Last day to apply for Florida Prepaid this season

from the MiamiHerald:
The deadline to enroll in the Florida Prepaid College Plan and lock in current tuition rates is Thursday.

For those who wait until next year to start investing in their childs education, the cost of tuition could rise as much as 8 percent, on top of other fees.

CBHS SAC member Sasso wins Dem nod

from floridatoday.com:
In the race to replace state Rep. Bob Allen, Democrat Tony Sasso and Republican Sean Campbell won primaries Tuesday to advance to a special general election less than a month away.

On the Republican side, CBHS grad Lance Armstrong was defeated by Sean Campbell.

BCC enrollment booming

from floridatoday.com:
Brevard Community College enrollment jumped 12.4 percent this spring semester over last spring, the largest increase the school has experienced in more than 12 years.

Experts expect the numbers to keep increasing as unemployment and economic troubles push more people to seek higher education and the Florida State university system continues to limit freshman enrollment.

Career academies to expand with state funding

from floridatoday.com:
Brevard Public Schools received more state money — $629,000 — this year than any other Florida district to develop and implement high school career academies.

Alumnus Colin Makepeace profiled

from Florida Today:
Next season, Colin Makepeace would be happy to let someone else lead Wisconsin Lutheran in tackles. The freshman safety feels a little guilty that he led the Warriors in tackles with 74 (52 solo, 22 assisted).

BoG approves more tuition hikes and enrollment cuts

from Tallahassee Democrat:
Full-time students at Florida universities will see a $93 increase in tuition per semester due to a Board of Governors decision today.

Also, universities’ administrators are directed to cut enrollment to absorb $157 million in state budget cuts.

St. Pete Times coverage
Florida Today coverage

A couple of important notes…it is contested whether or not the Board of Governors has the authority to raise tuition and if not, whether Governor Crist would support another tuition hike from the legislature. Even so, this type of hike would be covered by Bright Futures unless masked as a “technology fee.”

Of much greater importance to CBHS students is the very real chance that the incoming classes as UF, FSU, USF, and UCF for the upcoming fall could be cut back even as acceptance letters are ready to be mailed to current seniors.

Boys soccer team advances

From Florida Today:
COCOA – It was a busy night for Rockledge High goalkeeper Daniel Happel, at times more so than others.

Cocoa Beach made it that way, pushing offensively to the very end in a 4-0 Class 4A, District 13 district semifinal victory at Cocoa’s stadium. The Minutemen, now 16-3-3 advanced to Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game against Merritt Island.

School board sets IB/MYP boundaries

floridatoday.com coverage

By a vote of 4-1 (Amy Kneessy dissenting), the Brevard County School Board voted to set boundaries that could cut the IB/MYP programs at Cocoa Beach by up to half over the next 6 years. Ouch!

For the record, many parents and several students spoke on this issue during 4 separate school board meetings including tonight’s public hearing. Not a single one of these speakers argued in favor of the boundaries, or of adding new MYP/IB programs.

Public hearing on boundary issue tonight

from floridatoday.com:
Brevard Public Schools wants to give more students the opportunity to enroll in rigorous secondary programs, but expanding the number of schools that offer this accelerated learning could require sending top-performing students into some of the countys poorest neighborhoods.

Interesting that on the day of public hearing comes Florida Today’s first coverage of this issue. School board agenda is here. Do not miss the school board meeting tonight if you want the chance to impact the future of Cocoa Beach High School forever.

New College courts out of state-ers

from the Herald-Tribune:
New College is breaking ranks with the unwritten rule of the state university system, which is to allow fewer than 10 percent of students to come from outside the state. The timing of New College’s initiative has made the reception even more chilly.The Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s 11 universities, agreed in July to freeze freshman enrollment through 2011. The board plans to ask the Legislature in the spring for money to allow a larger class, but state university officials doubt that they will receive what is needed in time for this fall.

While the case of New College is extreme, it points to larger problems facing the state university system. An estimated 4,200 more college-bound high school seniors likely to apply to state schools will graduate this spring than last. The state predicts there will not be enough room at the state’s four-year universities, forcing some qualified students to attend community colleges.