Rob McDonald

A federal investigation into racial discrimination at Bemiss Elementary School in north Spokane has been dropped for lack of evidence. "Resolution of an issue is always good," said Nancy Stowell, Spokane Public Schools associate superintendent of teaching and learning services.

A Lewis and Clark High School student was attacked and kicked in the head Wednesday in what Spokane police called a hate crime. The assault occurred across the street from the school during the student's lunch hour.

Military recruiters will receive 125 fewer student names from Spokane Public Schools this year because parents exercised their right under federal law to specifically keep their children off those lists. In the Central Valley School District, 38 students opted out; at West Valley High School, five students.

And you thought your utility bills were worrisome. Spokane Public Schools expects last year's $5.1 million bill for electricity, natural gas, sewer, water and garbage to jump almost 20 percent to $6.1 million for the current school year.

Exposure to educational jargon begins early. Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Brian Benzel explained to the school board this week how impressed he was by the kindergarten students at Grant Elementary.

If he had it to do over, Athanasios Bitsas might think twice before writing a letter to the editor saying that as an unmarried gay man he resents paying taxes for a school system he'll never use. Particularly now that he's running for Position 1 of the Mead School Board. "When you run off at the mouth . . . sometimes you don't choose the correct words or the right way to say stuff," Bitsas said. "I don't mean that I'm not willing to pay taxes. I have been unemployed for a long time. I don't pay taxes."

A record number of homeless students have passed through Spokane Public Schools so far this year. Last year, 16 homeless students graduated from Spokane schools. Based on current numbers, school officials expect at least that many next spring.

Every Oct. 31, area school officials know there will be heavy absenteeism from the Eastern European students. Despite a common acceptance of ghoulish masks, ghosts and fake decaying bodies for Halloween, many families from the Russian-speaking community view the day as an unwelcome empowerment of evil and death.

In a rare move, teachers 35 miles southwest of Spokane voted to dismantle their union and replace it with an independent organization. Eleven members voted 8-3 to reject their union last month.

One of the world's smallest countries is having a dynamic impact on Spokane Public Schools. Students from the Marshall Islands, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, are among the fastest growing non-English speaking populations in the school district.

This public school looks different from the others. On a typical Thursday, grade school students in white karate robes fling kicks in the gym, while students across the hall create structures with Lego blocks to study construction methods.

Spokane parents who don't want their children contacted by military recruiters have until Oct. 24 to notify school officials. That's the deadline to withdraw their children's names from military listings in Spokane Public Schools, after parents protested an earlier policy that would have required students who opted out of the military listings to also have their names removed from school activity lists, such as sports rosters.

A man who begged his parents to attend Gonzaga Preparatory School and grew up to be a pioneer in the semiconductor field has left the school $3.4 million, the biggest single donation in its 119-year history. "We've never received a gift anywhere close to that," retired president John Traynor told a special school assembly announcing the bequest left by 1943 alumnus Harold J. "Joe" Smead.