Donald Fennoy now leads the School District of Palm Beach County in Florida, the 10th largest district in the U.S. Fennoy has prioritized upgrading security, improving third-grade reading skills and increasing teacher pay, among other goals. He previously supervised transportation, maintenance and planning as the district's chief operating officer. Superintendent Tiffany Anderson of Topeka Public […]
In light of a looming ESSA mandate to increase transparency around education spending, district leaders have been struggling to calculate per-pupil spending by school in accordance with state and federal requirements. Facing a deadline that most likely will be in spring 2020, there is confusion about whether states will expect school districts to include the […]
When Upton High School in Wyoming switched from a traditional to a self-paced education model last year, Weston County School District Superintendent Summer Stephens' 15-year-old daughter reacted the way many students did. "'I don't know how to make choices,' she kept saying" Stephens recalls. "But now a year later, she has organized her classes and […]
School district administrators hate it when they stumble across closets full of unused computing devices or visit classrooms where whiteboards are being used as very expensive chalkboards. Technology leaders at Dysart USD in the Phoenix suburbs had real-world experience with this phenomenon and were determined to make changes, says Diana Hawari, chief information officer. "Buying […]
Whether it results from misinformation, staff complaints or faculty disagreements about new policies, all districts face employee issues. Some have learned better than others how to address problems early, before they erupt. "In large districts, there's more opportunity for a communication breakdown" says Jeff Filloon, HR director at Chandler USD in Arizona. "Most problems can […]
Last fall, a national problem arrived in Superintendent Richard Scaletta's corner of rural northwestern Pennsylvania. Principals in the General McLane School District began reporting unprecedented levels of misbehavior: students in frequent and severe distress, sometimes kicking, biting or throwing things.
Educators and psychologists propose a host of explanations for the apparent uptick in student anxiety. Some point to public events ÁÁ¬ terrorism, school shootings, opioid addiction, the coarsening of political discourse in the age of Trump. Others blame technology—devices that substitute electronic contact for face-to-face interaction, and social media that transform school-hours drama into a […]
Faced with tight budgets and the expanding use of electricity-hungry technology, districts are turning to energy efficiency solutions that don't sacrifice learning power. "Academic achievement is always foremost in everyone's mind, and parents, teachers and administrators all want to be first in that space where you're providing the latest tools—the tablets, laptops and phones that […]
On July 1, Cheryl Logan begins her tenure as superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska's largest school district. Logan will lead 8,000 staff members and serve a student body where nearly 16 percent are ELL and 75 percent qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. Logan also faces a $15.8 million budget shortfall, the result of […]
Dallas ISD's morning drop-in centers for homeless high school students provide necessities such as take-home food, hygiene products and a place to wash clothes. The program's managers say they also strive to offer an equally important, if less tangible, resource: trust. Homeless teens rarely tell anyone about their predicament because they're afraid of "a multitude […]
