The Florida Roundup - School cellphone bans, UF student journalist uncovers Sasse’s spending, remembering Hurricane Charley and Debby recovery efforts

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about cellphone restrictions in K-12 schools. First, we heard from Scott Howat, chief communications officer for Orange County Public Schools, about their total ban on cellphone use during the school day (03:34), then we spoke with Florida Education Association president Andrew Spar about how teachers are adjusting to the changes (20:00). And later, we spoke with Garrett Shanley, with University of Florida’s student-run newspaper The Alligator, about his reporting on former UF president Ben Sasse’s record spending (26:23). Plus, we looked back at Hurricane Charley 20 years later (37:20) and checked in on Hurricane Debby recovery efforts (40:22) and impact on wildlife (44:42). Finally, a new TV series filmed in Florida debuts this week (47:35).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. I figured we'd start this week's program on the phone. It's because a lot of Florida public school students are not supposed to be on their phones at all while they're in school. No swiping, no clicking, and certainly no calling. The school bells have been ringing across Florida for a new school year this month, but students and teachers should not be hearing this in lots of classrooms. Or this. Or this. Tens of thousands of Florida students are banned from using their cell phones during just during class, but from bell to bell during the day.

The pinging, the chiming, the dinging, growing ever louder, ring is not one of the three R's of education. Whose phone is that? Sorry, I missed your call. Please leave me a message with the callback number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks. Okay, guilty. Well, Florida students don't have to simply silence their cell phones in several districts. It's airplane mode or off. The second largest school district in the state welcomed students back this week, but not with their phones. We saw some cell phones when we went into buildings today. We can be honest about that. That's why we're giving them a two-week grace period to really educate them. That's Broward County Public School Superintendent Howard Hepburn on the first day of school this week. So students, if you're around, we'd love to hear from you.

How are you doing without being able to swipe or scroll? Parents, how about the conversation after school? And are you still allowing your kid to pack a phone to school? Are you talking about putting it in airplane mode? And teachers, if you're on the lunch break, how goes enforcement of these new bans? Would you like to see one of these bans in your school district? Our phones are open now, 305-995-1800, as we're live on this Friday, 305-995-1800. If you can't call, perhaps you can send us a quick email, radio at thefloridaroundup.org,

radio at theflorup dot org radio at the Florida Roundup dot org the push to regulate how students use cell phones in Florida public schools began with the 2023 law that required public schools to ban students from using cell phones in class during the so-called instructional time that's how the law puts it now it's not a blanket ban teachers can direct their students to use their phones if it's for education purposes, say like the calculator or an app with school assignments. Students in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties all started this year without their phones. So did Broward County students. It's a tough transition for a kid. If you got kids at home who use cell phones all the time, try and take it from them You're gonna have some difficulty. So it's the same with us. On the second day of school this week, Superintendent Howard Hepburn

in Broward County said students understand why phones are banned so they're less distracted and more focused. I had conversations with high school students yesterday and they understand the purpose. They may not want to stop using their cell phones but they articulated to me that they understand why. No distractions right now. You have permission to use your phone. [phone]. Orange County Schools in the Orlando area were the first to ban student cell phones during the entire school day. It began last year and continued this week as students returned. Scott Howard is the Chief Communications Officer of the Orange County Public Schools. We were the first large urban school district to institute a bell-to-bell

cell phone-free school policy. And really, in the beginning, it was more about awareness, making sure that the students were aware of the change, that they couldn't have their cell phone out or using it in any way from the first bell to the last and reminding them. So we took the first nine weeks to really educate them. And then after that, worked on the compliance side, making sure that we had spaces for the cell phones to go when they were taken away and how they would be able to get those back. So the phones are physically removed from the possession of a student. Is that correct? They are, yes. So if a phone is found to be in use by a student, whether that's during class or at lunchtime or in between classes, the administrator, the teacher can take the phone

and then the schools have processes where the phones are stored either in lockable drawers, lockers, different ways, and then they're returned to the student after school. But for a student, say, in third period civics or fifth period chemistry, can they have their phone turned off in their pocket or backpack or in their desk? period chemistry, can they have their phone turned off in their pocket or backpack or in their desk? It can be turned off and put away in their backpack or purse. A lot of the schools I've noticed in visiting schools, the teachers had a policy where they would have the students put their backpacks or purses in a designated area in the classroom. So they weren't even close to them. So there wasn't even a temptation to reach down in and take it

