And we all thought we had our own problems making choices for the local School Board. Check out this article on CNN World. Monkey God Elected School ChairmanMaybe we've been going about the selection process in all the wrong ways!
This from C-J: Change to begin in fall of 2009Calling it a historic moment for Jefferson County Public Schools, the district's board voted unanimously yesterday to approve an integration plan that will use race, income and education in assigning children to schools."This is a terrific opportunity because we are starting something new and as we move forward and work through this, I believe it is go
State Rep. John Legg thought it would be easy to change Florida law to allow voters to recall school board members who aren't up to snuff. Turns out to be a more complicated effort than the Pasco lawmaker expected. "It...
Just a reminder that Tuesday is school board election day in New Jersey in communities where there are elected school boards. That means locally, residents in East Newark and Harrison won't be going to the polls. Residents in Jersey City, Kearny, Nutley, North Arlington, Bloomfield, Lyndhurst and Belleville will go to the polls, which are open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.Turnout at school board elections is usually small, but this is the one opportunity residents have a direct say about a budget.In Kearny, reports say there won't be an increase in taxes if the budget passes.We'll have results from some of the local elections tomorrow as they flow in. And don't forget the two candidates we highlighted yesterday: Steve Rogers in Nutley and Debbie Wertalik in North Arlington.Also, don't forget today
No decision is expected by the Anne Arundel County School Board on the two re-districting proposals for the Greater Crofton area before the April 30 deadline.
The two proposals under consideration for filling the new Gambrills-Area Elementary School (pictured at right) are:
1. The Recommendation of schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell regarding the Gambrills-Area Elementary School [...]
Pinellas School Board members elected a new chair and vice chair this morning.
Nancy Bostock will serve her third term as chairwoman for the coming year. Bostock, first elected to the board in 1998 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006, was chair in 2004-05.
Peggy O’Shea, elected in 2006 and the board’s newest member, will serve as vice chair.
Outgoing chairwoman Mary Brown said she was ready to go back to being "a regular board member."
"I worked very hard as chair," Brown said. "I feel I’ve done the best I could. It’s time for someone else to take over."
Photos of Nancy Bostock (top) and Peggy O'Shea
- Donna Winchester, Times education reporter
The Fayette County School Board is appealing a $3.9 million civil judgment against it in a sex abuse lawsuit.In July, a Fayette jury found that the school board had ignored Carol Lynne Maner's allegations of sex abuse at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.The jury awarded $3.7 million, and a judge raised the verdict by $238,766 to include attorney fees.The school board has argued that school district officials were not aware of the allegations of abuse and that the lawsuit is barred by the statute of limitations. The board did not identify the issues it will raise on appeal when it filed its notice of appeal last week.This from the Herald-Leader.
This is a contemporary American story if ever there was one; if only because it's hard to imagine it occuring at any other time in American history. It says a lot about our country today. What it says is up for grabs."Sex Offender Seeking Seat on School Board" A Horatio Alger story--kinda--from the Denver Post:A Delta school board candidate says his criminal record has been overstated publicly and is relevant only because it shows he overcame daunting barriers to become successful.Dale Haag, 48, is a registered sex offender who also was convicted of starting a fire in Sioux Falls, S.D., that killed two women when he was 17. But a supporter said Haag's rough start in life makes him uniquely qualified to be a board member of the Delta County Joint School District.Haag, who is very open about his past, is undeterred by an onslaught of bad publicity and said he will not change his focus of strong discipline and encouraging more parental involvement."I'll tell you up front, I've got zer
This from Mark Hebert at WHAS11 Political Blog.School Board Picks One FinalistThe Kentucky State Board of Education has selected Kentucky's next school commissioner but won't announce its decision until later this month.According to Greg Stotelmyer of WTVQ-TV in Lexington, board chairman Joe Brothers says the members decided on one candidate at their meeting in Covington today.But Brothers told Stotelmyer that the board members want some clarifications from the remaining candidate before making a final decision. Brothers hints that Draud or Vick was the pick?Beshear's spokeswoman, says the governor-elect was "deeply disappointed" with the board's decision.
FRANKFORT -- The Kentucky Board of Education will move forward with plans to interview four finalists for state education commissioner next week, despite a request from Gov.-elect Steve Beshear to expand the search and delay the hiring.In addressing the state board during a special meeting yesterday, Beshear said he was concerned about the whole search process, particularly since it took place during a "period of political turmoil in Kentucky" and a "contentious (gubernatorial) campaign (that) no doubt has been a deterrent to finding the best possible candidate.""I strongly urge you to delay your selection of a new commissioner, hire a competent search firm, cast a net far and wide and seek out additional candidates," Beshear said. "This should not necessarily exclude those currently identified, but should result in a broader qualified pool from which to make your selection." ......"This is a difficult position that the board is being placed in," said Janna Vice, a board member from Ri
According the the Cherokee Ledger.…The Cherokee County Board of Education voted unanimously Sept. 6 to deny a charter school planned for Woodstock, but organizers of the effort say board members left the door open for them to try again.
