FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence at park in Tice Deputies and K9s are investigating Schandler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
FORT MYERS Frontier Airlines announces nonstop flights from RSW to San Juan, PR These flights will take off on June 2 and run 3 times a week.
NAPLES Fight to save the trees in Naples neighborhood When Sue Canfield looks up in her front yard she sees light shining through the sprawling branches of a 25-year-old Oak towering above her. The trees, which line every road in the waterways of naples, is why she choose this neighborhood but soon those very trees will be taken down.
City of Naples hosts open house workshop for Naples road projects The City of Naples is hosting an open house workshop to hear from the public regarding road improvements.
CAPE CORAL Ollie’s Pub, the home of SWFL’s local music scene, closes after 4 memorable years Ollie’s Pub, once the center of local original music in Southwest Florida, is closing after a prosperous yet arduous four years.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in Doral. Credit: via WINK News. Saying the state’s system of standardized testing in public schools is “quite frankly, outdated,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced that lawmakers will consider a proposal during the 2022 legislative session to end the Florida Standards Assessments. The statewide exams in English-language arts and math, known as the FSA, are given annually to students in third through 10th grades. DeSantis said he wants to eliminate the exams and move to a different way of evaluating students. “We are going to be ending that, and we are going to be replacing it with progress monitoring, which many school districts are doing anyway. This is short, individualized check-in assessments three times per year. This will take hours, not days, to be able to do these assessments,” DeSantis, flanked by legislators, education officials, teachers and parents, said during a news conference in Doral. Watch below or click here. DeSantis said the proposal would lead to assessing students in the fall, winter and spring, which would reduce the amount of time spent each year on testing. The state Department of Education said the proposed system will be dubbed F.A.S.T., Florida’s Assessment of Student Thinking. The governor described the proposed system as more “nimble” than administering standardized tests at the end of each school year. “It also informs teachers in real time during the school year, so that they can better help students. These progress monitoring tools will be customizable, it will even be unique to each student. It gives the ability to have timely data during the school year, so you can make the necessary corrections,” DeSantis said. The move would make Florida the first state in the nation to “switch from end of the year assessments to state standards-aligned progress monitoring,” according to a news release from the governor’s office. It also would mark a change from the approach that many Florida Republican leaders took during the past two decades. Former Gov. Jeb Bush spearheaded that approach, arguing that statewide standardized testing and accountability were needed to improve the education system. Legislation to carry out the proposal has not been filed, but DeSantis said the current school year will be the last time the standardized tests will be administered if lawmakers approve the change. Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said closing schools in spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and canceling standardized tests at the time made clear that the FSA was no longer needed. “We looked at the progress monitoring data, because that’s what we still had. And what we noticed was … the FSA is kind of antiquated. With algorithms and where we are with computer technology, we can take that progress monitoring data and have the exact same accountability system,” Corcoran said. Corcoran compared the current standardized testing system to an “autopsy,” administered at the end of the school year with data coming back that can be used in the next year. The proposal, Corcoran said, would be an ongoing “diagnostic system.” Sarah Hall, a Seminole County teacher who was named the district’s teacher of the year in 2020, said an incremental approach keeps educators more in tune with students’ progress. “This progress monitoring (provided) snapshots throughout the school year, which allowed me to not only meet the needs of my students who had some learning deficits and needed to improve, but also was able to provide me the opportunity to give my students meaningful enrichment when needed as well,” Hall said as she appeared with DeSantis and Corcoran. An emphasis on standardized testing has long drawn criticism from the Florida Education Association teachers union and many Democrats. The union, which has locked horns with DeSantis on other education issues, voiced support for the proposal Tuesday. In a statement, it said eliminating statewide standardized testing would represent “a big win for our students and public schools.” “A student’s future shouldn’t hang on one high-stakes, make-or-break test, and one test shouldn’t dominate weeks that could otherwise be used for meaningful instruction,” union President Andrew Spar said. “We welcome today’s announcement as a sign that Florida is moving closer to a system that focuses on students’ growth instead of on high-stakes standardized tests.” Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, touted the potential change on social media. “As a former educator, my ears and mind are open to what’s next! I am looking forward to teachers getting back to GENUINELY teaching and moving away from teaching to a test. This can be a bipartisan push to lessen the pressure on teachers AND students,” Jones said in a tweet. The 2022 legislative session starts in January, with pre-session committee meetings beginning next week.