A large school district may have a technology department staffed by a chief technology officer who supervises two or more directors of operations, project managers, and technicians. On the other hand, a small district may employ an information technologist who works with technicians, consultants, volunteers with a knack for technology, and…

Federal law does not require school boards to provide transportation for all students. But the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) entitles students with disabilities to transportation to and from school if the students' disabilities make it difficult for them to get to school; from, in, and around the buildings where they attend…

Competitive bids and the bid-opening process are the cornerstones of public school purchasing. The bid-opening process does not begin on the day of the bid opening. It begins with good planning by the purchasing agent to ensure that the advertised bid complies with the public school contracts law. In New Jersey, that raises the following…

School foodservice directors (FSDs) and school business officials (SBOs) in public school districts with enrollments between 2,500 and 25,000 in the USDA Mid-Atlantic geographic region provided responses to a paper-and-pencil survey. The FSDs assessed the level of implementation of a mandated school food safety plan in their districts and…

Asian Americans have had significant impacts on and within mainstream US society, and their great efforts and gifts in the name of charitable causes are no exception. This study aims to examine perceptions within American university development offices about Asian American giving to US higher education. The article begins with a literature review…

Schools officials owe a duty of care to all the students in their custody. An emerging, but not unanimous, judicial consensus seems to agree that school board officials have a greater legal duty when supervising students with disabilities. A case on this important issue arose in "Jennifer C. v. Los Angeles Unified School District"…

Never is the "tone at the top" more important than during times of economic distress. With an unprecedented number of state and local governments struggling to balance the budget, facing staggering operational cost increases, and even laying off employees, executive management and boards throughout the country are challenged to foster a positive,…

The recent shift toward greater accountability has put many educational leaders in a position where they are expected to collect and use increasing amounts of data to inform their decision making. Yet, because many programs that prepare administrators, including school business officials, do not require a statistics course or a course that is more…

More than 40 school business officials honed their skills as leaders in education by participating in the 2008 Eagle Institute held July 31-August 1 in Annapolis, Maryland. Association of School Business Officials International's (ASBO) Eagle Institute is a tremendous learning forum to foster growth among rising leaders in public education. Led by…

Over the last 18 months, school district purchasing offices across the country have been tightening the reins like never before while more top-level administrators get involved in the budget process. "When the economy really hit the skids, states got hit hard, so a lot of school districts were forced to make severe budget cuts," says John Musso,…

The use of corporal punishment may be as old as society itself. However, the development of compulsory attendance laws has raised questions about its legality. Under compulsory attendance laws and subject to exceptions for home schooling and nonpublic schools, parents must send their children to public schools or be subject to sanctions. Conflicts…

Why should school districts worry about today's down economy? After all, the vast majority of their income comes from state legislatures and local property taxes, with some additional funding from the federal government. This funding is unaffected by downturns in sales, the stock market, and other basic economic indicators. School business…

The prospect of sharing in the $100 billion in federal economic-stimulus aid has companies unleashing their sales pitches. Pittsburgh-based Apangea Learning, which offers online one-on-one tutoring, is offering school districts three years' worth of services for the price of two, to "help schools win new federal funding that is part of the…

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), once students with disabilities receive educational placements, school officials cannot unilaterally change their settings. When officials wish to change the placements of students with disabilities for any reason, they must not only notify their parents of their intent to do so…

In 1990, Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act as a comprehensive mandate to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The ADA's primary intent was to extend the protection of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The major difference between the two laws is that Section 504 applies to programs that…