U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that students who have been sexually harassed by teachers may recover money damages against school districts and administrators. Article suggests to avoid lawsuits, including establishing and announcing clear-cut policy, educating teachers to recognize sexual harassment behaviors, requiring student complaints to…

Faced with an outbreak of meningococcal disease, an upstate New York school system swung into action. The district's plan included informing proper medical authorities, calling a planning meeting of key administrators and health officials, communicating with parents, keeping area districts informed, issuing daily updates for staff, designating…

To help protect students, schools need a two-part plan to deter child sexual abuse. Schools must educate staff and students concerning the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable behavior and develop written policies denouncing child sexual abuse. Schools must also develop procedures for handling complaints. The key to a fair investigation…

Based on Huntsville (Alabama) schools' experience with a devastating fire, the superintendent later ensured adequate fire insurance coverage, promoted regular fire drills, and developed an emergency response plan that delineated staff responsibilities, communication modes, and training and updating procedures. The plan served the district well…

To reach out to homeless and castoff children, educators must understand how street life affects youngsters' classroom behavior and learning ability. Many homeless and runaway youth come from backgrounds that include unstable families, early deprivation, and abuse. Tips for overcoming barriers to educating such children are outlined, along with…

Parents' efforts to help their children learn are more important to academic success than the family's economic well-being. This article describes recent research affirming the importance of parent-school involvement and outlines strategies for removing barriers, weighing model programs, and constructing a program that stresses open communications…

Based on incidents with dangerous men at his and nearby schools, a superintendent in Colorado offers advice for protection planning, which includes being prepared to handle reporters, implementing a two-way radio system, providing an emergency procedures handbook and inservice training, and knowing how your police and fire departments operate.…

Senior class high jinks can be amusing until someone gets hurt and the school district is sued. That's what happened when three seniors concocted an explosive smoke bomb that unintentionally injured several girls holding a yearbook party nearby. Since the prank was considered a misdemeanor, the district was liable for $12,500 and suffered lots of…

Recent statistics underscore fact that bigotry, bias, and racism are problems schools should not ignore. Racial conflict is becoming problem in suburban and rural secondary schools. Young people are most likely perpetrators of hate crimes. First step toward changing trend is no-nonsense school policy backed up by student training in recognizing…

Although educators are becoming familiar with fetal drug exposure, few realize how early alcohol exposure can cripple children's physical, social, academic development. Unlike some drug-affected kids, alcohol-exposed children seldom outgrow symptoms such as impaired IQ, impulsiveness, erratic sleeping patterns. Schools must identify and refer…

At this year's National Association of Secondary School Principals convention, participants agreed that schools should address social problems but voted against national competency testing and school choice. At the National Association of Elementary School Principals convention, principals expressed various administrative concerns, but most…

Describes a Wisconsin middle school's step-by-step plan for dealing with student suicide. The plan calls for maintaining a normal school day and providing counseling services directed by an interview team (counselors, social workers, and teachers) trained to help people handle suicide. Tips for managing suicide's impact are provided. (MLH)

In conjunction with an article on prevention of child molesting, this column describes additional measures implemented by various school districts and lists four resources, both film and print, available to schools for educating staff and students about the dangers of child sexual abuse. (TE)

Because many drug-exposed children have normal-range cognitive abilities despite having some language-development and attention problems, schools do not have to build new special-education wings or teach these children one-on-one. Schools can serve these children best by setting up and coordinating intervention programs with other agencies. (18…

Discusses the importance of personnel policies covering AIDS (and other communicable diseases) and presents relevant employee guidelines developed by teacher unions and school districts. Three insets offer additional Center for Disease Control guidelines, day-to-day considerations when working with AIDS employees, and available publications…