The St. Johns County School District is moving ahead with plans to build a high school in the sprawling Silverleaf community | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today

Duval School Board member Tony Ricardo sits on the dais during a break in public comment at the Nov. 9, 2026, School Board meeting. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney talk to students at Freedom Crossing Academy in St. Johns County during a live presentation | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today

Raines High School Principal Vincent Hall is shown during an assembly April 12, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

Duval School Board member Tony Ricardo is one of six board members who voted to remove the book "Identical" from school shelves in April 2025. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today

Yard signs supporting the 1-mill tax extension for Duval Schools read "Keep our best teachers in Duval." Duval School Board candidates weighed in on the tax and other issues before the November election. | School Board member Cindy Pearson via Facebook

Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks at The Believers' Summit 2024 at a Turning Point Action event in West Palm Beach on July 26, 2024. | Lynne Sladky, AP file

A roundabout at FAMU Way is seen on the Florida A&M University campus in Tallahassee on June 6, 2024. | Mark Wallheiser, AP file

The University of North Florida. | News4Jax

The Cathedral Arts Project strings ensemble performs before the arts nonprofit's announcement that it won its largest federal grant in its 33-year history. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

The sign outside Fletcher High School, where a volleyball coach was removed from his position. | News4Jax

From left, Kent Donahue. public information officer at the Florida Department of Health in Orange County; Tom Bendle with the department's Division of Disease Control; and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo list to a speaker during a hearing Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, on school immunization requirements. | Florida Department of Health, Facebook

A graphic novel adaptation of the literary classic "1984" was one of four books removed from Duval Schools' libraries at October's School Board meeting. | Kailyn Mallicoat, special to Jacksonville Today

Jackson volleyball coach Rochelle Strowder provided each of the five seniors on the 2026 team with a gift box after their Senior Night victory over Ed White on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. From left: Jazmine Kelly, Brayla Hill, Davita Kelly, Natalia Hamilton and Skyler Mitchell. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

Former Jacksonville City Council member Gwendolyn Chandler has died at age 87. | Chandler family

From left, Aoife Lewis, Shannialia Perez Montero and Nicole Jiang were the winners of the Duval County Public Schools Hispanic Heritage Month essay contest. The trio were celebrated during a luncheon at the Schultz Center on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today

Elaine Seaver heads up research on a small species of marine worm at the University of Florida's Whitney Lab in Marineland. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today

Henry Mack, as senior chancellor with Florida Department of Education, tours St. Petersburg College in February 2022. Mack was approved as Florida education commissioner on July 22, 2026. | St. Petersburg College, Facebook

Brian Wilker Orr, a Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts teacher, is facing multiple felony charges allegedly slapping a student on the buttocks and sending a disturbing email to students and school employees. | News4Jax

Hope McMath and her attorney, John Phillips, speak at a news conference about the case against her teaching license on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. | Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today

Michael Shannon was selected by the board of trustees as the next president of the University of North Florida. | Special to the Daily Record

The state's 28 public colleges must adopt policies to prohibit students from using AI to work on graded assignments without permission. In K-12 schools, parental consent will be required for students to use AI. | InfiniteFlow,