Association of Alaska School Boards

E-NEWS

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A weekly digest of education news for Alaska's School Board Members.

Association of Alaska School Boards, 1111 West 9^th St., Juneau, AK 99801. Tel.

907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995. Carl Rose, Executive Director,

crose@aasb.org: John Greely, Editor, jgreely@aasb.org. Review past issues of

the E-News on the AASB Website at <http://www.aasb.org>. To unsubscribe send an email stating the same to jgreely@aasb.org.

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Sponsored by Alaska Public Entity Insurance Co. <http://www.akpei.com>

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AASB E-News

April 19, 2007

--VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT WAS LAUGHED AT

--DISTRICT TIGHTENS BULLYING RULES

--ANCHORAGE SCHOOLS REVIEW CRISIS PLANS

--NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD SWEARS IN NORM WOOTEN AS PRESIDENT

--GIFT TO HOOPER BAY AIMS TO GET STUDENTS TO LOOK TO SKY

--PTPC LEAVES BREACH OF CONTRACT LANGUAGE IN PLACE

VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT WAS LAUGHED AT

Long before he snapped, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui was picked on, pushed around and laughed at over his shyness and the strange way he talked when he was a schoolboy in the Washington suburbs, former classmates say. See full story here:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OJPBU00&show_article=1

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DISTRICT TIGHTENS BULLYING RULES The Juneau School Board has approved a new policy that would result in a full investigation of any sort of bullying, with the possibility of expulsion for offenders. The new rules address a state law requiring schools to have a policy in place by July 1 prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying. See full story here (May require registration) : http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/041907/loc_20070419099.shtml

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ANCHORAGE SCHOOLS REVIEW CRISIS PLANS

UAA arms its police officers, locks it dorms and can instantly phone 300 key university officials in case of a crisis such, as Monday’s at Virginia Tech. It has no direct way to notify its thousands of students. The Anchorage School District requires each school to create detailed, formal crisis plans and conduct drills. See full story here:

http://www.adn.com/news/education/story/8803351p-8704590c.html

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NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD SWEARS IN NORM WOOTEN AS PRESIDENT

Kodiak’s Norman Wooten was sworn in as president of the national School Boards Association on Tuesday in San Francisco at the organization’s annual conference. In an address to the general assembly of the 10,000-member organization, Wooten told school board members that their role matters, and schools need community involvement to meet educational and social challenges. See full story here:

http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=4621

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GIFT TO HOOPER BAY AIMS TO GET STUDENTS TO LOOK TO THE SKY

A Texas-based aircraft manufacturer has donated one of his kit aircraft to the Hooper Bay school to build as a model project for other rural Alaska schools. Build-A-Plane, a national organization, began operations in 2003 as a nonprofit dedicated to promoting aviation and aerospace careers by giving young people the opportunity to build real airplanes. See full story here:

http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/041507/hom_20070415011.shtm

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PTPC LEAVES BREACH OF CONTRACT LANGUAGE IN PLACE

The Professional Teaching Practices Commission has voted to leave in place procedures dealing with teachers who breach their contract by unilateral termination. The policy, known as Procedure C, states that if the unilateral termination by an educator occurs 30 days prior to the educator’s first day of work, or any time thereafter, “the PTPC has adjudged that such a violation is serious enough that a sanction against the certificate will be considered.”

The PTPC had been asked in October to review and revise the procedure in the wake of several breach of contract violations in Alaska school districts. After taking testimony from a variety of interests over the past six months, the commission voted unanimously in April to leave the policy in place. For a complete copy of the policy, click here:

http://www.eed.state.ak.us/ptpc/pdf/contractpolicy.pdf

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Association of Alaska School Boards

1111 West 9^th Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1510 Tel. 907-586-1083

Fax 907-586-2995 Email: aasb@aasb.org

Website: http://www.aasb.org