Archive for May, 2009
Former Bettendorf superintendent a finalist for Minnesota position
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Bettendorf Community School District, Uncategorized on May 26th, 2009
Marty Lucas, former leader of the Bettendorf School District, is one of three finalists for a superintendent position in Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian – or BOLD – Public Schools. The southwest Minnesota school district enrolls 803 students.
Lucas interviews today, according to the BOLD Public Schools website.
Lucas left the Bettendorf School District last summer after reaching a separation agreement with the school board, which was in the process of firing him. Their action came after Lucas was arrested February 2008 for his second drunken driving charge in less than a decade. He later pleaded guilty to the charges.
Davenport schools change calendar
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Davenport Community School District, Rock Island-Milan School District, Uncategorized on May 26th, 2009
For the first time ever, students in the Davenport School District will finish first semester classes before Christmas break under the newly-approved 2009-10 traditional calendar.
This year students took an almost two-week winter break and returned with 10 days left in the first semester. High school educators and students have said they barely have a chance to get back into the swing of things and they have to take finals, which makes the exams more difficult.
More than 65 percent of parents recently polled said they supported the change. The district was able to move up the semester end date by having slightly fewer attendance days in the first two quarters, while the second two will have additional days.
District officials made the change without having to start school much earlier in August, which was a topic of debate more than two years ago.
Rock Island district eyes new property
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Rock Island-Milan School District on May 22nd, 2009
Rock Island district leaders want to buy an almost 2-acre property that neighbors Rock Island High School. The purchase, if approved by the school board Tuesday, would cost the district $150,000 and allow better access to the back of the school.
District officials plan to use some of its $29 million in reserves to pay for the property, according to Mike Oberhaus, associate superintendent for operations and quality.
That comes at a time when the district has been reluctant to dip into its savings, especially as the economy has plunged and some state payments have fallen behind. Recently, the district scaled back building plans at Thomas Jefferson and Ridgewood elementary schools and Rock Island High School to avoid spending $5.2 million of its reserves.
Oberhaus said the district wanted to snatch up the needed land while it was available.
The 85,732-square-foot residential property is located at 1354 23rd Avenue, Rock Island and would expand the high school to the northwest. It was valued at $136,743 in 2008 when it was last assessed, according to the Rock Island County Assessor’s Office.
Moline middle school projects move forward
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Moline-Coal Valley School District, Uncategorized on May 22nd, 2009
School board members in the Moline-Coal Valley School District will vote Tuesday on several measures regarding additions and renovations at John Deere and Wilson middle schools.
According to district documents, the John Deere project carries an estimated $16 million price-tag, while the improvements at Wilson are expected to cost $14 million. Those figures are far lower than the $57 million combined cost officials first estimated earlier this year.
Board members will decide Tuesday whether to hire Russell Construction Company of Davenport for the John Deere project and Estes Construction of Davenport for the Wilson project. Russell would receive no more than $987,782 for their work. Estes would earn as much as $711,760.
The improvements will allow Moline to move sixth-graders out of cramped elementary schools and into the middle schools, something district leaders want to accomplish by fall 2011.
Student conduct
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Davenport Community School District, Uncategorized on May 20th, 2009
Students in Des Moines who participate in athletics or other extracurricular activities will have to abide by stricter rules of conduct next school year.
According to the Des Moines Register, school board members approved a new discipline policy that bans students in extracurricular activities from drinking alcohol even if they have parental permission or are in a country where teens can legally drink. The rules hold students accountable all year.
For the most part, the changes bring Des Moines more inline with Iowa’s other large districts. However, the new rules set the district apart from its peers by allowing school officials to comb social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, for evidence of misbehavior.
Davenport School District has a good conduct rule written into its policies that bans students from using alcohol, among other things. According to Laura Bozarth, spokeswoman for the district, students in extracurricular activities must follow the rules year-round no matter where they are at. If a student is around an illegal activity but not partaking, they can also be disciplined, she said.
The district, however, does not use social networking sites to investigate student behavior.
Rock Island County regional superintendent to retire
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Uncategorized on May 15th, 2009
After almost 19 years of overseeing education in Rock Island County, Joe Vermeire is stepping down from his position.
Vermeire has spent 40 years in education – 21 as a teacher at Wilson Middle School in Moline and 19 as the Rock Island County Regional Superintendent. He was first elected to the position in 1990.
