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Rob McDonald

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News >  Spokane

District awarded funds to study success of coaches for teachers

For years teachers developed their skills by going off to conferences, listening to speakers and taking home folders of material in hopes of applying some of their new training. In the past few years, Spokane Public Schools has been using classroom coaches, veteran peers who give individual feedback and guidance to rookie and longtime teachers alike.
News >  Spokane

School district intends to sell Lincoln Field to hospital

Spokane Public Schools plans to sell a grassy field near downtown Spokane to Sacred Heart Medical Center for $1 million. The 50,000-square-foot plot, between Browne and Division streets near Fourth Avenue, could give Sacred Heart an opportunity to design a new "front door," said an appraiser familiar with the property.
News >  Spokane

12 school districts sue for special ed money

The Central Valley School District Board of Directors on Monday approved a resolution pledging support for a dozen Washington school districts suing the state for more money for special education students. A coalition of 12 school districts, including Spokane Public Schools and the Riverside School District in Spokane County, filed a lawsuit against the state in October 2004 in Thurston County Superior Court. Riverside and Spokane are the only Eastern Washington districts to join the suit.
News >  Spokane

Time to study college choices

Now that they've memorized their locker combinations, college-bound seniors are already confronted with application deadlines for Ivy League schools that have deadlines before Thanksgiving. The early-admission deadline to Yale University is Nov. 1.
News >  Spokane

Spokane schools have class flow problem

Students are leaving Spokane Public Schools at a rate nearly double district projections, which has raised concerns in the county's largest district. At the same time, surrounding districts like Mead to the north, Central Valley to the east and Post Falls in Idaho are seeing upticks in student populations.
News >  Spokane

Schools sued over alleged poisoning

A student's headache has escalated into a lawsuit against Spokane Public Schools over an alleged methadone poisoning. Attorney George Guinn is suing the district as well as the parents of a middle school girl. The lawsuit alleges Garry Middle School student Keona Crossley had a headache and took what she thought was an aspirin from a friend. The pill turned out to be methadone, which made Crossley dizzy and disoriented, according to the lawsuit. Methadone is a synthetic narcotic and is best known for its use in treating heroin and morphine addiction.
News >  Spokane

Schools try to balance nutrition, taste

Teachers are discouraged from using candy as a reward in Spokane Public Schools. Students can't buy sodas, chips or candy bars in many schools in Washington and Idaho. To help curtail national youth obesity trends, school districts have slimmed down their fatty and sugary snack offerings on school grounds.
News >  Spokane

More kids use laptops at early age

Third-grader Kaylee Marshall knows the family computer better than her father – both of them say so. Now, she may outpace him further when she gets regular time on a laptop computer in her class at Finch Elementary School in Spokane. On what the kids call computer day, an instructor wheels a cart of laptops into Kaylee's classroom and carefully hands them out for each student to place on their desks. A wireless connection gives them controlled Internet access, but lately they have been working on spelling and writing sentences on their computer screens.
News >  Spokane

Cemetery by river unites tribes

Francis Cullooyah prayed out loud in Salish asking the "Grandfather Creator" to make sacred the ground underfoot that will be the final resting place for American Indians living in Spokane. His blessing Friday brought the creation of an all-nations American Indian cemetery in west Spokane one step closer to reality.
News >  Spokane

Coach accused of inappropriate touching of student

A former coach at the Davenport School District is awaiting the conclusion of a state investigation into allegations he inappropriately touched a female student and made statements of a sexual nature. Details of Clarence "Skip" Pauls' actions are sketchy.
News >  Spokane

District bans two parents from schools for 1 year

Not only students get suspended from school. Two Spokane parents have allegedly become increasingly irate and disruptive with Spokane Public Schools officials and have been asked not to return to any district facility for a year.
News >  Spokane

Students get handle on nails, hair

Rogers High School senior Nicholas Paneiro needed some clarification on manicures and nail polish. "Should I brush the nail middle-edge-edge or edge-edge middle?" Paneiro asked, while holding the hand of another Rogers senior.
News >  Spokane

Principals take to the road

They've been dubbed school POWs – principals on wheels. Their old schools are now fields of dirt and construction equipment, awaiting new buildings.
News >  Spokane

Friends and families gather in park for annual concert

Sandra Davis arrived at 8 a.m. Monday to set up a blanket and chairs to reserve a spot near the stage for the annual Labor Day concert in Comstock Park. Davis doesn't regularly attend Spokane Symphony Orchestra events, but she never misses this free performance, which she considers a gift.
News >  Spokane

People gather at park for annual Spokane concert

Sandra Davis arrived at 8 a.m. Monday to set up a blanket and chairs to reserve a spot near the stage for the annual Labor Day concert at Comstock Park. Davis doesn't regularly attend Spokane Symphony events but she never misses this performance, which she considers a gift.
News >  Spokane

Supporters labor over holiday on recall

"Dude, I sell chicken," said a smoky food worker in Riverfront Park when asked Monday where the booth was for those gathering petition signatures to oust Spokane Mayor Jim West. "I don't know anything about it. I haven't voted in five years." While not everyone attending the final day of Pig Out in the Park was keen on the issue, supporters have been lining up over the weekend to sign their names on petitions seeking a public vote on recalling West.
News >  Spokane

West recall supporters labor over holiday

"Dude, I sell chicken," said a smoky food worker in Riverfront Park, when asked Monday where the booth was for those gathering petition signatures to oust Spokane Mayor Jim West. "I don't know anything about it. I haven't voted in five years." While not everyone attending the final day of Pig Out in the Park was keen on the issue, there were supporters lining up this week to sign their names to the petitions seeking a public vote to recall West.
News >  Spokane

School supply list getting longer

Rachel Kilayko was at ShopKo on a sunny August day with her two grade-school daughters buying school supplies. On the list of supplies for Jefferson Elementary were the expected Elmer's glue and a ruler. But there were also supplies on the list that surprise some parents – a box of Kleenex and bottles of liquid soap or hand sanitizer.
News >  Spokane

Lesson 1: Figuring out a new bus route

It's the kind of challenge that can keep a bus driver up at night. With 1,000 grade school students being bused to 16 different schools for the first time Tuesday, there are bound to be problems.
News >  Spokane

Teacher accused of helping son with WASL

The security surrounding Washington's high-stakes test has put a Spokane kindergarten teacher in a bind. Debra Pearson is accused of helping her seventh-grade son cheat on the Washington Assessment for Student Learning by giving him the writing prompt – the topic a student must use to write an essay.
News >  Spokane

New teachers get a head start

North Central High School's new world history teacher, Gabe Medrano, grabbed a poster of U.S. presidents, a print of the pyramids and a textbook on the geography of continents. "I have stuff, but I always need more to fill my room," Medrano said Monday afternoon at the offices of the Spokane teachers union.
News >  Spokane

Council responds to alleged attacks

Sunday's apparent racially motivated attack on a group of American Indians trying to swim in the Spokane River has inspired city leaders to proclaim zero tolerance of hate crimes and to announce enhanced security at this weekend's powwow in Riverfront Park. Spokane City Council president Dennis Hession presented a resolution reconfirming the city's commitment to human rights and equality at a special meeting Thursday.
News >  Spokane

Poll upends notions about school safety

Small rural schools aren't necessarily safer than large rural schools. Contrary to most studies, a survey released Wednesday suggests that students at smaller Eastern Washington high schools are more likely to engage in risky behavior than students at larger schools.