Latest news with #JCPS
The Citizen
01-08-2025
- The Citizen
Cops charged with kidnapping Chinese national out on bail
The officers each face charges of kidnapping, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Two Gauteng police officers accused of unlawfully detaining and extorting a foreign national have been granted R1 000 bail each. Constable Gift Mncedi Nteso, 33, and reservist Constable Seipati Mofokeng, 39, appeared in the Vereeniging Magistrate's Court on Friday following their arrest on Tuesday. They allegedly detained a Chinese national at the Sharpeville police station and demanded R3 000 ransom from family members in order to secure the victim's release. They each face charges of kidnapping, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Hawks investigates tip-off According to the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS), a senior police official informed the Vaal Rand-based Serious Corruption Investigation unit of the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) of the arrest. 'An investigation was immediately launched and verbal 252A authorisation (entrapment) was secured from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in Pretoria to monitor the transaction,' JCPS said in a statement. ALSO READ: Former Northern Cape cop jailed for housebreaking Before Nteso and Mofokeng could collect the full amount, the Hawks were informed that a R1 000 payment had been made and the victim had been released. They allegedly released the Chinese national without filing any formal record of arrest at the police station. Police officers arrested at police station Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Thatohatsi Mavimbela said the investigating team went to the Sharpeville police station to execute the arrest. 'The two suspects were arrested after failing to provide satisfactory reasons as to why the Chinese national was arrested and released with no record,' Mavimbela said. Nteso and Mofokeng are expected to appear in court again on 1 September. NOW READ: Chinese nationals fined R400k for abalone worth almost R2m
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JCPS poised to accept Yum! Brands' offer to donate its Louisville campus
This story has been updated to add comments from a press conference. Outgoing Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent Marty Pollio said JCPS is poised to accept Yum! Brands' donation of its Louisville campus for a consolidated administrative building. In a June 23 news release, Yum! Brands announced it offered to donate its Louisville campus to JCPS. This donation would allow the district to use the profits from selling their existing buildings to improve schools and potentially build new ones, Pollio said at a press conference later in the day. The Jefferson County Board of Education must approve the donation before it is final, and a vote is expected to take place at the board's June 24 meeting. 'This generous donation is a game-changer for JCPS. Our current administrative buildings require significant renovations that are cost-prohibitive,' Pollio said in a prepared statement. 'This will allow us to consolidate several district buildings into one, allowing for stronger collaboration and communication.' Tell us what you think: Submit your letter to the editor here. The 11.6-acre Yum! Brands campus, located at 1441 Gardiner Lane, has two office buildings. One is a three-story, 88,000-square-foot facility built in 1970 and nicknamed the 'white house' in honor of its resemblance to the U.S. president's residence. The other is a five-story, 225,000-square-foot office building built in 1986. Pollio said the relocation process would take at least 12 months, if not longer. The potential donation comes at a fitting time for both entities. JCPS has been considering the sale of three administrative buildings — the Van Hoose and LAM buildings on Newburg Road and the C.B. Young Center on Crittenden Drive — to fund the consolidation of administrative operations, The Courier Journal reported. JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said the district still intends to sell those facilities, which Pollio previously estimated could bring the district a collective $25 million. The largest chunk would come from the C.B. Young Center, which he said has been sought by the nearby Kentucky Exposition Center. "This donation from Yum! Brands is the equivalent of a brand-new elementary school in JCPS that we will be able to build as a result of this," Pollio said at the press conference. Meanwhile, Yum! Brands has been mulling moving its corporate headquarters. The company has not announced a final decision about where it will move, but properties in downtown Louisville and the East End have been floated as possibilities, The Courier Journal reported. Yum! Brands announced it would be moving the KFC division of the company out of its Louisville headquarters and to Plano, Texas, roughly three months prior to announcing the possibility of moving its headquarters. 'This donation reflects Yum!'s long-standing commitment to Louisville and its belief in the power of education to unlock opportunity,' said David Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer of Yum! Brands. 'As we explore options for our Louisville headquarters, this moment created a unique opportunity to collaborate with JCPS. While we haven't made a final decision on the exact location of our new Louisville offices, we're evaluating several possibilities across the city and expect to determine the best path forward in the coming months.' This story may be updated. Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@ or @bkillian72 on X. This story was updated to add a gallery. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS is poised to accept Yum! Brands' donated headquarters
