situations get out of hand.

The nonprofit coalition Tampa Bay Thrives is partnering with schools to create “wellness rooms.” So far, four campuses in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have benefited from the support, with more to come.

“The sooner we can help them learn (coping mechanisms) in high school, the better they can perform and achieve. Then, the better adults they’ll be,” Brandon High principal Allison Wright said.

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The news that select charter schools have every intention to take advantage of a new law allowing them to claim unused space in district public schools caught many Floridians off guard.

That’s because the law that paved the way for this action happened with little public debate, long after lawmakers officially had ended consideration of policy matters in order to focus on their long delayed budget deliberations.

Democrats blasted the initiative and the way it went down. But the measure passed overwhelmingly, with Gov. Ron DeSantis signing it and later cheering the arrival of a New York-based charter operator Success Academy as the next “School of Hope” provider on its way.

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A new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research found Florida test scores and student behavior improved in the two years after the legislature passed restrictions on cell phones in class.

Beginning in 2023, as part of a collection of state laws known as the “Teachers’ Bill of Rights,” K-12 students were not allowed to use their phones during instructional time.

The report published this month initially found suspensions spiked in the policy’s early adoption, especially amongst Black students.

But after the first year, disciplinary actions were down. By the second year, fewer Florida kids were absent from class and test scores had improved.

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A bill recently filed in the House of Representatives would require Florida teachers to take an oath to the nation and state before starting their duties as an instructor.  

State Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, filed House Bill 147 on Oct. 13, which calls for teachers to swear to “support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and Government of the State of Florida.” 

The oath that teachers would be required to say is below in its entirety. 

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