CEO Message

Florida's Future is Powered by Public Schools

Public schools are the cornerstone of every community, and the belief that it takes a village to raise a child is central to the mission of public education. As we enter the second half of the 2025–26 school year, I want to commend everyone that plays a role in supporting our students in the pursuit of their dreams.

As educators, we witness and celebrate the daily successes and positive impact of public education. In recognition of this, FADSS President Dr. Jose Dotres and the FADSS Board have directed the launch of a statewide communications initiative designed to elevate public awareness of the value and impact of Florida’s public schools and the successes of our students.

This effort has been developed in collaboration with a Superintendent Steering Committee chaired by Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay, along with a District PIO Steering Committee co-chaired by Jaquelyn Diaz, PIO for Miami Dade County Public Schools, and Jason Geary, Senior Communications Director for Polk County School District. The campaign will officially launch next week under the unifying theme, Florida’s Future: Powered by Public Schools.

Florida Sets Highest Graduation Rate

 in State’s History at 92.2%

During the State of the State, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida’s public high school graduation rate reached a record-breaking 92.2% for the 2024-25 school year. This marks the highest graduation rate in Florida’s history. The rate increased 2.5 percentage points over the prior year and has climbed 4.9 percentage points since 2021-22!

This accomplishment reflect the hard work and dedication of Florida’s public school students, teachers, administrators and staff, parent, volunteers, local community entities and businesses, and all stakeholders.

With results like this, there is no doubt that “Florida’s Future is Powered by Public Schools.”

Read the full DOE press release HERE.

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds 
on the heel that has crushed it.

— Mark Twain

Chief Executive Officer Leadership Development Program (CEOLDP) Cohort 2026!

At the end of this month, 21 superintendents will be at Eckerd College to start their year long journey to achieve CEOLDP certification. Written into Florida Statute in 1986, this program provides for a two-phase approach.

Phase one is the content-knowledge-skills phase (the component taught at Eckerd), which is a formalized training program that focuses on the information and skill development necessary for highly effective superintendents. Phase two is the competency acquisition phase in which each superintendent has a structured opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in phase one for the continuous improvement of the school district.

Each superintendent engaged in phase two designs a Learning Project to address the improvement needs of their districts, with the focus on student outcomes, and carries out the project for one year. There is also an extensive evaluation component, with a series of regular written submissions culminating in a presentation in front of a panel of evaluators. On the successful completion of both phases and demonstrated successful performance, as determined by the evaluators, superintendents are issued a Chief Executive Officer Leadership Development Certificate, and elected superintendents are awarded an annual salary supplement paid by the Florida Department of Education (appointed superintendents may have this award written into their contract).

We wish everyone in this cohort all the best as they take this next step in their personal and career growth and look forward to supporting them on their journey. 

Dr. Brennan Asplen, 
St. Johns County School District

Dr. Danielle Brewer,
 Marion County School District

Denise Carlin, 
Lee County School District

Dylan Tedders, 
Okeechobee County School District

Gina Geiger, 
Gilchrist County School District

Hunter Nolen, 
Jackson County School District

Jackie Pons, 
Jefferson County School District

John Legg, 
Pasco County School District

Jonathan Prince, 
St. Lucie County School District

Karen Pickles, 
Madison County School District

LaShakia Moore, 
Flager County School District

Dr. Laurie Breslin, 
Manatee County School District

Logan Brown, 
Sumter County School District

Mark McQueen, 
Bay County School District

Richard Myhre, 
Wakulla County School District

Dr. Scott Hebert, 
Citrus County School District

Sonja Bennett, 
Hardee County School District

Tammy Boyle, 
Levy County School District

Thomas Register, 
Washington County School District

Wyatt Milton, 
Baker County School District

Donna Garcia, 
Heartland Education Consortium Executive Director

FADSS 2026 Spring Conference

The legislative session has just begun here in Tallahassee, and we are already looking forward to seeing everyone at the Caribe Royale in Orlando on April 8^th for Spring Conference, where there will surely be plenty to discuss from this 2026 regular session. Superintendent registration was sent out last week, along with hotel booking information, While the last day for registration is March 13, please register early if possible. As a reminder, this conference is for superintendents only.

