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No blue hair on picture day for pupil, school principal says
ST. JOHNS, Fla. (AP) -- A third-grade student in Florida was sent home from school on picture day because he broke the dress code by sporting blue hair.
Dana Sinno told TV station News4 Jax her 8-year-old son Luca didn't get to have his picture taken Monday at his elementary school near Jacksonville. The principal pointed to a school district handbook which bans "extreme hairstyles."
The mother argues that the word "extreme" is up for interpretation.
She said Luca wanted a bold look for school pictures. Thus they bleached out his hair, dyed it blue, and the youngster donned a suit before heading to school.
Later, Dana Sinno got a call from the principal's office asking her to pick up her child.
School district officials told the station that the principal was within her right.
Walker voices support for increasing aid to rural schools
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walker is voicing support for increasing state aid to rural schools, reviving an idea rejected from his state budget by the Legislature.
Walker on Tuesday said he supports a bill circulated for co-sponsors in the Legislature to increase sparsity aid for low-population districts by nearly $10 million in the 2018 school year.
The proposal from Republican Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Jeff Mursau would increase sparsity aid from $300 per student to $400 for districts with fewer than 745 students. It would also create a new tier of aid totaling $100 for each student in a district with 746 to 1,000 students.
Budget committee co-chair Rep. John Nygren says he's discussing with Walker's administration the best way to address the sparsity aid issue.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling called Walker's idea a gimmick.
K-12 standards to include Native American history
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- Revised Wyoming K-12 education standards with a new Native American history component could be ready for State Board of Education review in January or February.
Laurie Hernandez is division director of standards and assessment for the Department of Education.
Hernandez said a committee is being formed to develop the new social studies standards over the next couple of months, followed by review from the state education board.
She told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that public comment was taken during the summer about what should be included in the standards.
And teachers are being surveyed about which standards they thought could be updated and if they have any classroom practices that might be beneficial.
The Education Department also is conducting reviews of the math standards and extended science standards.
Grant to help Montana students graduate, find careers
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A $650,000 grant will help coordinate efforts to guide Montana high school students to graduate while developing career interests and preparing for college or an apprenticeship, state officials announced Monday.
The four-year grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation will create the iGraduate Montana program, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education said.
The grant money will help the commissioner's office along with the Office of Public Instruction, high schools and the Department of Labor and Industry coordinate the use of $36.4 million in federal grants over the next four years.
The grants include GEAR UP money that provide support to low-income students in graduating from high school and identifying potential careers and how best to prepare for those careers, Deputy Commissioner John Cech said. GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, also allows all Montana high school juniors to take the ACT for free and from Nov. 6-10 will waive the application fee for the state's public institutions of higher education.
Montana Career Pathways works with students to think about their career interests; to take classes that align with those interests, including some that offer both high school and college credit; and start planning for college or an apprenticeship in trades programs or new opportunities such as allied health, nursing, information technology, computer programming and accounting.
The Washington Foundation grant money will be used to create a steering committee to ensure the grant programs work together, Cech said.
"Each of these grants are doing amazing things right now. But I think they can do even more if we harness and leverage the power," he said.
Over the next 10 years, nearly a quarter of Montana's workforce will be retiring, Cech noted.
"It's absolutely critical that we try to connect with as many high school students as possible to help them understand that first they need to graduate from high school, but secondly help them understand what opportunities are available in Montana for them in the future … and how those opportunities can align with their interests and their abilities," he said.