FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Having studied sign language since fifth grade, Marina Perry planned to one day become an interpreter for the deaf. But then she learned that Paso Robles High School planned to eliminate its American Sign Language program.
Worried that federal funds may be in jeopardy, school district officials are reviewing their relationship with an internet service provider, according to documents obtained by this newspaper.
Fewer students will be able to ride the bus to Menifee schools next year and those who do will pay more for the service.
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District trustees unanimously approved reorganization of the district's top administrative structure, adding two positions without adding expenses.
Members of the Palm Springs Teachers Association staged a rally Tuesday evening as a “show of solidarity,” President Bev Bricker said.
Larger classes, a slimmer transportation department and vacant positions will keep Desert Sands Unified School District solvent, the board decided Tuesday.
San Juan Unified School District officials celebrated Monday the district's efforts in recent years to lower its schools' energy usage to reduce utility bills.
The families of Galt elementary and middle school students will likely have to find a way to travel to school next year. The Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board of trustees is scheduled to vote today on a proposal to lay off six bus drivers. If the recommendation passes, it would end transportation for every student except those in special education, which is federally mandated.
Lunchtime is part of the curriculum inside the small tidy rental home on Proctor Street in West Sacramento, where Washington Unified School District operates a program for 18- to 22-year-old students with intellectual disabilities such as Down syndrome. The award-winning program replicates a real-world living experience inside a rental home a short walk from Washington Unified's district office.
The district has faulted Birmingham Community Charter High School for allegedly mishandling student expulsions and services to disabled students. School officials say they're aware of no major problems.
In split votes Monday night, the Mt. Diablo school board raised the tax rate property owners will pay for new school construction projects and extended the contracts for the superintendent and four other top administrators.
A state Senate committee voted today to support legislation that would create a task force to strengthen the state's oversight of earthquake protections for public schools.
The state’s school construction program, running critically low on cash, is set to get an infusion from the sale last week of $1.3 billion in state general obligation bonds.
While refusing requests to lower Los Angeles Unified's utility rates, the DWP will audit the school district's biggest energy-guzzlers - its "Dirty 30" - in the hope of shrinking its $90 million-a-year electric bill.
President Obama recognized Burbank teacher Rebecca Mieliwocki as the 2012 National Teacher of the Year during a ceremony Tuesday at the White House.
With the governor’s release of his revised May budget just a few weeks away, a key legislative panel on Tuesday rejected a host of ideas the administration had put forward in support of charter schools.
Gov. Jerry Brown hasn’t taken the Education Coalition’s “no” as a final answer on a weighted student funding plan.
The San Diego school board voted to eliminate nearly 1,000 nonteaching positions Tuesday night over the familiar protests of parents, teachers and others who have grown frustrated with budget cuts they say will give students a substandard education in an unsafe environment.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Despite strong opposition from Trustee David Varela and the possibility of a split vote by a badly divided school board, Steve Lowder may be hired as soon as tonight as Stockton Unified's next superintendent.
School burglaries have increased in the north Stockton portion of Lodi Unified at an alarming rate, specifically at five elementary schools.
Furlough days, vacant positions and the possibility off layoffs are part of a tentative agreement on an employment contract reached recently between Lake Elsinore school district leaders and the union that represents its nearly 900 nonteaching employees.
Bonsall Union School District's long-sought attempt to become a unified district with its own high school could go before voters in November, and trustees took action to help make the potential transition smoother on Thursday.
The union representing teachers at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has reached an agreement with administrators to reduce an outstanding $8 million debt the district owes the teachers.
We appreciate that San Diego Unified is having a tough time because of the state’s revenue crisis. But the ends don’t justify the means.
State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson visited the Bay Area to deliver a message last week. Yes, schools need more money, but that's not why he was at the microphone on this occasion. He was telling anyone willing to listen that when the last bell of the school year rings, it shouldn't mark the end of students' education.
