If St. Lucie County school board members next week approve Wendy Portillo’s return to the classroom, she’ll likely be teaching students twice as old as the kindergartners she led last year to vote a 5-year-old out of their classroom.

School board officials had suspended Portillo and stripped her of her tenure for the May 2008 incident, in which she asked Alex Barton’s classmates at Morningside Elementary to vote on whether he should stay in class after he’d been disruptive.

Alex was subsequently diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. His mother, Melissa Barton, sued the school board and Portillo in August, saying the “Survivor-style” vote-out caused Alex irreparable psychological harm.

By then, school officials had restored Portillo’s tenure and said she could return to teaching as soon as mid-November.

Portillo’s reinstatement is on the agenda for Tuesday’s school board meeting, joined with several other personnel matters.

(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A Floresta Elementary kindergarten teacher was removed from classroom duties Wednesday pending investigation of an incident in which she is accused of asking a 6-year-old girl to clean up another student’s urine and then rewarding the girl with play money.

Port St. Lucie police were called to the school Wednesday, two days after the alleged incident happened, when the 6-year-old’s mother came to the school “very upset,” according to the police report.

School Principal Harriett McGriff told police she spoke with kindergarten teacher Martha Ensley and that Ensley “admitted to having (the student) clean the urine and admitted giving her ‘dolphin dollars’ afterward,” the report states.

(more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Michael Lannon returned to his job as public schools superintendent Monday, ending a 30-day retirement that the School Board granted him to deal with family matters and cash out about $115,000 in accrued vacation and sick days.

“I’m happy to be in the saddle again,” Lannon said from an office still stripped bare of personal effects. State law is strict about public school employees being truly absent during retirement. So Lannon said he rented a nearby commercial storage unit, even though it was clear from the outset he would return in one month. (more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 2-foot-long false water cobra snake caused a stir this week when it was packed for St. Edward’s School and shipped in an unmarked container through the United Parcel Service.

A teacher at the school, Alexander Moir, said he ordered the reptile, which experts said is venomous but not dangerous to people, from a Chester, Va., pet store.

UPS officials said an incorrect ZIP code on the box sent it to the shipping company’s Pinellas Park location. When Moir called to check on the delivery of the package, UPS officials learned there was a live snake inside.

UPS contacted state wildlife officials, who contacted Vernon Yates, owner of the Wildlife Rescue and Rehab in Seminole, to retrieve the snake.

“The box should have been marked,” Yates said. “A school kid could have opened the box not knowing what was inside.”

Moir said the snake was supposed to be sent to his home, not to the school.

However, the package was addressed to St. Edward’s Drive, said Yates, who still had the box Friday. Video of the box in a report by WTSP-TV in Tampa showed the St. Edward’s name on the package label.

Moir said the snake is for his personal collection and has nothing to do with the school.

“This is a perfectly legal snake,” he said.

School officials said they did not know anything about the snake delivery.

They said they talked with Moir about the incident Friday. St. Edward’s School spokeswoman Elizabeth Thomason described the incident as a misunderstanding.

“The school did not order a snake, and no snake was delivered here,” Thomason said.

UPS allows customers to ship some live animals, but prohibits the shipping of any snakes, according to spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg. UPS officials are conducting an internal investigation about the matter. Staff at the Virginia pet store, Off the Ark, declined to comment Friday.

lamaur.stancil@scripps.com; colleen.wixon@scripps.com

ABOUT FALSE WATER COBRA SNAKES

The South American snake bears the distinction of being a snake with a powerful venom but is not considered dangerous to humans, said Bruce Dangerfield, animal control officer for the Vero Beach Police Department.

Dangerfield described the reptile as a rear-fanged snake, which means its venom would not impact a person who is bitten. Rather, the fangs would inject venom into smaller prey as it is being swallowed.

Florida requires permits for anyone who keeps a dangerous snake, but the false water snake is not on the list.

The snakes can grow up to 6 feet long and have a striped color scheme that can be black, yellow, brown or olive.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Authorities announced Monday they made three arrests after three Storm Grove Middle School students were hospitalized when they became ill from snorting crushed Roxycodone pain pills and using other drugs.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said one of the sick students, a 13-year-old girl, named students at the school who were providing prescription drugs and marijuana to her and others, Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther said.

