Some Schools Not Accepting Undocumented Immigrants

Three decades after the Supreme Court ruled that students could not be denied access to a public school due to immigration status, the New York Times reported that 1 in 5 school districts in their state are requiring a child’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants could provide.

The ACLU is involved in battling this practice and it appears that the reason for this problem may revolve around the unintentional, routine practices of various districts.  Conversely, after the Haitian earthquake, target districts in other parts of the country not only accepted the victims but relaxed their requirements beyond the normal standards.  

19 People Arrested at North Carolina School Board Meeting

At the Wake County, NC School Board meeting on Tuesday, several protesters and police scuffled  over claims that a new busing system would resegregate schools.  The conflict led to 19 arrests and increased racial tension.  Fox News reported that the head of state NAACP chapter was banned from the meeting due to a trespassing arrest at last month's session.


Every school district has strict diversity guidelines which link with the landmark case from Brown vs. Board of Education.  One can assume that there will be more coverage on this case as this matter will proceed through the court system.  


For more information about this case, please see the article in The Daily Tarheel. 

Teacher Fired, Administrators Disclipined Over Student Field-Trip Drowning

Last week, a teacher was fired and two administrators were disciplined after the results of an investigation found that a 12 yr old student's death may have been the result of the school’s poor planning and supervision during a field trip.


An investigation found that officials at the school did a poor job planning the trip and failed to obtain the required parental consent forms. It was believed that the teacher chaperoning the trip should have noticed the beach was closed to swimmers and that no lifeguards were on duty. The school seemed to also be aware that some of the students did not know how to swim.

School employees must follow the designated procedures for their school and district. This was an easily preventable situation.




To read the New York Times version of this story, click here.

Court Says Teacher E-mails Are Private

Last week, the Wisconsion Supreme Court ruled that a teacher's school e-mail may be private. Specifically,the Court said

"that the content of government workers' personal e-mail messages are not part of government business and are therefore not always subject to the state open records law."

The issue for many is what are the expectations of someone who sends personal messages on public machines? Will a uniform acceptable use policy suffice? Some think the rule of thought is that an employer should provide reasonable work conditions which allows for some level of flexibility.

My suggestion is not to use the public/work computer for private use unless you are prepared to share that information with others.

Montana School District’s Controversial Sex Ed Plan

Source: Fox News

The Helena, Montana Public School system has a proposal that includes teaching kindergartners sex education was debated Tuesday evening at a school board meeting.

The proposal already has been criticized as school administrators consider a comprehensive plan for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The plan includes teaching first graders that people can be attracted to the same gender. In second grade students are instructed to avoid gay slurs and by the time students turn 10 years old they are taught about various types of intercourse. Fifth-graders should “understand that sexual intercourse includes but is not limited to certain forms of penetration.”

To view the comprehensive plan, click here

Collier School district being sued over Bibles

Source: WINK - July 2, 2010

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - The Collier County School District is being sued after they ban Bibles from their campuses.

One group who wants to distribute them said that's a violation of their rights. The group is called 'World Changers.' They distribute Bibles to Collier County students once a year on Religious Freedom Day, but this year, the group is not welcome.

No Bibles are wanted here. The superintendent of Collier County Schools made that decision after years of allowing Jerry Rutherford to distribute the Bibles one day a year. Rutherford said it's harmless.

"We just put the Bibles on the table with an explanation - these are free Bibles. We don't talk to anyone. We keep the school rules."

Now school officials claim Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and can't be given out on campus. Even a disclaimer like ones used before won't work.

"The Collier County school system is neither endorsing or backing this event, so all the legal entanglements are taken care of in that disclaimer - so there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do it."