Bay area school boards discuss how to implement newly passed Florida education laws

TAMPA, Fla. - Two school districts in the Tampa Bay area held workshops Tuesday to begin trying to figure out how to implement more than a dozen new Florida education laws recently passed by the legislature.

Hillsborough County school board members acknowledged they have a challenging task ahead of them.

"I think this is probably the most laws that have ever been implemented in a session, and a lot of them are with education. So I think it's really important as a board that we're knowledgeable of that," said Nadia Combs, Hillsborough County's school board chair.

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The law that's received the most attention is House Bill 1069, which is a sweeping new set of regulations impacting materials in school libraries and media centers, reproductive health education and discussions about gender identity. It also prohibits the required use of students' preferred gender-related pronouns.

Board members in Hillsborough County disagreed about whether these new rules may drive teachers away from the district.

"We have to make teaching a job where people want to go, not just financially, but also that they don't have some fears," said Combs.

"The idea is that when you go to school, it's all going to be about reading, writing, math, science, social studies, history, and it's not going to be about the social and personal issues," Patti Rendon, another school board member, told FOX 13.

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Other new laws include one that affects how districts teach African American history and another that bans cell phone use during class.

House Bill 1 has created some school leaders to fear a financial drain because it allows any family to apply for vouchers, including those whose students are in private school or home school.

The Polk County school board began having similar discussions during its workshop Tuesday afternoon.

For now, Hillsborough school board member Henry "Shake" Washington offered this advice: "We don't have to panic. We're doing just fine. It's just going to take time for us to complete the task and do the things that we need to do."

In some cases, school boards are waiting for guidance from the Florida Board of Education before finalizing any decisions.