A draft agenda will be sent out at the beginning of March, but If you have any questions regarding conference programming, please contact Katrina Figgett; or for issues with the registration portal, please contact Kim Chapman.

OECD Resources

The OECD has a number of upcoming webinars in their Education and Skills series that may be interesting to you and others in your district.

The first is the launch of OECD’s digital education outlook 2026 on January 19 where OECD experts will take questions and discuss the latest findings from their new report, Digital Education Outlook 2026: Exploring effective uses of generative AI in education, which looks at whether GenAI can enhance learning when used within clear pedagogical frameworks and the dangers of relying on these new tools without teacher guidance or input.

The second is on January 28 and is a discussion centered on the question “are high-stakes exams and assessments still relevant?” This webinar will reflect findings from a new OECD report The Theory and Practice of Upper Secondary Certification. A panel of experts will consider how countries design their certificates and look at the ways in which they balance exams and teacher assessments to recognize important skills like problem-solving, creativity and collaboration.

You can register for all upcoming webinars here or check out recordings of previous events. Registering will mean that the recording will be sent to you even if you are unable to attend live. 

Legislative Update

By Brian Moore, FADSS General Counsel

This week marked the start of the 2026 Legislative Session on January 13^th. The annual flood of bills filed in the last two weeks before the start of session finally ended, and the Senate President and Speaker of the House kicked off the session with their annual address to their chambers. Governor DeSantis then provided his final State of the State speech before both chambers.

In some years, the pre-session committee weeks include a lot of work on some of the early-filed bills, but this was not one of those years, as the committees focused on broader issues for the most part. However, the House did manage to complete the committee process for HB 145 – Suits Against the Government, and the Senate completed its committee meetings for CS/SB 318 – Educational Scholarship Programs, both of which are addressed below. Both of these bills were also passed by their respective chambers this week and should have the attention of all school districts.

FADSS has already identified at least 250 bills to keep an eye on this session, but more than half of those were filed within the last two weeks and still need further review while we identify any more to add to, or perhaps remove from, the list. As these bills start moving through the committees, FADSS will start narrowing its focus appropriately. As with most years, some of the bills contain new ideas, and others bring back issues that have been filed before. The two bills mentioned above are prime examples. 

HB 145 addresses sovereign immunity, which has been addressed in multiple bills for the last several years. Currently, state agencies and local governments, including school districts have sovereign immunity caps set at $200,000 for an individual claim and $300,000 in the aggregate. HB 145 would increase the individual limit to $500,000 and the aggregate limit to $1 million for claims that accrue on or after October 1, 2026. Perhaps more importantly, the bill would also remove the requirement that settlements above the cap limit be required to go through the claims bill process in the Legislature, and it would prohibit public entities from conditioning any insurance liability coverage on the enactment of a claims bill. There are concerns that these two provisions will make it difficult to price and then pay for appropriate coverage, as well as render the limits more of a suggestion than an actual cap. 

The Senate also has a bill addressing sovereign immunity. SB 1366 – Claims Against the Government – was filed a few days before the start of session. By comparison, it would raise the limits more in line with the Consumer Price Index to $300,000 and $450,000, and it does not include the provisions that would make budgeting for and pricing insurance policies more difficult.

As for CS/SB 318, education scholarship programs obviously are not new, but the bill includes many proposed fixes to some of the accounting issues and other concerns that have arisen with Florida’s increasing expansion of school choice and the use of vouchers or tax credits. For example, CS/SB 318 would require that the scholarship funds be separated from the funds for the operation of local district and charter public schools. It also includes several other accountability and control measures to help make sure that these funds truly follow the student as families exercise the choices available to them. The rapid expansion of these programs in the last few years exposed some gaps that created funding issues for both public schools and scholarship students, and this bill is intended to eliminate those gaps significantly. The House does not yet have a companion bill, but that is something that we may see arise through one of the House committees in the coming weeks.

Obviously, these two subjects touch upon only a small slice of all the issues that will be addressed over the coming weeks. There are bills addressing artificial intelligence, charter schools, required instruction, and many more that could affect school districts, as well as several bills more broadly aimed at local governments, like property tax proposals and the already-mentioned sovereign immunity.

As always, the FADSS team will be keeping track and doing its best to keep school districts informed as the session moves forward, and we are always ready to respond to any superintendent questions. It is sure to be another exciting year!