Dooley Noted

Official numbers are in from Eastern Iowa Community College District, which includes Scott, Muscatine and Clinton community college campuses, and enrollment for the fall semester increased 21.6 percent. That puts it above 8,000 students for the first time in the district’s history.

In 2007, EICCD had record-breaking enrollment with 7,329 students. This year, the three colleges are serving 8,481 students.

School board elections in Iowa are almost two weeks away (Sept. 8). I’m getting ready to put together questions for local candidates and would love to get suggestions from parents, students and community members. There’s a lot of issues going on in every district that affect families. School board members are the ones in charge of addressing those issues.

Let me know what district you live in and what questions you want answered from the people running for school board.

Here’s a little history on the races in each district.

I saw at least one commenter asking about school supply drives in my story that ran Sunday. People wishing to donate supplies can contact their local school districts. I also believe residents can also send their donations through the mail by placing the school supplies in a bag near their mailbox.

In addition, people can donate money for schools to purchase needed supplies. They can make them out of the First Day Project and send them to the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend, 852 Middle Rd., Ste. 100, Bettendorf, IA 52722.

A commenter left a post in my story today about Rock Island schools that caught my attention. In his comment, WayneDaBrain said, “In the list of school supplies I have to send with my child, I have to include a ream of copy paper because the school system can’t afford to buy paper. Doesn’t this upset anyone?”

I wasn’t aware that districts were asking parents to purchase supplies for their child’s school? I would love to know which schools and/0r districts in the area are requesting parents buy their supplies. Either leave a post or e-mail me at sdooley@qctimes.com.

The Core Knowledge Blog is reporting that copies of voluntary national standards are being circulated for review. The standards show what students need to know to be college ready and were spearheaded by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association.

State education leaders slashed $400 million in funding during an emergency meeting Tuesday for a slew of Illinois education programs that range from bilingual education to gifted education. Hundreds of thousands of children will feel the cuts when they return to the classroom this school year.

Lawmakers were able to raise per pupil funding by $160 for districts, which will now receive $6,119 for each student, because of the $2 billion in federal stimulus funds it received for the last fiscal year and this current one.

However, it wasn’t enough to stave off cuts to grant programs.

Early childhood programs took the largest hit, with a 33 percent funding reduction totaling $123.3 million. Other programs affected by the cuts include teacher recruitment and training, reading improvement, advanced placement courses, after school, and special education, among others.

You can see a list of all of the budget reductions on the Illinois State Board of Education’s website.

The Rock Island-Milan School District will unveil its first completed building project in its “Building Excellence” plans next at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday during a ribbon cutting ceremony at Longfellow Elementary School, 4198 7th Ave., Rock Island.

The building will house the district’s new liberal arts-based program beginning this school year. Educators partnered with Augustana College to build a new curriculum for the school.

Improvements to the building included a new cafeteria and library, classroom additions and a new front entrance. The addition allows Longfellow to increase its enrollment to 250 students.

Jim Widdop received a promotion today when he was sworn in as the new Rock Island County Regional Superintendent. He replaces Joe Vermeire, who held the post for 18 years.

Widdop,46,  served as the assistant superintendent for the last three years.

He is wasting no time in getting adjusted to the new position. He outlined a series of new goals and priorities Wednesday for his office that include the following:

• Maintaining a high level of educational services for schools in Rock Island County.
• Helping schools meet the increasing demands of No Child Left Behind.
• Creating a better understanding among the public about the demands schools face.
• Better informing residents of the services available to their children.
• Keeping people up-to-date on legislation, legal issues, cooperative management and research.

The County board approved Widdop’s appointment last month. He will run in the February primary for the elected office.