Feather frenzy: Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo issued a public apology to a former student who was forced to remove a sacred eagle feather from his cap before the graduation ceremony in late May, KGUN reports. Trujillo said in a statement that the request from Tucson High's administration for the student to surrender the feather was "inappropriate” and an inaccurate interpretation of TUSD policy. Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law in 2020 banning school districts from barring Native American students from wearing tribal regalia like eagle feathers during graduation ceremonies because of similar incidents at other schools. (July 10, 2023)

Tax rate dips: The property tax rate for the Tucson Unified School District is going down next year, thanks to an increase in overall property valuations, the Daily Star reported. (July 13, 2023)

Who’s driving this bus?: Officials with Sahuarita Unified and Continental Elementary school districts say that while they’ll have enough bus drivers to get students to and from school, but are still looking to hire more, the Green Valley News’ Jamie Verwys reports. Continental is four drivers short of their ideal number, but has substitutes ready to fill in as needed. Continental’s starting hourly pay for drivers of $14 per hour is less than other nearby districts, so officials are looking this year to compensate drivers in other ways.

“What we are trying this year — being a small school district we don't have the same options as larger districts with compensation — we’re trying to offer benefits ...for example, when you hit 30 hours a week you can earn health benefits,” said Continental Elementary School District Transportation Director Stephen Lane. (July 26, 2023)

The stage is set for another year of nuttiness over transgender students at the Catalina Foothills School District. The candidates who failed to win seats on the district’s governing board last year, ****after campaigning against social emotional learning and claiming CFSD teachers were indoctrinating students, formed a political action committee this month for the 2024 election cycle. (Tucson Agenda) (July 31, 2023)

Task force nets results: Marana Unified School District has seen a growth in literacy since implementing an Early Literacy Task Force and providing training to teachers and administrators using pandemic relief funds, Tucson Local Media’s Veronica Kuffel reports. More than 1,200 teachers participated in the program and in K-6 classrooms, teachers have increased their reading and writing curriculums from 90 to 135 to 155 minutes a day.

“On the literacy benchmarks we implement at MUSD, we’ve seen growth at every grade level and in every cohort since 2021,” assistant superintendent Kristin Reidy said. (August 1, 2023)

PCC has a new leader: Pima Community College’s governing board voted Tuesday to appoint Dolores Durán-Cerda as interim chancellor as it continues a search for a permanent leader. The board said it’s seeking stability and continuity for the next year, as the college prepares for reaccreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. Durán-Cerda has been PCC’s Provost for six years, an administrator for 11 years and an instructor for 27 years. (August 2, 2023)

Five local school districts are asking Pima County voters to approve six bond and override questions in November, with the deadline for submitting arguments for or against each rapidly approaching. Between the five districts, we’re talking about at least $550 million in funding, which begs the question, just how much slack are local taxpayers picking up when it comes to funding education? (Tucson Agenda) (August 3, 2023)

Hold that text: Tucson Unified School District is proposing a policy that would require teachers and all other employees to include a parent, another educator or a supervisor on any electronic or digital communication with students “that could be construed as inappropriate,” the Daily Star reports. This includes, social media, texts and emails. The governing board unanimously voted last week to tentatively approve the policy, but will hear public comment before taking a final vote. The policy can be found on the agenda for the Aug. 22 special meeting. The board is also accepting feedback via email at [email protected]. (August 30, 2023)