http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/schoolboard/ en-us Sat, 9 Aug 2008 23:10:36 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059205/posts ANN ARBOR, MI — Today, July 31st at 10:00AM EST, a New Jersey Federal Court heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to a public school district’s policy totally banning Christmas music, including simple instrumentals without words, during year-end celebrations in its schools. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan filed the federal lawsuit on the grounds that the school district’s ban on religious music conveys a government-sponsored message of disapproval and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center,... TMLC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059205/posts#comment Sat, 9 Aug 2008 23:10:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063792/posts With five seats on the State Board of Education up for grabs this year, education advocates say how children learn about evolution hangs in the balance -- and who voters choose could affect Kansas' national reputation. A frequent flip-flop between moderate and conservative majorities on the 10-member board has resulted in the state changing its science standards four times in the past eight years. Conservatives have pushed for standards casting doubt on evolution, and moderates have said intelligent design does not belong in the science classroom. In 2007, a new 6-4 moderate majority removed standards that called evolution into question.... The Wichita Eagle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063792/posts#comment Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:35:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062874/posts Dallas public school students who flunk tests, blow off homework and miss assignment deadlines can make up the work without penalty, under new rules that have angered many teachers. The Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062874/posts#comment Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:35:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062726/posts A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to pass a law specifically allowing teachers and staff to pack heat when classes begin later this month. Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements. Superintendent David Thweatt told FOXNews.com the policy was initiated because of safety concerns. "We have had employees assaulted before by people in the last several years," Thweatt said. "I think that safety is big concern. We... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062726/posts#comment Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:16:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2062674/posts A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to pass a law specifically allowing teachers and staff to pack heat when classes begin later this month. Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements. Superintendent David Thweatt told FOXNews.com the policy was initiated because of safety concerns. "We have had employees assaulted before by people in the last several years," Thweatt said. "I think that safety is big concern. We... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2062674/posts#comment Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062632/posts When classes start Aug. 25 in the tiny Harrold school district, there will be one distinct difference from years prior: Some of the teachers may have guns. To deter and protect against school shootings, trustees have altered district policy to allow employees to carry concealed weapons if they have a state permit and permission from the administration. The 110-student district lies 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border. More than a dozen state legislatures have considered making it legal to carry guns on college campuses, but experts and officials contacted... star-telegram.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062632/posts#comment Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:42:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062621/posts Texas school district OKs pistols for staff HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported. Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements. In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to... AJC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062621/posts#comment Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:58:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062603/posts HOUSTON (Reuters) – A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States. The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt. School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom. Thweatt said it is a matter of safety. "We... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062603/posts#comment Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:11:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062372/posts HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported. AP story so you'll have to link to it for the rest. Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062372/posts#comment Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:41:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052682/posts Teaching to students' minds, not just to the test VIRGINIA BEACH After two years of quiet planning, the superintendent of schools has unveiled his vision. Jim Merrill wants to overhaul teaching and focus on critical thinking instead of test preparation. For the past decade, the state's public schools have adjusted teaching to fit Standards of Learning tests, the yardstick used to measure school performance. "You could pass SOLs and still fail a kid," Merrill said. His new direction is the key idea behind a six-year plan. The School Board will consider a draft at its annual retreat this weekend. To... Virginian Pilot http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052682/posts#comment Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:39:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050602/posts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facing a crippling increase in fuel costs, some rural U.S. schools are mulling a solution born of the '70s oil crisis: a four-day week. Cutting out one day of school has been the key to preserving educational programs and staff in parts of Kentucky, New Mexico and Minnesota, outweighing some parents' concerns about finding day-care for the day off. "For rural school districts where buses may travel 100 miles round-trip each day, there certainly are transportation savings worth considering," said Marc Egan, the director of federal affairs at the National School Boards Association. Egan said about... reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050602/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:06:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042387/posts San Francisco is a city that wants to do the right thing. The problem, as always, is when our politicians get carried away. Certainly, no one has any problem with standing up for someone's right to express themselves or control their own life. San Francisco has a long and proud record of backing those kinds of issues. Same-sex marriage? Absolutely. Universal health care? That, too. Banning the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps from local high schools - despite the fact that there has been no complaint about the program - because you disagree with the American military's policy on gay... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042387/posts#comment Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:40:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041801/posts Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy. The rising concentration of Asian Americans at T.J. mirrors demographic trends in other elite math and science magnet schools. In New York, the selective and specialized Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School have Asian American majorities, although about 10 percent of... