Today's news

BRING AN EXTRA QUARTER: The Hillsborough School Board ponders raising cafeteria meal prices between 25 cents and 50 cents, as the cost of staples such as milk and bread rise. The district is looking at several ways to overcome an expected $64-million shortfall for 2008-09. (Photo from Cornell University)

GREGO MOVING ON: Hillsborough assistant superintendent Mike Grego is on his way to lead Osceola schools after that district's 3-2 vote for a new superintendent, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Grego was a finalist for the Hillsborough job and has been actively seeking to lead a school system, most recently sending an unsolicited application to the Pinellas School Board, which picked insider Julie Janssen as interim superintendent instead.

NO BULLYING IN BROWARD: The Broward School Board hashes out an anti-bullying policy that officials say goes beyond what lawmakers have asked schools to do, the Miami Herald reports.

FORGET GOOD FRIDAY: After fielding numerous complaints, the Polk School Board decides to make Good Friday a holiday for students, the Lakeland Ledger reports.

LET THEM SEE: The Martin School Board moves to broadcast its monthly meetings amid calls from residents to make the district's business more visible, the Stuart News reports.

SIMULATION TEACHING: Some would-be teachers learn classroom management skills in a high-tech virtual classroom at the University of Central Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The computerized kids act up, but at least they can't hit anyone.

TRY TO CARE: Florida's public education system is under siege, and yet the public seems more interested in stories about teacher sex than in those about academics, accountability and finance, Palm Beach Post columnist Jac Wilder VerSteeg writes.

BUDGET ROUNDUP: Florida State's world-class Magnetic Field Laboratory will get shut down for two months as the university aims to save money on electricity, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. University of Florida trustees approve $47-million in cuts, the Sun-Sentinel reports. The Miami-Dade School Board is debating whether the dismissal of its psychologists to save money might do more harm than good, the Miami Herald reports. As if a loss in state funding weren't enough, Brevard learns it will see its federal funds cut, too, Florida Today reports.