The Sheriff’s Office charged Halee Marie Webb, 14, of the 100 block of Harris Drive, Sebastian, and Jacob Scott Martin, 13, of the 100 block of Midvale Terrace, Sebastian, each with felony distribution of a controlled substance. Another 13-year-old girl had a juvenile affidavit filed against her for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, Luther said.
(more…)

STUART - The public is invited to attend a free presentation at 7 p.m. tonight at South Fork High School about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The program, which was organized by the Martin County School District and the Martin County Sheriff’s office, will feature Renee Napier, whose daughter, Meagan, was killed in a car crash involving a drunk driver. Meagan’s best friend also died in the accident. (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The School Board unanimously voted Tuesday night to rehire Michael Lannon as superintendent after a 30-day retirement that allowed him to cash out about $15,000 in accrued sick and vacation days and return to the pay, benefits and responsibilities he left Oct. 1.

Supportive comments made by School Board members at a Sept. 23 meeting and afterwards left little doubt about outcome before Tuesday’s decision.

Nevertheless, teachers, principals and parents filled the meeting room to urge School Board members to bring Lannon back to work.

Lannon was not present in the audience. But board Chairwoman Judi Miller was mindful that the meeting would be televised.

“I hope that Mr. Lannon takes the time to watch this meeting and see that there are many people who love him,” Miller said.

Twelve people spoke about rehiring Lannon to the post; All but one spoke in favor of it.

Richard Kolleda, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Business and Education Advisory Committee, said schools have been doing a good job preparing public school students for the workplace under Lannon’s direction.

“A lot has happened with the career academies and the business community’s support of the academies,” Kolleda said.

Melissa Milford, senior and student government president at Lincoln Park Academy, applauded Lannon’s “courageous” decision to weather controversy and support HIV prevention education in schools.

“Please allow me to shake the hand of Michael Lannon when I walk across the stage in May to receive my diploma,” she said.

Ginger Miranda, former chair of the school district’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, described how Lannon labors with teachers and parents at school events.

“I’ve seen, personally, Michael Lannon roll up his sleeves and get dirty with the rest of the volunteers,” Miranda said. “I’ve never seen him hold back.”

Scott Neil, principal of Lakewood Park Elementary, pointed to improved student assessment test scores throughout the district since Lannon arrived at work six years ago.

“Today, we have 18 designated ‘A’ schools — a 300 percent increase under the leadership of Mr. Lannon,” Neil said.

School Board critic Bryan Longworth was the sole speaker to question the deal given to Lannon: Board members have repeatedly cited numbers of rank-and-file employees who, like Lannon, have retired, cashed out vacation and sick days, then returned to work.

“I’ve talked to teachers,” Longworth said, “who have done it and taken a 25 percent cut in pay.”

Three major Florida universities have branch campuses or partnerships with industry on the Treasure Coast and elsewhere in Florida there are more such academic satellites.

But remote site expansion of higher education on the Treasure Coast and across the state has been without guidance, said Frank Brogan, chancellor of the State University System of Florida. Brogan spent last week appearing before House and Senate education committees in Tallahassee. The former lieutenant governor and Florida Atlantic University president said he told lawmakers a plan is needed to grow higher education in the state. (more…)

Students from two local schools may soon be learning issues and sharing cultural values with peers from around the globe, using cutting-edge computer technology.

The Dawn Project is described as an international network of students and teachers. Current plans are to make it available to some or all high school students at Lincoln Park Academy, and to Forest Grove Middle School students who are enrolled in the school’s Marine Oceanographic Academy preparatory program.

“This is an opportunity to engage students in a global learning community,” said Owen Roberts, assistant superintendent of accountability and assessment for St. Lucie County Schools. “You could be talking to people in the U.S., students in Europe or Asia.” (more…)

STUART — The public records at the center of a lawsuit were not removed in the middle of the night, Martin County Schools Superintendent Nancy Kline said Wednesday.

Florida Mechanical, which has filed two lawsuits including one filed Monday claiming the district is not complying with public records laws, alleged that the records were removed from Martin County School Board Attorney Doug Griffin’s computer “surreptitiously, under the cover of night and without notice to Mr. Griffin.”

But Kline said the records were remotely taken from Griffin’s office during office hours on Sept. 11, and district staff tried to tell Griffin beforehand. The records were related to a public records request from Florida Mechanical.
(more…)