Summer School

I've had the chance to attend a couple one-day seminars recently, and came away with some good information and ideas. The Indiana School Boards Association puts on these events to help board members keep up with current issues, and it gives us a chance to talk with members from other boards and compare notes a bit.

In a School Law seminar I learned that school property, although it's paid for by taxpayer dollars, is treated much like private property before the law. Schools can make their facilities available to the public, and if they choose to do so they can't discriminate, but they don't have to. That was news to me. There was also a terrific session on what schools can do about student behavior outside of school hours and property that still has an impact on the schools. Cyber-bullying is one good example of this, where incidents that are begun in school then continue or escalate on social networking sites. There are a couple cases in the courts right now where students made fake, and highly offensive, Facebook pages of school administrators. The law is having to develop quickly in these areas, and it was fascinating to learn a bit about it.

At a School Budgeting and Finance Seminar we heard about Indiana's economic prospects for the next year or so, and how this may impact school funding. If you want more details, drop me an e-mail, but the picture is pretty gloomy. We also heard from superintendents who have had referendum elections in their districts, and with our own referendum coming up, I was listening carefully!