(This story was updated because while a bill allowing Florida college professors to carry concealed was signed into law in May, the Board of Governors must create a new policy for it.)
Students across many Florida counties have returned to school for the 2026-2027 school year. For many of them, changes in Florida law will bring some changes.
Several laws passed this year took effect on July 1 to make instruction in cursive handwriting mandatory, change high school graduation requirements for marching band members and Special Olympics participants, and expand access to extracurricular activities, among other changes.
There are also changes for teachers and administrators to navigate, such as relaxed rules for teachers with expired licenses, training in autism and epilepsy support, changes to teacher unions, incentives to teach the controversial Florida Advanced Course test, potential concealed carry for college professors, and mandatory reporting for visiting students who promote organizations the state has declared to be terrorist.
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Here’s what to know.
Can Florida students have phones in school?
Maybe. But they may not be able to use them.
This law went into effect last year. Individual school districts may decide if students can bring phones to school. But for all schools:
Individual districts may apply their own rules for phone use, in addition to state law, such as requiring phones to be turned off or banning secretly recording video or audio during class.
Cursive is back in Florida
Students in grades 3 through 5 must now be taught to read and write cursive writing, the loopy, squiggly handwriting many of us grew up with that dropped away in the age of keyboards. They’ll be required to demonstrate proficiency in reading and writing cursive by the end of grade 5 through a written evaluation.
Marching band, Special Olympics count as PE
Under HB 453, students may use two years of marching band to satisfy both the one-credit requirement in physical education and the one-credit requirement in performing arts.
Students with disabilities who participate in the Special Olympics as a course may use that to satisfy the PE requirement.
Students can join teams their schools don’t offer
Students who wish to participate in a sport that their current school does not currently offer may participate in that sport in another school in their district.
This includes home-schooled kids and students in charter schools, private schools, Florida Virtual School, and alternative schools.
Student disciplinary records now follow them to college
Starting last May, whenever a student enrolls in a higher education institution in the state, any disciplinary records of that student — including threat assessment reports and student psychological evaluations — must be transferred to the college or university they’ll be attending.
According to the bill, disciplinary records are defined as any “verified reports of serious or recurrent behavior patterns, including any threat assessment report, all corresponding documentation”and any other information required by the Florida Behavioral Threat Management assessment. They must be transferred within five school days.
Florida schools will be more patriotic
The state motto “In God We Trust” must be placed in a conspicuous place at each public school in the district and in each building used by the district school board.
Also, portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln must be displayed in a conspicuous place at each public school.
Changes in medical care, health training
Several changes in healthcare for students are in effect, including:
College professors and staff may soon carry firearms
Under HB 757, a controversial school safety bill, Florida college professors and staff have the right to carry concealed weapons on campus. This was added in response to last year’s FSU campus shooting, where two people were killed and five students were injured.
The bill adds public postsecondary educational institutions to the list of entities authorized to participate in the state’s Guardian Program, and authorizes the presidents of those institutions to appoint employees or faculty members to serve as school guardians and carry concealed weapons.
Any appointees would need to meet the statutory requirements of Guardian participation, including background screening, a psychological examination, passing an initial drug test and subsequent random drug tests, and successfully completing a 144-hour training program, according to a congressional analysis of the bill.
The Florida Board of Governors must adopt rules to implement this change.
Teacher training, mentors, unions
Expired teaching licenses: Teachers with expired licenses may now begin teaching again without having to take subject area tests again, and may get a temporary certificate so they can return to the classroom while earning any required college credits or inservice points. The newly created Florida Center for Teaching Excellence offers free professional classes to certified educators seeking to renew or reinstate their certificates.
Florida Advanced Course: Teachers are now incentivized to teach the controversial, “anti-woke” Florida Advanced Course test with the promise of a $50 bonus per student who passes the test, similar to that offered for other advanced courses. Teachers in a school with a D or F grade who have at least one student pass FACT will receive an additional bonus of $500.
School Athletics: Head coaches of sports teams are allowed to use personal funds up to $15,000 per team per year to support the welfare of students under the FHSAA.
Failing schools: Schools with a “D” or “F” grade can receive qualified teachers as mentors to help improve performance.
The state also expanded the definition of “low performing” schools to include schools that score worse than a C for three of the last five years or that drop into the bottom 10% of schools in math and reading for two of the last three years.
Teacher unions: Two big changes:
Colleges and terrorism
Public colleges must now report any students attending on a visa who promote organizations the state has declared to be terrorist. Students found to be promoting such organizations must be expelled and charged out-of-state fees.
This accompanies a new framework that allows the governor to declare a group a terrorist organization, an act that brings a multitude of restrictions and penalties for the group
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida students come back to phone bans, cursive, these other changes
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