out. They would have to walk across the room in order to get it. So even that distance away gave the students that separation from their website. I don't know about you, if your cell phone is within arm's reach right now as you and I are talking. Mine happens to be, and it was buzzing. And of course, my attention was directed over there for a couple of seconds. Exactly. It's that endorphins that makes you want to see who that is on the phones. In the beginning, there was a lot of concerns around students not having access to a phone because of safety reasons or medical reasons. And I think the board has addressed that very specifically in saying that students could access their phone if they

needed to in an emergency situation or for medical reasons. Are there special dispensations though? Because if that cell phone is in a purse far away from the student, that emergency situation can be a matter of moments or seconds, not minutes, you know, to go find the purse in the pile of purses and then zip it open and try to find the phone again and turn it back on, have it activate, and then finally make the outgoing call. All of our schools, all of our classrooms are equipped with the ability to make emergency calls. I mean, certainly teachers have access to landlines or their own subs. And in reality, if there was some kind of major event that took place on campus, they would be able to go there and get their purse or backpack and be able to access it. Or

the teacher would be able to make that call, that 911 call, take care of that issue. What have been the measurable impacts on distraction or performance, something in the classroom that you've been able to really see any difference? One of the major things that we've seen is a reduction in major disruptions to campus and threats to campus or individuals that have caused a disruption in the learning day. We see a significant reduction in those because individuals are not able to access their phone to drop, say, a threat airdrop to a group of students. It would cause maybe an action taken like a lockdown or a hold or a secure.

an action taken like a lockdown or a hold or a secure, we've been able to eliminate fighting when it comes to those mass amounts of fighting that would take place as a result of text messages, social media posts that students would be looking at during the day. And how about classroom performance? One thing I can brag about is the school district is an A school district after the first year of implementing a cell phone free policy. So is there a correlation or causation there, Scott? First time in five years. So I don't know. I guess time will tell. We look at that academic data and really break it down. But from the standpoint of what we've heard anecdotally from administrators, teachers, and even from students who'd come and presented to the board. The connection between this and their teachers and other adults during the learning

process has seen a remarkable increase. The ability to be able to have ongoing interactions, both academically, but also from a counseling or mentorship process with the adults on campus has been huge and even the interaction with each other where you have peer-to-peer connections that are being made that weren't being made while phones were in use they were connected on their phone digitally but weren't connected with the human that was right next to them in class. You mentioned Orange County was the first large urban district to put in this kind of cell phone ban for students. It's certainly not the last. Several of your colleagues here in the state of Florida have instituted very similar bans beginning this school year. What's your advice to those districts that are experiencing perhaps a little

bit of growing pains the first few weeks of the school year with these? I think over communicating is not a bad thing when it comes to talking to parents about it and making sure they're aware of why this is being done and go back to the why. Because in the end of the benefits that we've seen have outweighed any of the concerns. And you can address some of those concerns that parents have about, you know, not being able to access them during emergency. There's ways to work through that. I think there's also ways that you can work through medical concerns where a student has to have access to it, maybe to check their blood sugar levels because they're diabetic. And I think it's just a to have access to it, maybe to check their blood sugar levels

because they're diabetic. And I think it's just a matter of sticking to it, making sure that the students understand why it's being done and educating them and really taking that approach to educate them and then really implementing it and doing it with fidelity across your schools and consistency. Because where we saw issues is when one classroom was inconsistent with another classroom or one school was inconsistent with another. Scott Howard is the Chief of Communications with the Orange County Public Schools. He joins us from Orlando. Thanks, Scott. Appreciate it. Thank you, Tom. Thanks for having me. So how should public schools here in Florida police student use of cell phones?

305-995-1800. All irony allowed to talk about the banning of cell phones during a program where you have to call in to provide your opinion. 305-995-1800. Chuck sent us this email. He wrote us, I recently retired from 13 years of employment as an automotive technician educator in a Florida community college. During my career, I noticed the increased usage of these devices.

When I tried to prohibit my students from using them in the classroom, they would complain to my supervisor. The irony of this was that she was unable to observe the disruption that they were causing due to her constantly checking her own device. Debbie in Palm Beach County, I currently work in the schools. It is the policy not to have cell phones out during the school day, and I agree with this. Lynette in Davie in Broward County wrote us, as the parent of three high

school students and one middle school student in Broward County, I was thrilled when I received the email from the district notifying us of the upcoming cell phone ban. However, as the first three days of school passed and my children came home to discuss their experiences, it appears the ban is barely being enforced. Sarah wrote us, I think it's incredibly ironic that Broward County Schools is pushing a new online app and program to monitor children's progress while at the same time limiting their phone access. I think we are not preparing our children for the digital world by restricting their use of phones. And Dave in Lakeland said, although I agree on the idea of reducing distractions, sadly, my thoughts went to this. During an active shooter situation, students calling 911 from their cell phones has been valuable. It's a sad thought, Dave writes, but it is a real-life part of this consideration. Let's hear from Jacqueline in Tallahassee, who has been listening in to the conversation.