Imagine Schools Non-Profit (ISNP) sponsored the private business venture to offer a taxpayer-supported alternative K-8 school to Cherokee students that claimed it would offer bilingual education and an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Horsley said, however, that Imagine will wait to see whether HB 881, introduced last year by Rep. Jan Jones (R-Alpharetta) which would establish an independent Georgia Charter Schools Commission that would approve charter school petitions, passes this year’s legislature. She said asking a school board of education to approve a charter effort was almost like asking them to discredit what it offers.
“It’s like going to McDonald’s and asking them to endorse Burger King,&
Louisville, Ky. (AP) Students' ethnicity and socioeconomic status as well as race are among the factors the Jefferson County Board of Education agreed Monday to include in developing its next student assignment plan.The U.S. Supreme Court in June barred the district from assigning students to schools based on race."We want to look at diversity in a much broader light so that it will maximize the educational benefits for all students," Superintendent Sheldon Berman told The Courier-Journal. "We will still look at race, and race will still be a major factor, but it will not be the only factor."Besides diversity, the "guiding principles" that the board adopted include enhanced quality of the instructional program; families choice; predictability so that families understand the choices and the assignment process; student stability to provide connection to the school staff, peers and the school's social and academic community; and equitable access to programs and resources.The board voted
We know you're thirsting for the details of the yesterday's outburst at the Hillsborough School Board training, in which Hillsborough School Board member Jennifer Faliero told fellow Board member April Griffin to resign if she couldn't get with the program. Due to technical difficulties, you couldn't read the full story online this morning. It's now available here.
Thoughts? Reaction? We're dying to hear what you think.
Last October, in a board of education debate, I was somewhat critical of the existing Fayette County Board for what I saw as a neglect of known facilities needs. At that time, the district said the need was $184 million for new construction, renovation and maintenance. This number was based on the 2004 district facilities plan. I argued that the board should not wait until the need grew to $200 million before doing something about it.Many of the facilities projects had been "on the books" for years and kept getting pushed back due to insufficient bonding capacity. Just as with our homes, delayed repairs now can lead to greater costs later. School construction costs in Lexington have risen by about 8% a year, or 32% since 2004. Neglect the infrastructure at your peril. Leaky roofs, warped gym floors and air conditioning repairs all competed for the same dollars.For example, Cassidy School was originally scheduled for renovation somewhere around 2000; now planned for 2008. Existing maint
The Hillsborough School Board filed a long-expected lawsuit Friday against Hillsborough County, asking for a judge’s ruling on who has to pay for roads and sidewalks around new campuses.
School and county officials disagree about the burden that can be placed on the school district under state law. The dispute has threatened to delay the planning and the construction of new schools.
In the lawsuit, school officials say they are responsible for “only those improvements which are adjacent to or immediately abutting the school site.” They note that the county recently has attempted to make the district pay for a larger share.
But the School Board is not asking a judge to make the county pay. It merely wants a declaration clarifying the district’s responsibility under law.
School Board attorney Tom Gonzalez said the county has 60 days to respond. He expects it will take the courts several months to resolve the issue. Read the lawsuit here: Download countylawsuit.doc
The Cogdell School Board banned the teaching of the controversial “Theory Of Math” in its schools Monday. “We are simply not confident of this mysterious process by which numbers turn, as if by magic, into other numbers,” board member Gus Reese said. “Those mathematicians are free to believe 3 times 4 equals 12, but that dun [sic] give them the right to force it on our children.”
Under the new ruling, all math textbooks will carry a disclaimer noting that math is only one of many valid theories of number-manipulation.
