Meningitis forum held

from floridatoday.com:
Concerned parents sought answers Tuesday night about bacterial meningitis after a 17-year-old female student was diagnosed with the disease a day earlier.

At the hour-long information meeting at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High, questions from the 40 parents centered on the meningitis vaccine, the incubation period for the disease-causing bacteria and symptoms.

The afflicted student remained in critical but stable condition at an Orlando hospital, health department officials said. No further information about her was given.

Sasso wins House seat

 Congratulations to Tony Sasso, a CBHS SAC member and dad to 2 recent CBHS alums.

from floridatoday.com:

VIERA – Brevard County’s state legislative delegation this morning welcomed Tony Sasso as its newest member.The former Cocoa Beach commissioner won Tuesday’s special election to represent House District 32, replacing Bob Allen.

Summer programs for the brainy

Still not committed to summer plans? Here’s a database of summer programs for academically oriented kids.

Cogito – Programs – Summer

Amendment would ease looming class size costs

from floridatoday.com:
TALLAHASSEE — School districts would get some breathing room from constitutionally mandated class-size limits under a proposal that advanced this morning in the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission.

Supporters say the measure that passed the Governmental Services Committee would save districts $3.6 billion over the next two years by allowing districts to calculate class sizes based on a district average rather than the school-based average mandated by a 2002 constitutional amendment.

CBHS student has bacterial meningitis

from floridatoday.com:

COCOA BEACH — A female student at Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High has been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, a fast-acting, potentially deadly disease.

The Brevard County Health Department confirmed the case today and plans to meet with parents and students at the school at 7 p.m. Tuesday to answer any questions and provide additional information.

College Board sues tiny Texas test prep company

from CNN.com
The owner of the SAT and PSAT exams sued a Dallas-area test-preparation company Wednesday, accusing it of illegally obtaining copies of “live” test questions that it then used to help students practice.

Record rejections from UF

from the GainesvilleSun.com
There was plenty of elation and heartbreak in the homes of high schoolers this weekend.
Continue to 2nd paragraph

The University of Florida, which has made a habit of giving a lot of bad news to would-be Gators in recent years, sent out acceptance and rejection letters Friday.

As tradition would have it, most applicants were disappointed. Of the 27,865 who applied to UF this year, only 10,289 were admitted. Thats a 37 percent acceptance rate, a little lower than normal.

FSU tightens requirements, saddens many

Just a reminder that tomorrow (February 20) is our second notification day and that students will be able to access their decisions at 12:01 a.m. Over 10,000 applicants will receive a decision and, unfortunately, for over 2/3’s of them, it will not be the news they were hoping for. Because of budget reductions and overenrollment, the University is reducing the size of this year’s freshman class to 5,300 students. This means that for our last two notification dates, standards will be increasing significantly. You will definitely notice this difference when you receive your status reports… many of the students admitted in November would not have been admissible for these last two notifications. The middle 50% of students who are being offered admission tomorrow have a core grade point average of 3.8-4.3, SAT scores of 1220-1350, and ACT scores of 26-30.

We will ultimately turn down some very good students; however, the University is overenrolled by approximately 1,500 “unfunded” undergraduate students and has no choice but to reduce that student population. For more information on why this is happening, please refer to FSU’s homepage at Florida State University and link to “Florida’s Financial Crisis – An Unnatural Disaster”.

We expect the phones to be ringing off the hooks tomorrow. In the meantime, don’t forget your tissues, and that for those students who really want to be here, we will try to provide options.
janice
P.S. CARE is also at capacity and has a waitlist.

Janice Finney
Director of Admissions
Florida State University

Florida Today looking for input

Ed Input Info and Application:

We’re seeking parents, educators, students and taxpayers to participate in our newly formed education panel. We want representatives who have a stake in public, private and charter schools as well as higher education. It won’t involve any meetings, just an occassional e-mail answer to our queries.

Former Beach stars put on a show at Clemente Center

from floridatoday.com:
And in final the Brevard County battle of former Cocoa Beach High stars, Florida Tech senior guard Carl McNally and Florida Southern junior guard Braxton Williams both came away with something to brag about over the summer.

McNally scored a “lifetime” high 34 points and was 10-for-17 from the floor — 11-for-14 from the free throw line — while also picking up four steals.

Williams had 11 points, including a pair of late 3-pointers and two free throws that helped seal the victory for Florida Southern.