Go ahead, Jacqueline. Thanks for calling. You're on the radio. Hey, I'm almost like the last caller, the last two, or actually emails that you read. But I feel like we have, this is an overreach. I feel like we are draconianly putting our kids, taking them out of the technology race in terms of utilizing AI prompts, utilizing apps like Kahoot that they can, instructors can interact with those cell phones. There are a lot of things that I think that this is the Florida legislature putting some draconian stuff out instead of taking a step back and looking at what we're actually trying to do.

Well, Jacqueline, I appreciate that input from Tallahassee. The law you're referring to prohibits the use of cell phones during instructional time unless directed by a teacher. And then the further banning of cell phones, bell to bell, these are actions being taken by local school districts. Andrew Spahr knows all this. He is with us, the president of the Florida Education Association, joining us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media in Orlando. Andrew, welcome back to the program. Nice to have you again. Thanks for having me. Does the Teachers Union have a position on these bell-to-bell cell phone bans?

We don't have a specific position, but I will say I think what we've heard from most teachers around this state is they support the idea of having boundaries around cell phones. Cell phones, as Scott was saying in the interview you did with him, state is they support the idea of having boundaries around cell phones. Cell phones, as Scott was saying in the interview you did with him, cell phones are a distraction in the class but they're also used in a lot of instances of bullying and bad behavior by students. So teachers for a long time have been saying we need some boundaries and then to the point of one of those emailed in, then we need some consistent enforcement of those boundaries. I want to ask you about that also on the teacher. Yeah, I want to ask you about that, Andrew, about that interplay

between teacher and parent, particularly as well as between teacher and teacher in classrooms. But what do you think about what the email from David Lakeland? I read his comment that the bans mean students likely won't have fast access to their phones if there's an active shooter situation, for instance. Yeah, you know, so where I have a daughter who's in high school, my youngest daughter still in high school, and she is allowed to use her phone in between classes during lunch and then at the end of the day, of course. But, you know, not during class time unless it's more along the lines of what the law says unless the teacher has asked them to do so and they do actually use their cell phone for some instructional stuff but I also want to point out that students have access to a lot of other devices most

districts are what we call one-on-one districts which means every student has a device whether it's a tablet whether it's a laptop. They have some device in which they're still interacting with technology and using technology in the classroom. But I think, again, what most teachers have said is that the use of cell phones had gotten so out of hand and there was no boundaries for which a teacher could adequately enforce it or be supported when they said you cannot have cell phones. I want you to go further on that point, Andrew, because you're right that it's not as if it's either all cell phones all the time or nothing but blackboards and abacuses in the classroom. There's a spectrum of technology still used. And a lot of the curriculum, let's face it, right, has moved into the digital world. I have a high schooler and a lot of his curriculum is online. So how does a teacher balance the necessity of using a digital device and then the

restrictions on using a digital device? Well, it is one of the complicating factors about teaching today. And as I think someone earlier said, or it may have been Scott, you know, the interaction with students, with each other and with teachers in real time is important, not just through digital devices, but digital devices can enhance the learning process. Many of the textbooks have moved to a digital format. They're more interactive. And we have to. I mean, kids today, you know, are growing up with so much coming at them from a digital perspective that they react differently to those devices. And I think it's important for that to be a part of the education system. But again, it's about boundaries. If we have appropriate boundaries and then consistent enforcement of those boundaries, and then I do think it takes parents, teachers, administrators, staff, all working together to ensure that we're dealing with this. And with those boundaries, where does that boundary lie when it comes to those security concerns and the security concerns, particularly, let's face it, in a very real world example that we know all too well here in Florida with with violence and active shooters and the ability of a student of a child to have access to immediate communication to either a parent or, frankly, law enforcement.

have access to immediate communication to either a parent or frankly law enforcement yeah i i think you know i've seen different setups in different school districts again some of them allow kids to have the phones with them as long as they're in silent mode other districts um have parking lots if you will for their cell phones some even have charging stations kids are not very good at charging their phones so they take advantage of that. But the idea that kids should be able to get to their phones quickly is certainly something myself as a parent, you know, I would want to have that availability. But at the same time, you know, we have to look at the fact that right now we're dealing with schools that have massive teacher and staff shortages and not enough hands there to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep kids safe to help monitor what's going on in schools and to make sure that students are learning and so I think if we also addressed the underlying issues that we don't often talk about why do we have school shootings why are we short staffed what are we doing to make sure

sure all certainly important issues, absolutely, in Florida. I want to keep our conversation at least focused here on the use of cell phones. Lots of folks here want to pipe in on the phone and email Andrew. Can you stick around after the break with us here? Great. Andrew Spahr is with us, the president of the Florida Education Association, the teachers union here in the state of Florida, talking about cell phone use and students in public schools. Andrew is with us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media in Orlando.

