South Florida is home to over 1,000 public schools throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
From new laws to a new superintendent, there’s about a month left until school is back in session and things have changed.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
MDCPS is the third largest school district in America.
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The first day of school is on Thursday, Aug. 17.
For access to the full academic calendar, click here.
New to Miami-Dade County? Enter your address here to find out what your school options are.
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Broward County Public Schools
BCPS is welcoming a new superintendent, Dr. Peter Licata, this school year.
Classes will begin on Monday, Aug. 21.
To access the complete academic calendar, click here.
New to Broward County? Enter your address here to find out what your school options are.
The School District of Palm Beach County
Classes will begin on Thursday, Aug. 10.
To view the 2023-24 academic calendar, click here.
New to Palm Beach County? Enter your address here to find out what your school options are.
New policies and laws affecting the 2023-24 school year
School vouchers (HB 1)
Income-eligibility requirements that were part of the previous programs will be removed and all students will be eligible for taxpayer-backed vouchers.
Students are eligible to receive vouchers if they are “a resident of this state” and “eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12” in a public school.
Students whose household incomes are less than 185% of the federal poverty level, or roughly $51,000 for a family of four, get first priority. Next are students whose family incomes are from 185% of the poverty level to 400% of the poverty level, which is about $111,000 for a family of four.
‘Don’t Say Period’ (HB 1069)
Teachers will no longer be allowed to respect a student’s preferred pronouns if they do not correspond with the student’s biological sex.
The bill also outlaws teaching the menstrual cycle in public schools before grade six and sexual orientation and gender identity will not be able to be taught in schools until grade eight.
During sex education instruction, teachers must emphasize abstinence outside of marriage and teach the “benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage.”
Facility requirements based on sex (HB 1521)
Students will be required to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex they were assigned at birth.
The bill applies to bathrooms of public colleges and universities, K-12 schools, correctional facilities and domestic violence centers.
Enforcement of school bus passing infractions (SB 766)
School districts will have the authorization to place and control cameras on the exteriors of buses to document drivers who illegally drive past the bus while it’s displaying a stop sign.
Consequences will be enforced on those drivers that are caught, resulting in a minimum fine of $200.
Student Online Personal Data Protection Act (SB 662)
Students’ personal information and data gathered through educational technology will be prohibited from usage for targeted advertising.
Furthermore, companies will no longer be able to use students' data for anything that is not educational.
