Direct Education Scheduler

It’s been two months since the EF-5 tornado hit and destroyed much of Joplin. Since then, support has been pouring in from people from all walks of life. Some unique support is coming from Missouri native and Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow. She’s auctioning off one of her prized possessions to help Joplin Schools.

“Kids are going to be here in 22 days,” said Joplin Superintendent C.J. Huff. “We talk about that countdown every day.”

The clock is ticking for the Joplin School District, which has set up temporary locations after three schools were destroyed by the tornado on May 22.

“This is truly, we believe, the marker of a community who is rebuilding, — that first day of school, getting kids to that sense of normalcy,” said Huff.

Joplin captured the hearts of many — from everyday people to celebrities like Crow.

How did you spend your summer vacation?

Probably not shoveling cement – like these Miami students who went to the Dominican Republic for 10 days.
To build a bridge.

The 93-person contingent on the mission trip to Pescado Bobo included 72 male students ages 16 to 18: 51 from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and 21 girls from Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Lourdes Academy.

About ten days of sweat equity (donated) and $40,000 also covered by donations … and the job got done.

Belen Jesuit students mixing batches of cement

Working on the bridge

The completed Belen Bridge #17

St. Paul, Minn. Voters in a record number of school districts could be asked to weigh in on funding referendums this November.

The Minnesota School Boards Association annually surveys school districts to ask whether they plan to seek more funding from voters. The group notes an increase over recent years of districts seeking more local property tax funding to supplement relatively flat state funding.

In some districts, voters could be asked to approve a property tax increase. Others districts are asking for a renewal that keeps taxes at current level.

This year could set a new record. The group said 114 school districts, a third of all districts, so far have indicated they at least are considering a November ballot question. If consideration comes to vote, that would break the current record of 101 districts, set in 2007.

The boards association has yet to hear from some districts. Districts have another month to decide to seek a vote, and more could follow suit.

It looks like some of the investigations and lawsuits surrounding Kaplan University and its parent company are starting to get resolved.

Kaplan Higher Education, which has a large administrative presence in Fort Lauderdale, has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit and two investigations involving the Kaplan-owned CHI Institute in Broomall, Penn.

Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed another whistleblower lawsuit involving a Kaplan-owned school in Nevada.

The Pennsylvania lawsuit was filed in 2007 by David Goodstein, the former director of education at the Broomall campus. He alleged that CHI made false representations to students and to the government about a surgical technology program. Kaplan enrolled new students in the program, despite an inability to place them in surgical settings, the lawsuit alleged.

This led to investigations from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania and a program review by the U.S. Department of Education.

Under the terms of the settlement, Kaplan will pay $1.1 million to the U.S. A

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