Schools

Across the Northwest, students are wrapping up their school year. By the time Idaho high school students return in the fall, their classrooms will be on their way to becoming wireless hotspots. The Idaho Department of Education is preparing to spend more than $2 million to put high-speed wireless Internet in all public high schools.

It's part of what Idaho education officials like to call the “21st Century Classroom.” They're asking for bids over the summer on a contract to have WiFi up and running across the state by March 2014.

Most Idaho schools are days away from summer vacation. Boise, Meridian and Kuna school districts will end the year this Friday.

May 31st is the most common last day this year. Nampa students finish a day earlier and Caldwell schools are already finished. 

Other districts like Blaine County and McCall-Donnelly continue classes through the first week of June. Twin Falls will go home halfway through next week.

A former school superintendent is suing the state of Idaho on behalf of all parents who have been charged fees by their childrens’ schools. Russell Joki says charging fees violates Idaho’s constitution which requires a free, uniform school system. Joki has been a teacher and administrator in Idaho and Oregon schools and now teaches education classes for the University of Idaho. He says charging fees has become endemic in Idaho schools. He cites his own grandson as an example.

Wildfire smoke is becoming the “new normal” for some parts of the Northwest. In central Washington, health officials are urging residents to keep their doors and windows closed and stay inside. Bad air has forced at least one school district to take some unusual measures to keep class in session.

The town of Cashmere is at the geographic center of Washington –- and about 8 miles from one of the state’s largest wildfires. Cashmere schools closed last week due to hazardous air, both inside and outside classrooms.

Now, school is back in session. With a few modifications.

The Nampa School District shocked its board and city residents Tuesday when it announced a budget shortfall of $2.8 million.  Because of accounting errors, Nampa superintendent Gary Larson told his audience, the district spent money it didn’t have.

The shortfall is in last year's budget, and it's coming to light at an unfortunate time: just as the district finishes making cuts to fill a budget gap for the year ahead.

Larson says the district's finance team caught the problem a little more than a week ago and alerted the deputy superintendent. 

Idaho is one of only five states still waiting for a waiver to the No Child Left Behind education law. California and Nevada are also waiting for permission to use their own academic accountability systems.

Sunday is Father’s Day, when we think about all the things our dads have done for us. In one north Idaho community  dads are trying to do a lot more for their school and their kids.

Leotis McCormack’s 9 year old son started getting in trouble at school last fall. That did not go over well with McCormack, an officer with the Nez Perce Tribal Police in Lapwai. But it wasn’t just his son, many of his son’s friends were acting out at school as well. McCormack wanted to help.

The Nampa School District hopes the second time will be the charm. In August the district will ask voters for more money even though a previous attempt failed earlier this year.

This time Nampa schools are asking voters for $1.6 million. Compare that to the $3.58 million request Nampa voters rejected in March. The district thinks that smaller number will be easier to swallow.