Educators are saying its a big loss. During his time in office, Vermeire grew his office from having a $36,000 budget and three employees to a nearly $5.6 million budget with 54 employees. He also created a training program for educators that offered more than 400 workshops in seven counties each year.
In addition, his office also runs a homeless program for more than 300 students and aides 10 school districts in truancy prevention. Under Vermeire’s watch, the number of students benefitting from the truancy efforts grew from 261 in 1998 to 879 this school year.
These are just a few of the things he’s achieved in his tenure, which officially ends June 30. A retirement reception will be held June 26 from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education, 3430 Avenue of the Cities, Moline.
Seeking new college graduates
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Uncategorized on May 13th, 2009
It’s that time of year. Graduation season is upon us. I’m looking for some local college students who are graduating this year. The big topic? What are they going to do and are they having a difficult time finding a job given the economy?
Any takers?
Race to the Top
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Uncategorized on May 13th, 2009
State education officials in both Illinois and Iowa say they plan to apply in the fall for a chunk of an almost $4.4 billion pot of money being offered by the U.S. Department of Education.
The money, which is being called “Race to the Top Funds,” is part of the stimulus package and is meant to reward states that are leaders in education reform by giving them more dollars to expand their efforts. There is also the hope it will reverse a race to the bottom created by No Child Left Behind, in which some states set low achievement targets on their exams to make it look like their children were succeeding in the classroom.
Details of how states can apply and use the money have yet to be released by the federal government.
However, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent phone call with reporters that states can apply in the fall for the money and would start receiving it by the end of this year.
The feds are specifically targeting states that have set higher achievement targets for students, assigned the best teachers to the neediest schools, established ways to assess student progress, and have put data systems in place that track students back to their teachers and the teachers back to the college they attended, Duncan said.
“We are going to work with states that are willing to challenge the status quo…and set the example of where we want to go with the No Child Left Behind law,” Duncan said.
Iowa education officials say the state is well positioned to receive a portion of the money because it just developed standards for what children need to learn in each grade level. In addition, officials are developing a data system for the first time that track students throughout their educational career.
In Illinois, leaders say they are good candidates for the funds because they are working with a handful of other states to update their longstanding achievement standards and align them with international standards. The state also just got a grant to expand its existing data system to track students from preschool to college.
Swine flu and schools
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Davenport Community School District, Uncategorized on May 5th, 2009
Davenport School District officials sent a letter home to parents this week regarding measures they are taking to prevent the spread of the swine flu. Much of their efforts match what other local districts are doing: increasing hand washing and sanitization of classrooms and buses, as well as urging parents to keep their children home if they have any symptoms.
However, it was the first time I had heard of a Quad-City school district allowing parents to send a face mask with their child to wear during class.
The Iowa Department of Education released guidance Friday for how schools should prevent, prepare and deal with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. It included the closure of buildings for up to 14 days if there are confirmed or probable cases.
So far, only the Marshalltown Community School District has shuttered all of its schools.
The state’s guidance to close schools came at the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, that may soon be changing.
The Washington Post reported today the acting director of the federal agency said the virus was already well-established in communities where schools had reported cases, meaning the closure of schools wasn’t working as a preventative measure.
Update: Federal officials are now reversing their earlier guidance, saying “CDC has modified its policy to recommend implementation of measure that focus on keeping all students, faculty and staff with symptoms of influenza out of schools and childcare facilities during their period of illness and recuperation, when they are potentially infectious to others.”
I’d be interested to hear how local parents and residents feel about the issue of closing schools because of the swine flu.
Iowa submits application for federal dollars
Posted by Sheena Dooley in Iowa Department of Education on May 1st, 2009
By the end of today, Iowa officials plan to submit their plan to the U.S. Department of Education to get almost $472 million in stimulus dollars known as state fiscal stabilization funds, according to Elaine Watkins-Miller, spokeswoman with Iowa Department of Education.
Of that, $386.4 million must go to education. Lawmakers and Iowa Gov. Chet Culver agreed to use that money to provide school districts with 4 percent allowable growth next year and fill other funding holes. The hope is for districts to avoid budget reductions and teacher cuts.
As the state submits its application, which was made available April 1, the feds have already approved and doled out funds for states such as Mississippi, Oregon, Maine, Utah, Minnesota.
Iowa should hear whether its application was approved within two weeks. If it gets the OK from the feds, the money should be made available right away. The state can then hand it out to Iowa districts.
Watkins-Miller said the state plans to release either later today or early next week estimates for how much each district will get from the stabilization funds. People can view them on the education department’s website.