K.C. Fires Superintendent After Months of Controversy: The Kansas City, Mo., school board has fired Superintendent Walter L. Marks.
The board voted 6 to 3 to fire Mr. Marks last month after a closed meeting. Its president would say only that Mr. Marks provided grounds for his dismissal with conduct that hurt the school system’s image.
Mr. Marks had been suspended from his job in February after board members questioned his travel expenses and a local television station filmed him lifting heavy objects while on medical leave for a bad back. (See Education Week, 2/15/95.)
His lawyer said last week that Mr. Marks plans to challenge the board’s decision.
E.A.I. Contract Expires: The Dade County, Fla., school district announced last week it will end the pioneering agreement that enabled Education Alternatives Inc. to provide instructional services at an elementary school.
District and company officials said they have no plans to renew or extend the five-year contract when it expires in June.
District officials added, however, that they will continue with most of the reforms the Minneapolis-based company brought to South Pointe Elementary School in Miami Beach. (See Education Week, 2/15/95.)
Inspection Hurdle Cleared: The District of Columbia public schools have passed their latest court-ordered inspections for fire-code violations.
The schools were given approval to stay open last week after being certified as free of fire hazards by Judge Kaye K. Christian. She had ordered the latest reinspections after closing the entire school system for fire-code violations for several days last fall. (See Education Week, 9/21/94.)
Ready for More Refugees: The Dade County, Fla., schools expect no major problems absorbing the additional Cuban children expected to arrive in the district under a policy announced by the Clinton Administration last week. Reversing its previous stance, the Administration said most Cuban refugees housed at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be allowed to settle in the United States.
An estimated 800 school-age Cuban children remain at the camp. In September, the Administration began allowing a steady trickle of Guant namo refugees into the United States, with most settling in the Miami area.
A spokesman for the Dade County district, which includes Miami, noted last week that the 312,000-student district has already absorbed about 2,000 children from the camp and that the future arrivals should not pose major disruptions.
When tensions in Cuba and Haiti escalated last year, the district devised an emergency plan for dealing with a large influx of immigrant students. The children likely to arrive at the school system’s doors would not trigger that plan, the spokesman said. (See Education Week, 7/13/94.)