Martina emailed us, some parents make excuses about needing to access their children, but schools still have landlines, correct? Some do. Not every classroom has a landline, at least in my experience as a parent of two public school kids in the state of Florida. Your calls and more emails, radio at thefloridaroundup.org is our inbox. All of it's next.

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Next week on our program, it is primary election season here in the Sunshine State. It could be the last nonpartisan primary for school boards. Even though no political party is listed on the ballot for school board candidates, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Democratic Party both have made endorsements. And in November, voters will decide whether or not to allow political party labels for school board candidates. Would political party labels bring more transparency to school boards in your community or encourage

more partisan politics? You can email us your thoughts, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, radio at thefloridaroundup.org, and we may share some of your comments next week. This week, a new school year is underway across the state. Thousands of Florida public school students cannot use their cell phones during the school day. We're talking about it here on the Florida Roundup with Andrew Spahr. Andrew is the president

of the Florida Education Association. He's with us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media in Orlando. Andrew, lots of folks calling in here. We want to start with Tim is in Orlando listening. Go ahead, Tim, you're on the radio. Tim, are you with us? Tim may have us on silent mode, perhaps, there.

Let's try David in Newport, Ritchie. Go ahead, David, on line one. You are on the radio. Hey, so much I could say. With the conversations you just had, what I'm thinking all along is look at the overarching issue here. Kids with cell phones, there's something else to focus on. You can go to the beach and see four people sitting on a towel talking to each other on their cell phone, and they're sitting right next door to the person.

There's no human face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball interaction, and that's what this technology world has produced. And to put it in the hands of kids in school where taxes that everybody's paying, paying for the teachers to educate them, and if they're focused on something else, then we're losing money. Yeah, David, I hear you. That eye-to-eye in real life connection is so important. As an adult, let's be honest here, right?

It's not just teenagers and students who are guilty of screen, eyes-to-screen, as opposed to eyes-to-eyes interaction. Carter has been listening in Miami Beach. Go ahead, Carter. You're on the radio now. All right. Thanks for taking the call. Quickly, allow me to say that I could not disagree more with the, not the last caller, allow me to say that I could not disagree more with the, not the last caller, but the earlier caller in regards of just the thought that kids will not do kid things and just gravitate more towards social media while they have these devices in their hands. If the concern is that children will get left behind in the technological race, well, there's other means and ways of being able to engage in that, whether it's a tablet being provided by the school.

I think what honestly should be looked at is an even greater rollout past Florida, where now we can make demands of the two major platforms being iOS and Android to make them. If we all have a safe mode or airplane mode, what if we had a school mode, for instance, where each child would be allowed to have the ability to communicate with their guardian or more, and there would be no access to social media, and it would only be things that would be utilized for school purposes. And I would just like to finish up by saying, we need to start teaching that time away from devices as something as normal. And if we don't stop the bleeding, we're just going to end up with these groups of people who don't know how to communicate, don't know how to look each other in the eye. Even physically speaking, we now are seeing that people's skeletons are being deformed by the fact that they're always looking down at their head.

Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Neck problems. Carter, I appreciate the conversation there from Miami Beach. You and I must meet on the causeway because I had that same idea. Let's have an airplane mode and a student mode, a classroom mode somehow in there. Andrew Spahr with the Florida Education Association. There are limits on anyone's ability to access social media while using Wi-Fi in a public school here in the state of Florida, correct? while using Wi-Fi in a public school here in the state of Florida, correct? Yes, that's correct. So when they have district-issued devices, there's a lot of limitations on those devices. And so getting on social media, whether it be Instagram or TikTok or Snapchat or whatever other ones they have today, that is limited in the school districts. And so, therefore, kids cannot access that from their district devices, which again, if they have their cell phones, they could,

because the cell phones don't have to use district devices. And to the point, we actually have kindergarten kids that come to school with cell phones. And that's, I mean, I don't know if it's still as shocking as it was when it first started happening, but the idea that you have five-year-olds who have cell phones that they're using all the time, it is a distraction in the classroom, especially when you're talking about kindergarten students. The

interaction with others is really a part of the curriculum. You know, the social interaction is important in kindergarten as it establishes protocols and success in school in general and so you know again I want to say I think there's the idea that we are limiting how often students can get on their phone during the school day does limit distractions does help with behaviors it still comes down to consistency of enforcement and support from the parents support from administrators support from all teachers and staff involved and support from the parents, support from administrators, support from all teachers and staff involved, and support from the students.

