The big story: After Florida adopted its Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking standards in 2020, the Department of Education distributed recommended reading lists it said included “top of the line literary works with world renowned titles.”

Authors on the high school list included William Shakespeare.

Three years later, some Florida school districts are shying away from Shakespeare, along with other classic and popular materials. They say they’re attempting to comply with new state law restricting books with and instruction about sexual content.

Hillsborough County became the latest to take this step, telling teachers they could assign excerpts of plays such as “Romeo and Juliet,” but not the full text.

“I think the rest of the nation — no, the world, is laughing us,” Gaither High teacher Joseph Cool said after learning of the directive. “Taking Shakespeare in its entirety out because the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is somehow exploiting minors is just absurd.” Read more here.

The availability of books has become a regular flash point for Florida’s public schools. Groups of parents have pushed to get some materials removed, while other groups have pushed just as hard to keep as many titles available as possible.

In Lake County, the removal of “And Tango Makes Three” landed the district in a lawsuit earlier this year. This week, the Lake district said the book is no longer banned, making the lawsuit challenging its removal moot, News Service of Florida reports. District officials said they returned the book after learning the state Department of Education explained that laws restricting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation do not apply to independent reading material.

Meanwhile, a growing number of titles are under review in Northeast Florida school districts, WJAX reports.

School districts are spending tens of thousands of dollars reviewing and cataloguing books to meet the state laws, Politico Florida reports. Media specialists have been scrutinizing millions of books, WKMG reports.

Hot topics

AP psychology: A growing number of Florida school districts shied away from offering Advanced Placement Psychology amid concerns that the state’s definition of “age appropriate” lessons might not coincide with the AP course’s requirements, despite assurances from the education commissioner, Florida Today reports. More from Palm Beach Post. • The Sarasota County school district decided to continue with AP psychology despite the confusion, the Herald-Tribune reports. • The Florida PTA called on the commissioner to clarify his direction, Florida Phoenix reports. The Florida Education Association made a similar request, WJAX reports.

Back to school: Charter schools in Panama City began classes three days before Bay County district schools, WMBB reports. • The Palm Beach County school district debuted its newest middle school, the Palm Beach Post reports.

Follow what’s happening in Tampa Bay schools

Subscribe to our free Gradebook newsletter

We’ll break down the local and state education developments you need to know every Thursday.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Bus safety: The Martin County sheriff said new laws allowing cameras to capture vehicles that pass stopped school buses for prosecution will be difficult to enforce, WPEC reports.

History lessons: Florida leaders in the Central Conference of American Rabbis raised concerns that Florida government leaders are trying to obscure important lessons about slavery, Florida Politics reports.

New teachers: First-year Pinellas County teacher Gabby Hernandez says she’s excited to begin her new career, even as many are leaving the profession in frustration, Bay News 9 reports. • Rookie educators in Miami-Dade County got a pep talk and some advice as they prepared for their first day with students, the Miami Herald reports.

School security: Lee County schools will have armed guards supporting resource officers for the first time this year, WINK reports.

Teacher pay: The Escambia County School Board approved a $739 million budget that includes improving its base teacher salary to $47,500, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.

From the police blotter … A candidate for Hernando County School Board was arrested on accusations of organized fraud, Hernando Sun reports.

Don’t miss a story. Yesterday’s roundup is a click away.

Before you go … Not sure how this slipped by when “The Hobbit” trilogy was winning awards. But now that the Women’s World Cup is in New Zealand, it’s popping back up. And it’s fun.

• • •

Sign up for the Gradebook newsletter!

Every Thursday, get the latest updates on what’s happening in Tampa Bay area schools from Times education reporter Jeffrey S. Solochek. Click here to sign up.