Jeffery Smith (top, left) boosts graduation rate and lowers dropout rate for Virginia district; John Jungmann (top, right) launches Missouri district collaboratives; LeVar Ammons (bottom, left) becomes director of equity and student success in Illinois; and Michael Looney (bottom, right) is heading up a Georgia district.

What has slipped through the cracks during many school board meetings is that improving school safety does not require districts and schools to spend enormous sums to provide a safer and more orderly learning environment.

Florida legislators sent the School Safety Act, with a controversial component, to Gov. Ron DeSantis for a signature. The bill expands the voluntary “school guardian” program, which currently allows school staff, including teachers, to be trained and armed.

Cengage and McGraw-Hill are merging to create a combined company with more than 44,000 titles, including McGraw-Hill's portfolio of literacy, math, science and humanities curricula, and adaptive technologies, with Cengage Advanced Placement offerings.