DOD Education Activity’s 194 schools, which serve 84,000 students, will attempt to ensure military dependents receive an accredited school year in the face of furloughs for teachers and support personnel, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Monday. “We’re mindful that we need to protect the education of military children,” Little told reporters …
Local school districts serving substantial numbers of military children would face funding cuts immediately after sequestration is triggered Friday, confronting them with a dilemma as to how to make up a shortfall of tens of millions dollars before the school year ends in the spring, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters Wednesday at a White House briefing. Cuts to school systems that rely on the Impact Aid program — including those enrolling children of service members who live on or near military installations and children who live on Indian reservations — would total $60 million in the current fiscal year …
A local school board is considering establishing a K-8 charter school for the children of military personnel and civilian workers at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany to better improve local support for the installation in southwestern Georgia. “School systems are very important to military families, and I think a charter school with the Marine Base would be of benefit to the community, especially during the next round of BRAC hearings,” a member of the Dougherty County School Board said Monday. The school would be intended to stem the loss of children from the base to the school systems of surrounding counties, reported the Albany Herald. The school board endorsed the proposal to form an ad hoc committee to begin exploratory discussions with the base.
In an effort to boost the number of students seeking high-tech careers, eight major tenant organizations at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last week agreed to expand educational outreach efforts in science, technology, engineering and math with Harford County Public Schools. The partnership is intended to increase participation and improve students’ performance in STEM. “We are committed to tomorrow,” said Maj. Gen. Robert Ferrell, commanding general of Army Communications-Electronics Command and senior installation commander. “We are providing an opportunity to ensure that we have the right resources with the right intellect and energy …
Children of service members at Fort Riley, Fort Polk and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake will attend class at new schools in a matter of years, following Tuesday’s announcement by the Defense Department that it is awarding $110.5 million to three public school districts to replace or renovate on-base facilities that are either in poor condition or overcrowded. Geary County Unified School District Number 475, Junction City, Kan., will receive $35.2 million to demolish and replace Fort Riley Middle School with a new 720-student school on the post to serve grades six through eight …
More than 100 colleges and universities have signed on to a Joining Forces initiative to better prepare educators instructing military-connected children, Jill Biden and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno announced Tuesday. “As a military mom and as second lady, I have heard over and over from military families just how important it is that school be a supportive environment for children …
The new Seitz Elementary School at Fort Riley, Kan., dedicated last month was funded through the Residential Communities Initiative program, the Army’s family housing privatization effort. Picerne Military Housing, the post’s RCI partner, was the project’s developer; the project’s other partner was Unified District 475 of Geary County Schools. This is the first time the partnership between Picerne and RCI has been used to build a school, which expedited the building process and allowed the school to open sooner …
Children at Fort Sill, Okla., will get a new elementary school courtesy of a $37.1 million grant from the Defense Department to Lawton Public Schools, officials announced last week. The grant will cover the cost of demolishing two existing elementary schools and replacing them with a single 1,400-student Freedom Elementary School on the installation …
Harnett County, N.C., which lies on Fort Bragg’s northeastern border, is struggling to accommodate 776 new students this school year, with overcrowding school buses presenting the biggest problem. The county school system has capped enrollment at a high school close to the post when it became swamped with unexpected students after the new school year started, reported WTVD-TV. New students now are being sent to another county high school …
The Pentagon is in the midst of a five-year, $3.7 billion effort to improve the physical condition of department schools that are in poor or failing condition, Marilee Fitzgerald, director of the DOD Education Activity, told reporters Thursday. “Today, we have 49 schools in design. I believe eight schools are under construction, and we’ve opened up some new schools,” Fitzgerald said during a Pentagon news conference. The initiative is intended to upgrade 134 of the system’s 194 schools …