Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

More schools take security seriously

keypadAs we enter a new school year, I’m happy to see several districts spent the summer making investments in keeping their students, faculty and staff safer. One New Mexico district partnered with a new…

As we enter a new school year, I’m happy to see several districts spent the summer making investments in keeping their students, faculty and staff safer.

•    One New Mexico district partnered with a new bus service provider that equips each bus with three surveillance cameras–one facing the students in their seats, another watching as the kids step on board and the last monitoring the road.  District drivers were immediately pleased.…Read More

Train and maintain

OTE_lab_close_0ne of the more confusing stories I’ve read lately comes from East St. Louis, Ill., where burglars have taken more than $1 million in…

One of the more confusing stories I’ve read lately comes from East St. Louis, Ill., where burglars have taken more than $1 million in computers and other expensive electronic equipment from local schools over the past year–yet there have been no records of any requests for prosecution of the crimes.

And there is even disagreement among how many laptop computers have been stolen, with the reports ranging between 52 and 110.…Read More

Copper thieves continue to strike

copper_wireSchools are not immune. I recently wrote about an Oklahoma district hard hit by thieves taking or gutting…

Copper theft continues to escalate across the country. Churches, doctor’s offices, retail businesses, and government facilities are all targets. And schools are not immune. I recently wrote about an Oklahoma district hard hit by thieves taking or gutting air conditioners for the copper inside the units.

As the price of copper hits new highs almost daily, the Fort Worth Independent School District has fallen victim to copper thieves. The district recently had to replace damaged air conditioners on nine campuses at a cost well in excess of $100,000. The self-insured district, like nearly all others in the country, is strapped for cash.…Read More

Great cooperation between school and law enforcement officials

PoliceSchoolSafetyDay-lgSchool and law enforcement officials in Central Florida’s Volusia County are to be commended for their efforts to…

School and law enforcement officials in Central Florida’s Volusia County are to be commended for their efforts to prepare sheriff’s deputies and other first responders for a possible school shooting.

Shortly after the 1999 Columbine massacre, the sheriff’s department began training to preserve life and property with an emphasis on being able to get kids safely away from a school where a shooting incident was in progress.…Read More

Report examines violent attacks on U.S. college campuses

A report by federal law enforcement officers, released last week on the third anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, offers the first comprehensive analysis of violent attacks carried out on U.S. college campuses in the past century and finds that more than half have occurred in the past 20 years, the Washington Post reports. Researchers looked at public records of 272 incidents of “targeted violence” at colleges since 1900. The study, “Campus Attacks,” was a joint effort of the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education. The report offers a foundation of research for the discipline of threat assessment, a growing facet of college administration that seeks to predict and prevent Virginia Tech-style attacks. On April 16, 2007, Tech student Seung Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 people and himself in one of the nation’s deadliest attacks…

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