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Otus Awarded Practitioner-Informed Design Product Certification from Digital Promise
Product Certification Provides Transparency to Edtech Marketplace Otus, the leading K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution, has been awarded the Practitioner-Informed Design product certification from Digital Promise. Chicago, June 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Otus, the leading K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution, has been awarded the Practitioner-Informed Design product certification from Digital Promise. This recognition highlights Otus' ongoing commitment to building tools with and for educators by deeply engaging with practitioners throughout the product development process. Otus earned the certification by demonstrating how its product team consistently partners with K-12 educators to guide product design, test new features, and provide direct feedback that shapes future updates. This approach not only reflects the authentic needs of teachers, administrators, and students—it drives better outcomes. One example of this practitioner-informed approach comes from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Kentucky. Through the district's vision and leadership, Otus developed a flexible, skills-focused portfolio tool to support JCPS's Journey to Success initiative. This districtwide framework empowers students to demonstrate growth through artifacts aligned to key success skills, such as emerging innovator and effective communicator. Building on JCPS' groundwork, Otus partnered closely with district leaders, instructional coaches, and classroom teachers over several months to facilitate live workshops, interviews, and iterative testing. The result is an intuitive, educator-informed tool that reflects JCPS' commitment to vibrant learning and student-driven progress. "This development cycle was thoughtfully planned, executed, and reflected in your work. I'm impressed with the product team's deep partnership with the district – this requires a significant level of trust and commitment – to make progress towards a stronger product leading to better outcomes," said one of the certification reviewers. Chris Hull, Co-Founder and President of Otus, added, 'Educators are at the heart of everything we build. This certification affirms what we have believed from the beginning: that meaningful, long-term impact only happens when the people using our product are full partners in the ongoing design.' Digital Promise's Practitioner-Informed Design certification serves as a trusted signal for district leaders seeking solutions that prioritize educator voices. The certification was developed in collaboration with over 100 educators and nine edtech partners and is part of Digital Promise's mission to ensure technology serves teaching and learning effectively. 'Edtech tools can only be effective if the educators who put them in use in their classrooms see that they are impactful and easy to implement,' said Josh Weisgrau, chief learning officer of Learning Experience Design at Digital Promise. 'Digital Promise's Practitioner-Informed Design product certification recognizes the edtech products that work closely with educators to ensure this alignment throughout their design and development process. Congratulations to Otus for demonstrating your care and consideration for the needs of educators and their students!' About OtusOtus, an award-winning edtech company, empowers educators to maximize student performance with a comprehensive K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution. Committed to student achievement and educational equity, Otus combines student data with powerful tools that provide educators, administrators, and families with the insights they need to make a difference. Built by teachers for teachers, Otus creates efficiencies in data management, assessment, and progress monitoring to help educators focus on what matters most—student success. Today, Otus partners with school districts nationwide to create informed, data-driven learning environments. Learn more at About Digital Promise Digital Promise is a global nonprofit working to expand opportunity for every learner. We work with educators, researchers, technology leaders, and communities to design, investigate, and scale innovations that support learners, especially those who've been historically and systematically excluded. Our vision is that every person engages in powerful learning experiences that lead to a life of well-being, fulfillment, and economic mobility. For more information, visit the Digital Promise website and follow @digitalpromise for updates. Attachment Otus, the leading K-12 assessment, data, and insights solution, has been awarded the Practitioner-Informed Design product certification from Digital Promise. CONTACT: Mike Peterson Otus 6513079251 in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New KY law limits communication between teachers and students. Here's what to know
