News

The latest and breaking news and investigative reports about Idaho public education.

Analysis: Some trustees and parents are making it tougher to track COVID-19 in schools

The easily spread COVID-19 delta variant can move within a community pretty much as it wishes. Intersecting and interconnected, the lines of infection move from schools or to schools.

Pocatello-Chubbuck approves — then rescinds — mask mandate

Find out what other districts are doing through a link to our interactive tracker inside the story.

Victor principal: “I just try to identify the right thing to do and do it.”

Megan Christiansen made masks mandatory at her elementary school, bucking district and statewide decisions.

How federal vaccine mandates affect Idaho education

Staff of at least two schools and a baker’s dozen Head Start programs will have to get the jab.

Campus news items: How Idaho fared in U.S. News and World Report rankings

The national magazine ranks colleges and universities for overall quality, but also in categories such as affordability, innovation and outreach to students who are eligible for federal financial aid.

Some districts do away with extra COVID leave for teachers

Some of Idaho’s biggest districts are no longer offering extra COVID-specific sick leave, while others across the state are using federal funds to keep providing the coverage.

Canyon County districts win grant for early learning

In other news, Heritage Community School Charter administrator Javier Castaneda passed away unexpectedly this week.

Principal makes masks mandatory, bucking district policy

“Victor Elementary is my family, and I’m watching them crumble in front of me,” principal Megan Christiansen wrote in an impassioned letter to parents and staff Thursday.

Two charter schools closing amid state investigation

There’s no guarantee the state will recover millions of dollars the schools erroneously collected by inflating student enrollment reports.

Analysis: State leaders sound tired, at the worst possible time

As Idaho hospitals face an unprecedented calamity, the consistent message to voluntarily get vaccinated and wear a mask is sounding weary — as if it is shouldering the weight of much of our collective COVID fatigue.