We got an email here, Andrew, from Mary. Mary wrote us, I had a teenager in high school in Orange County last year, and if she didn't have her cell phone on her, they couldn't find her at lunch. They let the kids eat their lunch in multiple locations and can't find them during the lunch period. I would try to pick her up for a doctor's appointment, but would have to wait until the end of the lunch period for her to be located by the school staff. Mary writes, sadly, cell phones are necessary for kids to have in school. I've texted my high schooler, you know, during lunch or in the early afternoon because there's been a change in pickup plans or he has had to text me because all of a sudden he has to stay after school for an activity that he didn't know about in the morning to tell me about. Well, you know, in some respects, it's about convenience, right?

I mean, we've always had that situation where we've picked kids up from school and they're at lunch and until they can find where they are in the cafeteria or the lunch area, some of our high schools are really big, so they do have outdoor eating areas in multiple locations or they're with a teacher in a club. So until you can find the kid, that's always been a normal thing. So yeah, I mean, it's convenient to be able to say, hey, I can text them and say, come on, I'm here. But they're still supposed to go through the school. I mean, we do have security procedures to protect kids. And therefore, you know, it's normal that you would go into the school and say, I'm here to pick up my child, and they would locate them and bring them. Andrew Spahr is the president of the Florida

Education Association with us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media in Orlando. Andrew, thanks so much. You're welcome. Have a great day. Ben Sasse had been on the job as president of the University of Florida for about nine months when he was officially inaugurated. The chairman of the U.F. Board of Trustees, Maury Hussaini, described Sasse this way at that ceremony. Ben Sasse is exactly the right person for the job. Sasse was a Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska who had led a small private college there. He unexpectedly resigned from his position as president of UF last month, citing his wife's health. She had been diagnosed with epilepsy.

This week, the student-run newspaper in Gainesville detailed the massive increase in spending by the UF president's office during Sasse's tenure compared to his predecessor. Sass led the university for 17 months. His office spent more than $17 million during that same time. That's more than double the spending before he became president. Now, Florida's chief financial officer has called on the university to investigate the spending. The student journalist behind this investigation is Garrett Shanley, and he is with us from our partner station WUFT in Gainesville. Garrett, can you hear us? We will connect with Garrett here in a moment. This is a story that has continued to gain certainly attention throughout the state of Florida and nationwide. Florida's own chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronus, posted this week on social media, the platform formerly known as Twitter, now called X, saying that, quote, reports of U.S. exorbitant spending by Ben Sasse's office are concerning.

reports of UF's exorbitant spending by Ben Sasse's office are concerning. The chief financial officer of the state of Florida continued in his social media statement, saying the board of governors should investigate the issue to ensure tuition and tax dollars are being properly used. Now, the Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz on the social media platform X, and Matt Gaetz represents the westernmost part of the panhandle in Florida. Gaetz posted on X saying Ben Sasse was LARPing as a Florida man. Now, for those of you who don't know, LARPing is an acronym. It stands for live action role playing. It's a reference to dressing up as a character to act out in a video game.

dressing up as a character to act out in a video game. Gates continued on his social media posts saying he, Sass, was a terrible university president who never should have been hired. Gates continued saying, send him back to Nebraska. So Ben Sass has left the president's office in Gainesville at the University of Florida. And new questions are being asked about the spending during his tenure. Garrett Shanley, the student journalist uncovering all of the spending for The Alligator,

the student-led newspaper with the University of Florida. He's with us from WUFT. Garrett, thanks for your time today. Hi, thank you for having me on. Your investigation found spending in three big categories, personnel, contract work, and travel. I want to talk about personnel spending first. What was the spending on staffing under President Sasse? Yeah, so the big numbers have the budget numbers right in front of me. So when the former UF President

Kent Fox left in his last year, the personnel expenses were just over $3 million. And in Sasse's full fiscal year, they totaled $7.5 million. Several of those were for some of his former Senate staffers from the U.S. Senate, and some of them were for former Republican officials. So were these positions that were left unfilled under the former President Fox, or were these new hires, new positions under President Sasse? We know that one of them was an existing position under former President Fox, the Vice President for Communications. Sasse put James Wegman, his former Senate Communications Director, in that position, but the remaining positions were newly created for his staff. And what did they do? What were these people hired for?