A new law intended to prevent child sexual abuse will go into effect later this month, changing the way Kentucky public school employees and volunteers can communicate with students. Senate Bill 181 aims to eliminate untraceable communication between students and school staff by prohibiting district employees and volunteers from texting students or using third-party apps to communicate with them. Additionally, teachers, coaches and volunteers will not be allowed to send messages to students' personal emails or contact them on social media. The law follows a Courier Journal investigation into child sexual abuse by middle- and high-school coaches in the commonwealth, which found abuse can be exacerbated by inappropriate communications between coaches and students. Though Kentucky schools have until Aug. 15 to adopt a new policy that meets requirements of the law, Jefferson County Public Schools spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said the district is getting a head start on enforcing it. Callahan said that until Aug. 1, district employees and volunteers should contact students using "only JCPS email or communicating through the parents." After that, the district will use a more standardized method of traceable communication. More: What to know about new laws taking effect in Kentucky in June Jeff Davis, a JCPS parent, said he wasn't pleased with the "abrupt" nature of the change. He said with the shift to email communication, his son is missing important updates from his coach. "Kids don't email," Davis said. "They don't. That's not how they communicate." Davis is also an assistant soccer coach within JCPS. He expressed concern that not all JCPS coaches have email accounts, meaning some will have no traceable way to communicate with student athletes remotely. He added that he believes people who want to abuse children will continue to do so regardless of legislation, saying the new law is "managing the exception, not the rule." "Let's just be honest here, the bad actors are still going to find another way," he said. Republican state Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, who sponsored SB 181, said the law is meant to inhibit unauthorized communication and protect children. In a press release, she said SB 181 "strengthens parental involvement, sets clear expectations for school-related communication, and ensures accountability." The Jefferson County Board of Education will discuss the law at its next meeting at 6 p.m. June 24 at 3332 Newburg Road. Reach reporter Molly Gregory at msgregory@ This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New KY law changes how teachers, coaches can communicate with students
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tricky politics will greet Louisville's first Black school superintendent
Brian Yearwood speaks during a community forum in Louisville in May. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley) LOUISVILLE — As Brian Yearwood becomes the first Black superintendent of Kentucky's largest school system next month, he must navigate an already strained relationship between the district and the Republican supermajority in the state's legislature. 'It is no secret that Frankfort, for whatever reason, is hyper-concerned with the going-ons of Louisville. Doesn't always make sense to most of us, but it is a reality,' said Lyndon Pryor, the president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, a civil rights organization. 'Whoever the new superintendent was going to be, was going to have to go out and be able to build relationships with legislators in Frankfort.' Besides educating the most students — 94,000-plus — Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) also is Kentucky's most racially and ethnically diverse school district. In the current political climate, Yearwood and other Louisville educators face an especially narrow and slippery path — between meeting the needs of their diverse student population and satisfying anti-diversity mandates from the Trump administration and possibly Republicans in Frankfort. Statewide just 11% of students in Kentucky public schools are Black and 10% are Hispanic or Latino. More than 70% are white. In Jefferson County, Black and white students each account for a little over a third of the enrollment in public schools. Hispanic or Latino students make up 19% and Asian students about 5%. About 6% are students of two or more races, according to Kentucky Department of Education data from 2023-24. About 21% of JCPS students are multilingual. Louisville is also a high-poverty district. About 65% of students in the public schools are economically disadvantaged, slightly higher than the 61% statewide. Students are classified as economically disadvantaged based on eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. By contrast, in neighboring Oldham County, where many residents commute to jobs in Louisville, just 24% of students are economically disadvantaged and fewer than 3% are Black, according to state data. One Republican lawmaker, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, is already anticipating a fight with the Louisville district over her plans for banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in Kentucky's public schools. The legislature banned DEI from Kentucky's public universities and colleges earlier this year. Tichenor's bill to end DEI in K-12 schools did not get a committee hearing in the 2025 session but she plans to introduce it again next year. Tichenor, who represents Oldham and Trimble counties and part of northern Jefferson County, pointed to recent refusals by Jefferson County Public Schools and Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington to sign a form from the U.S. Department of Education to certify their compliance with the Trump administration's anti-DEI interpretations of civil rights law. Superintendents of Jefferson and Fayette instead provided documents saying they are in compliance with federal and state laws. Said Tichenor: 'The fact that the board has also said they will not change course on DEI tells us they they need to be forced to stop these practices because they're discriminatory, they're unconstitutional, they're against the Civil Rights Act, and we need to focus on equal opportunities for our students, and anything outside of that that's contrary, that's discriminatory, needs to stop.' Tichenor said the district's academic performance also points to the need for change. 