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041801/posts#comment Mon, 7 Jul 2008 13:33:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2040453/posts Someone once said school board politics can be the roughest politics of all. That wise person probably served on a board and faced voter hostility over proposed budgets and, on more than one occasion, the wrath of parents upset over a school policy affecting their children. All this for an office that comes with no pay and many hours of homework on educational issues and state regulations. And, oh, yes, school board meetings can get testy, even hostile, when there is a controversial issue. It all goes with the territory -- unless you are a member of the Guilderland School... Albany Times Union http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2040453/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 22:14:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037214/posts A pair of former Ware Shoals High School students have filed lawsuits against Ware Shoals School District 51 and its board of trustees in relation to the district’s employment of ex-cheerleading coach and guidance clerk Jill Moore. The lawsuits were filed on behalf of the two WSHS graduates -- one a former cheerleader, the other a former Hornets’ football player -- by Charleston attorney Lionel Lofton. “This is a civil lawsuit being brought by two former Ware Shoals High School students,” Lofton said Wednesday. Each lawsuit levies four causes of action against the district and its board, including gross negligence,... Index Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2037214/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:47:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037691/posts A brief has been filed in a federal appeals court asking the justices to overturn a judge who ordered a school district specifically to ban the Bible in its policy regarding the distribution of literature to students. WND reported just a week ago when a federal judge declared unconstitutional a Florida law that was used to prevent Gideons from handing out Bibles to students on public property near schools.Now comes another dispute, this one in Missouri and pursued by Liberty Counsel in its request to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. It wants the court to... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037691/posts#comment Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:33:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037105/posts (06-26) 19:20 PDT San Francisco -- San Francisco public high schools will no longer award physical education credit to students enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the Board of Education voted today in a hastily scheduled meeting. The 4-to-1 vote will likely cripple the 90-year-old military education program that serves 1,200 students because most use it to satisfy their p.e. requirement. "If students really love the program, they'll take it anyway," said board president Mark Sanchez, who has led opposition to JROTC because of its ties to the military. Gregory Wing, who will be a sophomore at Lowell... SF Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037105/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:25:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026708/posts Tonight, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education will discuss a proposal to change its grading policy. The proposal states that 61 percent is the lowest numeric grade a student could receive if he or she gets an "F" letter grade. Currently, a zero is the lowest numerical grade a student can receive. Fractions of points greater than 0.5 will be rounded up to the next whole number, the proposal says, and homework cannot count more than 20 percent of the quarterly grade. "The district's [proposed] grading guidelines prohibit teachers from using grading practices that are punitive in nature... Raleigh (NC) News & Observer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026708/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jun 2008 21:48:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026338/posts Parent wants apology from school district He spends $4,000 fighting citation By JANICE KAYSER jkayser@cninow.com Posted: June 5, 2008 The Wauwatosa father said he took a photo of a reading wall in a Wilson School classroom Feb. 19 to help a parent in his wife's online support group for parents of autistic children. The photo, however, led to an interrogation of another parent, conspiracy accusations and, eight hours later, a disorderly conduct arrest of the puzzled father. "I just cannot believe this happened," Dave Gallenberger said. Gallenberger and his wife, Arlene, and Dana and Barbara Nicholson told a reporter last... Wauwatosa NOW (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026338/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:25:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026298/posts Fairfax May Junk Study on Behavior Staff Report Shows Racial, Ethnic Gaps Among Students Fairfax County School Board members said they are likely to abandon a staff report that showed racial and ethnic gaps in some measures of student behavior, including in the demonstration of "sound moral character and ethical judgment." The board had delayed an April vote to approve the report after concerns were raised that findings were based on subjective measures, such as elementary report card data, and that they would fuel negative stereotypes. Board member Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence) said yesterday that he plans to propose at... The Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026298/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jun 2008 05:06:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020317/posts A seven-year member of the Baldwin Park school board has been arrested for allegedly breaking the windows of a home and driving under the influence. Authorities say 34-year-old Sergio Corona was being held on suspicion of felony vandalism, driving under the influence of a controlled substance and driving with an expired license. He was arrested early Thursday after police received a call about a man yelling and breaking the window of a front door of a home. Baldwin Park is about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Police arriving at the scene found a man driving a car with... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020317/posts#comment Fri, 23 May 2008 17:28:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997759/posts Kids' dress-up day draws Christian ire 10 minutes ago An elementary-school event in which kids were encouraged to dress as members of the opposite gender drew the ire of a Christian radio group, whose angry broadcast prompted outraged calls to the district office. Students at Pineview Elementary in Reedsburg had been dressing in costume all last week as part of an annual school tradition called Wacky Week. On Friday, students were encouraged to dress either as senior citizens or as members of the opposite sex. A local resident informed the Voice of Christian Youth America on Friday. The Milwaukee-based radio... Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997759/posts#comment Mon, 7 Apr 2008 02:53:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997104/posts The superintendent of a public school that sparked a federal lawsuit by teaching homosexuality to children as young as kindergarten has told another worried parent he can review course material, but he has no right to withdraw his child from class during lessons. The lawsuit, on which WND has reported extensively, was filed by David Parker, whose child was in a class at Estabrook Elementary in Lexington, Mass. Parker's strenuous objection to not being notified when lessons concerning homosexuality were presented landed him in jail overnight. His subsequent lawsuit resulted in a court verdict that essentially concludes parents have no... WorldNetDaily.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997104/posts#comment Sat, 5 Apr 2008 11:33:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992715/posts South Bend school officials have rejected a request by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign to hold a rally in the Washington High School gym on Friday. South Bend Community School Corp. board President Sheila Bergerson says Clinton's visit would have interfered with the school day. She says plans called for juniors and seniors to attend the public rally. School board members denied the request Wednesday night. Bergerson says she worried that the school corporation would give the impression it was endorsing Clinton. A Mishawaka schools spokeswoman says Clinton will instead be at nearby Mishawaka High School. Clinton also plans events in... fox http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992715/posts#comment Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:17:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979811/posts CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a functionally illiterate man who says the Kanawha County school system failed to provide him a proper education. An attorney for Thomas Sturm says that although Sturm was allowed to graduate from Sissonville High School in 2004, the 21-year-old man can read only on a third-grade level. The attorney, Mike Clifford, says the school board failed to abide by state and federal laws meant to monitor and protect the rights of students with disabilities. Sturm allegedly suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Kanawha County Judge... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979811/posts#comment Mon, 3 Mar 2008 22:21:07 GMT