Suggests five things to do and five not to do when closing schools, including encouraging community involvement, hiring professional consultants, establishing a citizen task force, creating an administrators' committee, publicizing reports and proposals, not claiming closures will save money, and not becoming overconfident. (RW)

Presented are suggestions for teachers, administrators, and school boards which would help prevent eye injuries in schools. (KC)

There are four elements which the author has found to be essential for success when designing and conducting staff development programs: awareness, application, implementation, and maintenance. Each of these elements is discussed in detail, followed by the warning that the four-phase model requires school board commitment to insure its success.…

California school employee unions' objective is the enhancement of wages and hours for their members. School districts and unions need to participate in some form of collaborative (nonadversarial) bargaining. Lists steps a district might follow to handle the negotiations process from an educational point of view; that is, support and enhance…

A long-range planning project in an Ohio school district involved setting up good procedures for planning and then establishing a 40-member planning committee that included 20 community members. Long-range goals serve as a focus for decision making in everyday administration. (MLF)

Begins with a brief review of scientific research on adverse health consequences caused by smoking, then examines the school district role in balancing competing interests of smokers and nonsmokers. States that school districts have a financial and moral obligation to reduce potential health risks and legal liabilities (148 references) (MLF)

Discusses the importance of drug-testing policies for educators by analyzing the recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision in "Knox v. Knox." Concludes that mandatory drug testing for educators in safety-sensitive positions will not infringe on the constitutional rights of school employees. (Contains 30 footnotes.) (MLF)

The 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act (GFSA) requires a minimum one-year expulsion for students who bring firearms to school. Although GFSA is not a zero-tolerance law, many school policies enacted in response to GFSA are often referred to as "zero tolerance." Zero tolerance generally is defined as a school district policy that mandates predetermined…

Policies and procedures established by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education for the use of state-funded student assistance are presented. Annual budget ranges, sample forms, and instructions are included. In addition to providing definitions and general policy information, the guidelines cover fund application and allocation; accounting,…

Periods of executive change provide an ideal time for the development of planning efforts for public school systems and for self-examination of the system's strengths, weaknesses, and long-range needs. In the anonymous school system under study, the new superintendent's application of general systems theory to school district management entailed a…

This volume, a third edition updated and expanded from the two previous editions, is an introduction to the essentials of school law in New Jersey and a reference tool for readers experienced in educational law. Chapter 1 focuses on the legal structure of New Jersey public education, addressing such primary issues as the flow of authority to…

Retrenchment is defined as the reduction of secondary and elementary school teachers. Retrenchment is carried out in two ways: reduce by program or reduce by teacher. In this paper the author proposes a mathematical model for use in reduction by teacher. The key educational manager for implementing the model is the building principal, who should…

This report reviews the seven times that the courts have considered the question of whether school boards can remove books from school libraries. Because the first and the three most recent cases upheld the rights of boards, while the other three cases were won by plaintiffs who had filed their cases against the boards, the differences in the…

This handbook is an updated edition provided by the Illinois State Board of Education for school district treasurers. Its intent is to assist Class I county treasurers in performing their duties efficiently and effectively. The handbook is divided into four sections, the first of which outlines custodial role, eligiblity, term of office, salary,…

A national survey revealed that 13 states have created legislation to assist financially distressed schools. Focusing on two states, Indiana and Pennsylvania, the report outlines different methods they have developed to deal with financially distressed schools. In Pennsylvania a distressed school district is taken over by the state, whereas in…