Via The Onion. Very good
Creationism, evolution, funny, math
Teachers at Troy High School asked school board members this week to help ensure teacher and student safety during renovation on the high school building that includes asbestos and lead-based paint removal, according to an article appearing June 7 in the LA Times.The teachers are concerned about what they believe was sloppy asbestos removal that took place without notifying parents or teachers. A teacher at the school recently found a bundle of plastic-wrapped bags labeled “danger” and “asbestos” near equipment that circulates air in the building. Asbestos has been linked to the cancer mesothelioma and other diseases.For the full story, go to www.latimes.com
‘It’s time to come clean’ in St. Charles In a stunning development, a former School Board President in St Charles told the Daily Herald that a tape recording exists which shows the St. Charles school board knew it was breaking the law two years ago when it silently extended Superintendent Barbara Erwin’s contract behind closed doors. The Daily Herald reports:Despite the current board having heard the recording last week, however, members have yet to turn it over to the state’s attorney’s office, which is investigating a possible Open Meetings Act violation in 2005, Karla Ray said. Ray, who was not on the board for the meeting in question, said she came forward with the information because she’s fed up with rampant secrecy on the board and “it’s time to come clean.” The existence of direct evidence of a willful violation of the Open Meetings Act has the potential to raise the stakes for board members who were involved - and has left present board members looking t
Jefferson County Public Schools students who ride the bus won't find music in their ears after the school board tabled a decision on whether to allow a national bus radio company to place radios with advertising on board.Board Chairman Joe Hardesty pulled the item off the agenda moments after the meeting began tonight. He said he doesn't expect the issue to be brought up again in the forseeable future.The three-year agreement had called for Massachusetts-based Bus Radio Inc. to install and maintain custom-designed radios and provide age-appropriate music, commercials and public-service announcements to Jefferson County's 60,000 bused students -- at no cost to the district.This from the Courier-Journal.
Waynesboro Public Schools Waynesboro, Virginia School Board Meeting – Closed Session Tuesday, May 22, 2007 Central Office Closed Meeting – 6:00 p.m. 301 Pine Avenue Waynesboro, Virginia 22980 SCHOOL BOARD AND STAFF AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Mr. Doug Norcross Mr. Brian Edwards Dr. Jonathan Lovelady Mrs. Kathe Maneval Mr. Jeremy Taylor Dr. Robin Crowder Mr. William Staton Mrs. Vermell Grant CLOSED SESSION 07-096 The School Board shall proceed into closed session to discuss personnel matters under Section §2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, (A)(1) for purposes authorized in such section. Recommended Motion: I move that the W
As Conscious Earth visitors read last month, free copies of An Inconvenient Truth were made available to every high school in British Columbia thanks to the charitable contribution of the Tides...
Earth-centred news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming
The Kansas Board of Education approved a controversial measure yesterday that will ban all Pokemon video games, trading cards, and related merchandise because of the franchises blatant promotion of evolution. The vote, which passed by a narrow margin after weeks of debate amongst members of the board, is being hailed as a victory by conservatives and religious groups.
Teachers will now be required to search their students at the beginning of the school day to make sure that they arent carrying any copies of the game. Any copies that are found will be immediately and permanently confiscated, and the student may be subject to punishments ranging from a temporary suspension to outright expulsion for repeat violators.
The issue of transferring students between neighboring school districts was debated Tuesday evening.As of 2005, the board set a cap on student transfers at 340.Last year, the school board granted waivers allowing 369 students to attend city school, an additional 29 students over the limit. The school system loses $3,500 for each student it loses to other schools.Some members believed theboard should show more flexibility in those numbers. Member J.C. Cheney said there should be marginal room beyond the cap in the interest of parents' wishes. “I don't see anything wrong with going over by ten,” Chaney said.McGuire said the board needed to show no flexibility toward the issue.This from the Appalachian News-Express.
A Bullitt County school board meeting became heated Tuesday night and police officers remained in attendance until adjournment.Tempers flared in response to the presentation of a scholastic audit that criticized school administrators as a standing room-only crowd looked on at a school cafeteria in Mount Washington.The audit was conducted because of the district's recurring failure to meet reading and math standards set forth in the federal No Child Left Behind law. The state Department of Education conducted the audit, based on a review of documents and interviews with more than 400 students, teachers, staff and administrators.From WAVE TV3.com.
Theola Labbe of the Washington Post covers the argument that broke out the other evening between Tom Nida, the Chairman of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, and attendees who wanted a chance to address the board in opposition to the expansion of the Appletree Charter School (you have to go to the second page of the link to read the story. I was also at the meeting Monday night).Mr. Nida would not let them speak but his decision seemed arbitrary since I attended a meeting a couple of months ago where he solicited the comments of Joe Bruno, the head of Project Hope who had come as an observer, regarding the proposed expansion of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy. (He supported their addition of a third campus in Columbia Heights and the plan was approved.)Theola and others have pointed out that the D.C. Public Charter School Board operates in a manner that is far from transparent. Their website does not contain their meeting agendas or minutes. The rules for ad
It turns out that the NSTA are not the only people who want to restrict student access to An Inconvenient Truth. The Federal Way School Board has implemented new restrictive rules for teachers screening the film in response to a complaint from a single parent.The parent in question, Frosty Hardison, asserts:"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD." More disturbing is the response of the school board. New rules implemented this week state that any teacher showing the film, or who has shown the film, must present "a "credible, legitimate opposing view". School Board President Ed Barney was specifically quoted as saying,Students should hear the persp
