“Coming right out of the classroom, and with a degree in special education and a daughter with (special needs), I could see concentrating on the instructional committee and assessment issues as leaning where my strengths are, as an educator and a fan of kids,” she said.

Higgins and school administrators have all refused to comment on why she resigned from her post. District administrators cite confidentiality laws that limit their ability to discuss personnel matters.

“All I can say is that resignation seemed like the best choice for me at the time. I can’t say anything about the specifics,” Higgins said. “I don’t blame people for being curious, and it doesn’t upset me that people want to know. I would tell my story, but a lot of it isn’t my story to tell. I shook a hand, and made an agreement, and I’m honoring my word.

“If there were a reason that I shouldn’t be involved with children or in a school district, I wouldn’t continue to operate camps or work in clubs run by seasoned veterans in the community, so I would ask that people please keep an open mind. There are a lot of reasons that people in all types of jobs would resign their positions,” she said.

Higgins, who lives in Ward 4, and Metalious, who lives in Ward 9, both said they support a ward-voting proposal that voters will also consider in November, as part of the Concord School District Charter Commission final report.

The commission was formed to draft the rules that would dictate district operations, which currently are part of state law. A proposed charter amendment will appear separately on the ballot in November, switching the school board from nine at-large members to three at-large members and two each from three ward clusters.

Such a move would bring more geographic diversity to the board, said Higgins, who lives within a few blocks of five current board members.

For the rest of the article, go to School board seats won’t be contested.

But there are reports going around that one of kids’ favorite technological breakthroughs, the Internet, could mean the end of one of kids’ favorite winter traditions: snow days.

Yep, some school districts are experimenting with having students do lessons online during bad weather, allowing classes to go on during even the worst blizzard.

For the rest of the article, go to Could Internet spell the end of snow days?

The number of students taking courses online is on the rise. According to the Sloan Foundation, which promotes online education, more than a million non-college students use some form of online learning. And that leaves some critics wondering whether these virtual classes are as effective as face-to-face instruction. New Hampshire Public Radio correspondent Sheryl Rich-Kern has the story.

Bekah Gregory is a senior at Salem High.

On this busy morning, she’s at school.

But she’s not always able to attend.

“I’ve been sick a lot and I’ve been in and out of hospitals.”

Despite her illness, Gregory is determined to graduate with the rest of her class.

To make up for missing credits, she’s been taking classes online from New Hampshire’s Virtual Learning Academy Charter School.

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Learning Grows in N.H.

There are 10 public charter schools in the state, including the Academy for Science and Design in Merrimack. It also includes the Virtual Learning Academy, which provides online courses to students across the state. Students either take individual classes or enroll as full-time students.

There is no tuition for charter schools. They receive a per-pupil stipend from the state and students can attend and if more students apply than there are spots, a lottery must be held. However, some have certain admissions requirements. For example, the Merrimack school has an exam students must pass to be accepted.

For the rest of the article, go to Nashua School District seeks to open charter school

For the rest of the article, go to The Role of Charter Schools in New Hampshire

Reid also spoke on the necessity of the librarian position, emphasizing that the state requires a librarian for each school.

School Board members also discussed whether to keep in place the 2 percent increases in salaries for administrators and personnel on the top of the pay scale.

“I can’t stomach the fact that people would be getting raises while others are losing their jobs,” said School Board member Kelly Foster.

The superintendent said the 2 percent increase, amounting to about $30,000, would act as a pool of funds rather than an across-the-board increase. He said some personnel, such as custodians and secretaries, have not received raises since 2007.

At the School Board’s next meeting on April 7, members will decide on which positions and/or programs to eliminate as a way to address the potential budget gap.

For the rest of the article, go to Potential for 11 school layoffs

Bowen then goes on to tout the virtues of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in New Hampshire as a model of what he foresees for Maine. The N.H. school serves some 7,000 high school kids with an online curriculum borrowed from the Florida Virtual School.

For the rest of the article, go to The Universal Notebook: Are virtual schools real schools?

Using “blizzard bags,” or packets of school assignments teachers assemble in advance, students can learn the day’s lessons, both at home and online. Once schools reopen, teachers assess the students’ work, and a “snow day” becomes a “school day.”

For the rest of the article, go to School districts weigh options as snow days pile up

Also available to local students is the Exeter-based Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, which offers tuition-free online high school courses to New Hampshire students. Students can enroll on a part-time basis, taking courses beyond their own high school work, or full-time.

As of the 2009-10 school year, there were 816 students enrolled in charter schools in the state. State officials have been encouraging school districts, especially those in urban areas such as Nashua, to consider applying for part of the federal funding to create a charter school. Charter schools can be approved by the state Board of Education or through local authorization.

For the rest of the article, go to NH friendlier, but still ‘severely constrains charter school growth’

He said one possibility may be taking advantage of the online courses offered by the Virtual Learning Academy, a public online charter school. The academy is available tuition-free to all New Hampshire students.

The academy has an enrollment of about 3,000 students, almost all of whom are high school students from across the state taking courses in addition to being enrolled at their local school.

For the rest of the article, go to Nashua school board stands pat, considers priorities.