Well, Raymond Sasse, who was his Senate chief of staff, was the vice president for innovation and partnerships. That position seems pretty self-explanatory to me. Then Penny Schwinn, she was the former Tennessee education commissioner. She was vice president for PK-12 and pre-bachelors programs. So that was overseeing education throughout the state. And then several of his Senate staffers were presidential advisors. The university hasn't answered my questions about what the specific nature of their work was. And then his Senate press secretary was, I forget the name of his

actual position here, but in practice, he remained as his press secretary here at UF. So it sounds like President Sasse imported a number of staff members who he worked with on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Of course, I presume, Garrett, that the president's job of the University of Florida is based in Gainesville and President Sasse moved to Gainesville. What about these other staff members that work for the president's office at the University of Florida? Yeah, so based on the employment contracts, we had only one of his staffers actually move to

Gainesville, Taylor Sliva, the press secretary. He got a $15,000 relocation stipend, and he currently rents out a house here in Gainesville. But the others remained in the states they lived in prior. Raymond Sass was in Maryland, James Wegman was in DC, Penny Shun was in Tennessee, and that was reflected in their travel expenses for the office. So, that's the next piece that I wanted to ask you about, this travel spending that was well over

a half a million dollars in, what, about a year and a half or so, just for the president's office. Again, give us a sense of how that compares with previous spending habits with previous presidents. And what do we know that spending was? What kind of travel was that spending spent on? So the on the macro numbers, so it was 632,000 in travel expenses during his first full fiscal year. And under former President Fox, the travel expenses for that office averaged 28,000 in travel expenses during his first full fiscal year. And under former President Fox,

the travel expenses for that office averaged $28,000. That's not including the year of the pandemic. More than a tenfold increase then. Yes. So we are still waiting on full travel reports from the university, but a partial report we obtained showed that from April to July, at least $20,000 was spent on flying the hires to campus. And then all the rest of the expenses were for other work-related incidents. My name is Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. about the student journalism that has uncovered more than $17 million of spending in the president's office at the University of Florida while Ben Sasse was president of the university for 17

months. Garrett Shanley is the student journalist who uncovered this. He is the reporter for The Alligator, the student-run newspaper in Gainesville with the University of Florida. He's with us from our member station and our partner station, WUFT. What are the statuses of the people who are hired by President Sasse now that he's resigned from the president's office, Garrett? Well, the high-profile hires, two of them, Penny Schoon and Raymond Sasse, they are missing from the president's office website. They were previously on listed as members of his cabinet. James Wegman, the vice president for communications, is still there. We've reached out to the university through both public records and their

communications office to request clarification on what their status is at the university and the university has said it doesn't come in and personnel matters and we're still waiting on a records request so I can't say anything statuses at the university. And the university has said it doesn't come in on personnel matters, and we're still waiting on a records request. So I can't say anything as of yet. The other big spending category that you uncovered was the spending on outside contracts. More than half of this $17 million in change that was spent through the president's office during the 17 months of Ben Sasse's tenure, came through outside contracts. What kinds of work were these contracts for, Garrett?

Basically, all of the spike in contractual expenses were from consulting contracts. The main one that we know about is McKinsey & Company, where Sasse once worked on an hourly contract, and he had took out a contract with them after one month in office. And they were helping with his strategic plan. We know that based off what the universities told us. And he presented some of the data that they had found at the university last August in faculty-only presentations. But it has proved difficult in our reporting to find any more information on McKinsey.

They redacted a scope of work attachment from the contract we got through a public records request that would potentially outline what kind of work they were doing here. And the outline 2.5 million in consulting expenses, we have yet to receive our public records back on all the contracts that were taken out from his office, and the university didn't clarify what the contracts were. Any sense of the process for approval of these contracts? Were there bids on it? Did it go through a normal procurement process for the university? The McKinsey contract went through a no-bid process.

They went through a third party that had a RFP proposal, so it was already contracted to the state. So that did go through normal budget, I mean, contractual procedures. It goes through procurement services here, and then it's ultimately approved by the Board of Trustees. There have been some growing calls for some kind of investigation from the Board of Governors, for instance. I should note that we invited Ray Rodriguez, the Chancellor of the State the Board of Governors, for instance. I should note that we invited Ray Rodriguez, the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida, for an interview in this program. He was not available. What is SAS's status with UF today, Garrett? Well, we know that he is going to stay on as a professor here in Gainesville,

likely as a political science or history teacher. He has taught classes at the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education here. He just commented on X in response to the investigation. I haven't had a chance to really pore over that post yet, but I'm sure the media will in the coming days. Indeed, and I'm sure you'll be on it as well. Well, very important work, Garrett,

