Milwaukee Mayor Backs Creation of ‘Block Schools’
The mayor of Milwaukee has announced his support for a small-schools proposal and promised a budget of $5 million to get the project under way.
Mayor John Norquist last month endorsed the idea of “block schools” for K-4 children. The schools would serve no more than 50 children in each neighborhood, according to the mayor, who was responding to an idea proposed by the school board.
But the program, which was one part of a larger discussion on the city’s response to proposed welfare cuts, has not yet been approved by the board, said Mary Bills, the board president. “The mayor’s announcement was a little bit premature,” she said.
Student Killed, Driver Wounded
A gunman opened fire aboard a school bus as it headed for a St. Louis high school last week, killing a 15-year-old pregnant student and seriously wounding the driver.
The suspect climbed aboard the bus at a stop on the way to Beaumont High School at about 7 a.m. Feb. 29 and fired five shots, said Chester Edmonds, the spokesman for the 43,000-student district.
The 15-year-old freshman, mortally wounded, was taken to a nearby hospital, where her baby was delivered alive, Mr. Edmonds said. Two other students who were on the bus were not injured.
School officials late last week did not know the condition of the baby or of the bus driver. Police had made no arrests and said they had no motive in the shootings.
Rumors Close Schools
Teachers who staged a boycott in the Richland Parish, La., schools kept three schools in the town of Delhi closed for a day.
The teachers stayed home on Feb. 22 because they were angry about rumors that the acting principal of Delhi High School would be fired for his handling of a fight at the school last month, said Bonnie Adams, the superintendent of the 4,000-student district.
But the district never intended to reprimand the acting principal, the superintendent said.