'We've seen that across JCPS, their focus on DEI over the decades has not improved educational outcomes for their students,' Tichenor said. 'It just hasn't. More of the same will get more of the same results.' According to KDE data from 2023-24, a smaller share of JCPS students than those statewide scored proficient or distinguished on state academic assessments. Among third-graders, 36% of Jefferson County students scored proficient in reading compared with 47% statewide. Among eighth-graders, 24% of Jefferson County students were proficient in math compared with 37% statewide. Meanwhile, a Democratic lawmaker from Louisville said she hopes Yearwood and the district will challenge Republican efforts to uproot DEI programs from public schools. 'We need to do whatever we can to help every student be successful,' said Rep. Tina Bojanowski, who is also a teacher in the school district. She is concerned that some of the tools to provide that help may become illegal — ultimately impacting student success. 'What is the end goal? Is it to take away any additional supports that a certain group of students end up needing?' Bojanowski said the diversity and needs of Louisville students require a full array of teaching tools and resources. 'We've got so many more kids in poverty, so many kids who've experienced trauma — are we going to have tools taken away that help us try to mitigate whatever concerns the kids have that then impact their ability to learn?' 'We need to stay in the frame of what our ultimate goal is — to make the district the best district in the nation for every child who attends the district, including kids in poverty, including kids who've experienced trauma, including kids who walked 1,000 miles in order to come to the U.S. and are afraid their parents are going to be picked up and not home when they get home,' Bojanowski said. The school district declined to make Yearwood available for an interview for this story. However, he has spoken publicly about how he would work with lawmakers while also protecting Louisville schools from attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion. In a community forum on May 20, Yearwood said he would focus on asking lawmakers for support to build up the district's academic success. 'They'll be my best friend. I will be in Frankfort, knocking on the doors, talking, inviting (them) to breakfast, lunch, whatever it takes, so that they can understand the great things happening here in JCPS,' he said. Asked how he would protect DEI, Yearwood said he did not view education as 'one size fits all' because students can have unique personalities and learning styles. 'If you don't have a diversity lens, if you don't have equitable practices within your school district, then there will be the haves and the have nots,' he said. 'And that's not happening.' Yearwood moved to the United States when he was 17 years old. He was born in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago to parents who were both educators. 'Success isn't defined by where you start but how hard you are willing to work and how deeply you truly believe in your own potential,' he said in a recent district press release. Yearwood, who was formerly the superintendent of Columbia Public Schools in Missouri, will replace Superintendent Marty Pollio starting July 1. Yearwood left the district after taking a separation agreement from the school board, which included a clause to not publicly criticize the school district. Pollio announced he planned to retire from JCPS in September in a letter to school district employees. In recent years, JCPS has seen increasing oversight from Republican lawmakers, including an interim session task force that focused on the governance of the school district. 'Although there have been challenges over my tenure, no one can ever question my passion, fight, and love for Jefferson County Public Schools,' Pollio wrote at the time. Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana said in April that Pollio would become the institution's next president following his retirement from JCPS. Michael Frazier, the executive director of the Kentucky Student Rights Coalition who testified in favor of this year's bill to eliminate DEI in higher education, told the Lantern that he viewed Yearwood's answer on DEI to be 'the same goal as the state.' Frazier said the board's choice to appoint Yearwood over Ben Shuldiner, superintendent of Lansing School District in Michigan, was 'more intentional than what people are giving credit.' Frazier added that choosing Shuldiner would have been 'intentionally antagonistic' to Frankfort. Shuldiner, when asked about DEI in his forum, fiercely defended such initiatives, saying that the key to having DEI is 'making it part of everything you do so you actually can't just get rid of it.' Surveys conducted by JCPS' search firm and the Jefferson County Teachers Association found that community members and staff favored Shuldiner over Yearwood. Pryor, the Urban League leader, said that Yearwood has 'to do everything that he can to protect' DEI initiatives and ultimately the desired educational outcomes. Otherwise, 'he's going to be deemed a failure by everybody.' 'He's going to have to have to be innovative in this new world order,' Pryor said. 'He's going to have to be thoughtful and considerate. He's going to have to be collaborative to make it happen because of these attacks. But it's still doable, and it is a worthy and necessary cause for our kids and, quite frankly, for our community.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