and thanks for sharing it with us here on the Florida Ronda. Much appreciated. No problem. Thank you for having me. Good luck this semester. Garrett Shanley, student journalist at The Alligator, the student-run newspaper at the University of Florida, who uncovered in the investigation of the spending of Ben Sasse's presidential tenure at the University of Florida. More to come here on the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us. 20 years ago this week, Hurricane Charlie made landfall during one of the busiest times

in the tropics. It came ashore in southwest Florida, marking the beginning of an historic run of storms here. Tropical Storm Bonnie had just left northwest Florida when Charlie first hit the state just west of Fort Myers as a dangerous Category 4 storm. It hit the peninsula at Punta Gorda in Charlotte County. Charlie was the strongest storm to hit the state since Hurricane Andrew. It was one of those central moments like there's before Charlie and there's after Charlie. Neil Durant is the history librarian for Charlotte County. It's going to always be a big part of Punta Gorda's history, you know, Charlotte County's history. It's always going to be one of those standout moments. 20 years is a major anniversary. This is Jennifer Zobelin.

She's the Charlotte County historian and worked with Durant on an exhibit commemorating the storm, its aftermath, and recovery. Trying to tell a comprehensive story, focusing on Charlie, but then highlighting 2004 as this mean season, as the one book calls it, that really impacts Florida on a massive scale. Charlie's winds were near 150 miles per hour when it first hit Cayo Costa near Fort Myers. It was expected to travel a little bit further up the coast before turning into the peninsula, but it didn't. The storm underwent rapid intensification offshore in the coast before turning into the peninsula, but it didn't. The storm underwent rapid intensification offshore in the hours before making landfall, and it brought 100 mile an hour

winds well inland into the Orlando area. Here's Central Florida Public Media reporter Joe Mario Petterson. Before Charlie, the last storm to hit Central Florida was Category 2 Hurricane David in 1979, which skirted the coast. 2004's Charlie passed right over Central Florida. Chris Dobson is a dispatch supervisor for Orange County and was working as a dispatcher during that storm season. He recalls Charlie's winds forced the county for the first time to pause its emergency response calls. They put out the no response order, I believe, when the wind got to about 50 miles an hour. Part of the decision was made because we had ambulances transporting to the hospital that were almost blown off the road. Dobson says a normal day in 2004 for 911 calls totaled about 270 calls a day.

During the days that followed Charlie, the center saw call volumes totaling more than 600 calls. Charlie knocked down thousands of trees around the county, hindering response times. Since then, call centers have been equipped with more people to handle incoming storms, and each fire truck is armed with chainsaws. We have more stations. We have more equipment in the 20 years since Charlie has happened. We have more personnel, certainly more prepared. Joe Mario Pedersen in Orlando. Charlie left behind almost $17 billion in damages and 10 people died.

Before 2004 was up, we would also greet Francis, Ivan, and Gene. Four storms in six weeks. This week, the total number of Florida counties declared federal disaster areas rose to 10, thanks to Hurricane Debbie. It hit just a week and a half ago. Most of the counties are in the Big Bend and Northeast Florida regions, but the federal declarations also include Sarasota and Manatee counties along the Gulf Coast. Here's Keri Sheridan with our partner station WUSF in Tampa. People in yellow vests are going door-to-door in neighborhoods hit hard by flooding to help people sign up. On Sunday, the Biden administration declared Sarasota and Manatee County a disaster zone after Debbie passed by as a tropical storm August 5th.

Debbie made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane just north in the Big Bend region. People in several counties there can also now apply for federal aid. Grants for temporary housing and home repairs are available, so are low-cost loans to cover property losses that were not insured. The aid is available to Sarasota and Manatee residents and business owners. I'm Carrie Sheridan in Sarasota. The early financial estimates for Hurricane Debbie are in. Insured losses are estimated at $114 million, according to state insurance regulators. About 60% of the claims filed so far

are for damage to homes. Now, speaking of insurance, the insurer of last resort here in Florida is charging way less than what private insurers do. The gap between what citizens property insurance charges homeowners and what other companies charge has gotten wider and wider as the cost of regular homeless insurance has skyrocketed. As the state backed home insurance company, the insurance premiums charged by citizens are not meant to be competitive with other insurance companies. And they're not. By a lot. You know, in this case, you can see that what jumps out here, increase needed to be non-competitive. This is Brian Donovan. He's the chief actuary at Citizens. The premiums would have to be increased by 96.8 percent. So basically doubled, close to double, to get it to what we consider non-competitive.

