TOP NEWS Community Impact Newspaper/The Texas Tribune The Texas Education Agency plan proposes to hire state-level teams to support school districts in improving conditions for special needs students and monitor those that are doing especially poorly. The plan will cost an estimated $84.5 million over the next five to six years. Read more>> From DA Magazine Lisa Gonzales In a world of round-the-clock distractions, being a mindful leader is a powerful tool. Mindfulness is simply the act of being consciously aware and of focusing on the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. Read more>> The Salt Lake Tribune Civil engineering and architectural groups urge tougher building standards on hundreds of units, saying Utah lacks clear rules for anchoring modular classrooms to the ground, potentially putting thousands of students in danger. Read more>> The Wichita Eagle Senate and House legislative leaders are demanding that the Education Department suspend the state's top school finance official, alleging that he unlawfully allocated as much as $405 million in transportation funds over 45 years. Read more>> Associated Press via WMDT House lawmakers have delayed a vote on a bill that would require all new school construction and major renovation projects to include measures to prevent a gunman from wreaking havoc. Lawmakers are eyeing a possible amendment. Read more>> The 74 Although there is no official count of school closings for flu-related concerns, at least 11 districts and nine scattered individual schools across 12 states have closed for a full day or longer because of excessive absences and concerns about the virus. Read more>> WRAL The latest enrollment data on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's website shows charter schools have enrolled 100,866 students in 2017-18 – a gain of more than 8,600 students from this same time last school year. Read more>> OPINION The Sacramento Bee Financing has been a stumbling block in nearly every district with lead contamination. While there are potential funding sources, not enough state money has been set aside to fully address the expensive remediation required in some schools. Read more>> The Dallas Morning News To say that this shouldn't be happening or to reflexively slap a label on each shooting depending on the level of damage is beginning to ring trite and hopeless. America's schools are no longer a safe haven, a place where you can send your kid off for the day without fear or worry. Read more>> The Conversation A recent study found that there are many children who had the ability to innovate, but whose socioeconomic class or gender greatly reduced their ability to tap into the social networks and resources necessary to become inventors. Increasing their exposure to innovators may be an important way to reduce these disparities and increase the number of inventors. Read more>> INDUSTRY NEWS Google for Education A set of free features designed to strengthen security for all G Suite for Education users, as well as a new edition called G Suite Enterprise for Education, are additional features added to the Google for Education tool. Read more>> Alma Technologies, Inc. Alma Start, a cloud-based enrollment and admissions management tool, automates and streamlines the registration, enrollment and admissions workflow. Additionally, school leaders can gain insight to adjust enrollment and admissions practices to create a better experience for families and improve operations. Read more>> Blackboard Inc./ReadSpeaker Currently, ReadSpeaker is Blackboard’s exclusive text-to-speech provider that is fully integrated within Blackboard’s learning management systems, supporting Universal Design for Learning. ReadSpeaker’s technology will now also be integrated within Blackboard Ally as an offline audio alternative for course content. Read more>> ✭ Visit the District Administration's PR Portal ✭ CONSTRUCTION WATCH WAAY With Madison City School District already projecting a 3,000-student increase, the school system will need a projected $113 million to build new elementary and middle schools as well as expand two high schools. Read more>> Aiken Standard If approved by Aiken County voters, a $90 million bond referendum in May would raise property taxes to fund renovations at four existing schools and to build a new elementary and middle school. Read more>> Northwest News Network via KLCC After a months-long delay, lawmakers passed a $4.3 billion, two-year state construction budget. In addition to $1 billion for school construction projects, the capital budget will fund more psychiatric beds, environmental cleanup and many other projects around the state. Read more>> | 