FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, January 16, 2014

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Feds issue guidelines against bias in school discipline

Education Headlines

Thursday, January 16, 2014

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Restroom misunderstanding puts two schools on lockdown

A misunderstanding involving a student in a restroom led to two Indio schools being placed on lockdown Wednesday morning.

Concerns raised over how funds for higher-needs kids will be used

Parents will converge on the Capitol today to rally for more stringent rules tying education funding to direct services for children. The state Board of Education is scheduled to take up the plodding work of sorting through legal wording to guide spending under the new local control funding formula for schools.

Kern High School District restricts superintendent search to insiders

The Kern High School District has decided to limit to internal candidates its search for a successor to retiring Superintendent Don Carter.

Feds issue guidelines against bias in school discipline

Federal officials kicked up their campaign against discriminatory school discipline policies last week, issuing first-ever guidelines for school districts on how to avoid racial disparities in student punishment.

O.C. students accused of hacking, changing grades may face expulsion

The roughly dozen Corona del Mar High students accused of hacking into the school's computers to access tests and change grades are still facing the possibility of expulsion from the district, Newport-Mesa Unified officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Azusa Unified hears district’s financial history in exploration of bond measure

The Azusa Unified school board heard an overview of its financial history on Tuesday as part of ongoing studies into a potential general obligation bond.

MPUSD board rejects MAOS charter proposal

Trustees of the largest school district on the Monterey Peninsula rejected plans to spin off a successful academy into its own charter school.

MPUSD superintendent search firm vows smooth process

The district picked the Fairfield firm out of four finalists for the task to help screen candidates for superintendent. It is an important job under any circumstance, but is particularly crucial after the search for a superintendent imploded last year.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Farmersville students, parents seek superintendent's ouster

About 80 Farmersville High students and parents sought the removal of Superintendent Christina Luna at a protest rally Tuesday morning. Protesters told reporters that Luna should be fired for allegedly launching a campaign to fire popular principals and teachers and for allegedly mismanaging district funds.

Parent: School ceremony at church violates law

For the past two years, Los Alamitos Unified School District’s two middle schools have held their combined graduation ceremony in the large auditorium at Cottonwood Church. Now, the district is determining whether it can continue holding school events at Cottonwood and other churches after a parent, along with a national atheist group, objected to the arrangement, arguing that it violates the separation of church and state.

New GED testing requires computer skills, more knowledge

Adults who dropped out of school will have to dig deeper to pass the new GED, which was revamped this year for the first time since 2002. Rather than answer multiple-choice questions on paper, test-takers have to solve interactive math problems, analyze social studies passages and demonstrate critical thinking through essay responses on a computer.

San Juan district trustees censure board member in 3-1 vote

San Juan school district trustees narrowly approved a resolution Tuesday night censuring board member Larry Masuoka for what investigators said was his failure to report complaints of employees’ bullying and intimidation by the district superintendent.

Bond funded modernizations to begin at Chula Vista schools

Glamorous, they ain’t. Yet, the renovations and modernizations slated this year for three of Chula Vista Elementary School District’s oldest schools have got officials downright giddy.

Luza takes helm of Salinas City Schools

The educator who has led the Salinas City Elementary School District as interim superintendent for the past six months has been given the job full time.