That's how much Citizens would have to hike its average premium for regular homeowners insurance in 2025 to bring its premium closer to the average premium from private insurance companies. Last year, Citizens was about 44 percent below many other insurers. Donovan was speaking earlier this month at the company's rate increase hearing before the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Now, he was quick to point out Citizens is not asking for its average insurance rates to double. Obviously, yeah, we're not proposing that once again. We know the glide path exists. The glide path is the maximum amount Citizens can increase its premiums as prescribed by state law.

The idea is to glide citizens' premiums up and closer to the competitive rates. Slowly. Very slowly. Our rates remain, for the most part, actuarially unsound and highly competitive around the state. And as a governmental insurer of last resort, we should never be competing with the private market. Tim Serio is the Citizens CEO. Being less competitive is simply the only way to reduce citizen size. A smaller citizens is needed, of course, to prevent assessments on Floridians. If Citizens gets into financial trouble, it can charge a fee to Florida taxpayers. The company wants to boost its rates 14% beginning in January. That's the maximum

allowed under state law, and that's after a 13 percent increase this year. But the premium increases in the private market have far exceeded this, further widening the gap between what citizens charges and what other insurance companies charge. There is no competition in Monroe County. Citizens is our insurer of last resort and so they're not competing with anyone here. This is Caroline Horn with Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe. It advocates for home insurance in the Keys. Citizens is the only insurer for hurricane protection in the Keys. I think that what we'd like right now is no increase. Citizens wants to hike its regular homeowners and hurricane insurance 16 percent in Monroe County and more than 20% for condos in the Keys.

Now, a final decision by regulators is due later this month, and we still have 15 weeks left in this storm season. I'm Tom Hudson, and you're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. We aren't the only ones affected by storms, of course. So is our wildlife. Debbie was the second hurricane in as many years to churn up Florida's west coast and the second tropical system to change what was a record breaking sea turtle nesting season into a heartbreaker for those helping the loggerheads and leatherbacks thrive. From our partner station in Fort Myers, here's WGCU Senior Environmental Reporter Tom Bayless. For two years, a more diverse number of sea turtle species have laid more eggs along southwest Florida's coastline. Records were broken both this year and in 2023 for the overall number of nests and for the varied species

of turtles that laid clutches on our region's beaches, some for the first time in recorded history. But then in August last year and again this year, those great starts were stopped in a hurry when a hurricane raked the entire west coast of Florida on its way to a landfall in the Big Bend region. The storm's inundated beaches thick with turtle nests, and what was going to be the best turtle hatchling summer ever, turned both into a hit or miss season. Luck determined which species of the sea turtles did best or worst. Many scientists and researchers believe global warming is clearly to blame for the seesaw seasons. The warmer the water, the higher the likelihood tropical storms will strengthen into hurricanes. In August last year, Category 3 Hurricane Adalia washed out 121 nests on Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

In August this year, Debbie grew from a tropical storm to a hurricane along nearly the same route as Idalia. The number of nests ruined by Debbie's long-lasting storm surge are still being counted, but early reports are finding that Debbie, while a weaker Category 1 at landfall, will be more environmentally damaging than Idalia. In Fort Myers, I'm Tom Bayless. Now, there may be a new Florida animal on the endangered species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to add an orange-tailed Florida skink. wants to add an orange-tailed Florida skink. The cedar hole mole skink can now only be found on a 10-mile stretch of islands off Florida's Gulf Coast in Levy County. The skink makes its home by burrowing in dry sand along the shore, but increasing sea levels and more severe storms

are threatening its survival. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision after the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity sued. Wildlife managers also plan to designate about 2,700 acres as critical habitat. Finally, on the Roundup this week... You want your job back. I've got something that the sheriff wants you to drive to Miami. I've done something that the sheriff wants you to drive to Miami. Another kind of Florida wildlife hits Apple TV Plus this week. Bad Monkey began on the video streaming platform. It's based on the book by Floridian Carl Hyasson.

Now, what makes this project so rare is that it is a full-budget Hollywood production that was actually shot here in the Sunshine State. And it is much more reasonable to shoot Atlanta or Louisiana and pretend it's Florida. Bill Lawrence is the producer of Bad Monkey. He has family in Central Florida. He's probably best known for the series Scrubs and Ted Lasso. He knew it would be next to impossible to have a video series based on a Carl Hiaasen book to be shot anywhere but Florida. Carl is so embedded in Florida and in Florida history.

I thought it was really, really important that we actually shot in Florida. You know, the keys for the keys and Miami for Miami. Yeah, real Floridians know what our palm trees look like. If you know, you know. That's our program for today. The Florida Roundup is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and the program's Technical Director is Peter Meritz. Engineering

help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Hart. Richard Ives answers our phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Libos at AaronLibos.com. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and supporting public media in your neighborhood. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.