Education

When legislators return to Raleigh next week for the start of the spring session, they will have a slew of ideas to consider to improve student safety in North Carolina schools. The House Select Committee on School Safety on Thursday approved a handful of recommendations to the General Assembly, and also drafted a number of possible bills.

High Point University has donated $22 million to go toward the city's downtown revitalization efforts. The plan centers around a sports arena, which broke ground last month. A professional baseball team plans to kick off its season next spring.

More schools are canceling classes next Wednesday as teachers prepare for a rally at the legislature.

Orange County and Iredell-Statesville schools will join Wake, Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Guilford and Mecklenburg schools in closing on May 16.

The State Board of Education has approved a contract to turn over operation of Southside-Ashpole Elementary to the charter school operator Achievement for All Children.

The Durham school board has voted 6 to 1 to close schools to students on May 16. That's the date of a planned teacher demonstration at the state legislature in support of increased public school funding.

There could be more and better-trained, school-based police officers in North Carolina -- if the recommendations of a legislative committee are put into action.

A Raleigh-based government relations expert has been chosen to lead North Carolina’s community college system. The last president resigned after a little more than a year on the job.

A legislative committee that may overhaul the way schools are funded is looking to rewrite the formula so it’s based primarily on a school district’s students.

North Carolina teachers are expected to get a raise of $891 this year, on average, which would bump the state up two spots when compared to other states.

The Guilford County School board has declared a "special emergency" to deal with tornado damage at three of its schools.

About 200 students from several Chapel Hill area schools marched together up a hill, and nearly five miles across their town behind an orange banner that said "Enough."

Teachers in Arizona are protesting for higher pay, while Kentucky educators rallied at their state capitol this Friday. The same day, Oklahoma teachers ended a 9-day walkout, rivaling the length of time West Virginia teachers left their classrooms last month. Distressed teachers seeking higher pay and better funding for education have created a movement in red states, leaving some to wonder, will North Carolina teachers join in next?

A legislative committee studying possible gains and liabilities from breaking up large public school districts completed its work Wednesday without making judgment on whether deconsolidation is ultimately good for North Carolina's students.

An attempt to ban corporal punishment in Robeson County schools has stalled. The effort was led by parents and child advocates.

School psychologists want legislators to know that there aren't enough of them to go around.

A subcommittee of the House Select School Safety Committee met Monday to consider improvements to school mental health services. One of the resounding recommendations from school pyschologists and counselors: they need more support.

University of North Carolina System President Margaret Spellings updated the joint legislative education oversight committee Tuesday on a new commission to develop statewide education goals.

The State Board of Education will vote this week on an operator for the first school in the state's Innovative School District, and the recommended contender's board of directors includes a former legislator who sponsored the bill to create the new district.

Educators and education policy leaders are weighing many options when it comes to improving school safety in an age of mass school shootings and other threats of violence. Add to that list strengthening penalties for anyone who threatens a school and its students.

The North Carolina General Assembly’s answer to the Parkland shooting and a still-simmering national conversation about school safety began Wednesday with a legislative committee. The House Select Committee on School Safety met for the first time to discuss measures to keep public school students safe.

A new report from the left-leaning NC Justice Center has found that schools in the state have become slightly more segregated in the past decade. The report Stymied by Segregation found that the number of racially or economically isolated schools has gone up in that time.

Many North Carolina students will join fellow students across the country in walking out of classes Wednesday. The day marks one month after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Area schools are taking a variety of approaches to the expected protests.

The Durham Board of Education has voted to make custodians Durham Public Schools employees once again. This means ending its contract with an outsource management company, acquiring cleaning equipment, and giving custodial staff higher pay and benefits. The change will cost DPS about $1.1 million.

North Carolina teachers do not want their colleagues — not even trained ones — to carry guns in school, according to a new Elon University Poll.