A crisis at a school is in the news more often than any of us is comfortable with. There has been a shooting. An administrator has been arrested. A nearby factory has had a toxic spill. Or a serious cheating scandal has erupted. These types of events—and numerous more—could put your school in a crisis that could have long-term consequences.

Accidental injuries to students participating in school-related activities—both sport and non-sport related—are certainly nothing new. However, with increasing coverage “gaps” in the form of co-pays and higher deductibles found in more and more traditional health plans, out- of-pocket losses are on the rise. So too, unfortunately, is the increase in the number of “3rd-party (parent) lawsuits holding schools more and more responsible for their actions. Accordingly, schools need to be increasingly aware of their liability in this area. .

Most of the country is celebrating a mild winter. However, snow, ice, and extreme cold has still made an appearance—a risky appearance—in northern states. For those cold-loving outdoorsmen at heart, this is a great time of year to get outdoors and kick up some snow. With any extreme weather, there are risks and safety precautions to be aware of.

Midterms and finals are engrained in the educational system for middle and upper schoolers. Usually, they are held during a prescribed time period when no other learning goes on. The exam period is stressful for the student—a “do or die” situation. And the exam period is inconsistent with the 21st century school structure.

There’s a ruckus being raised in New York over teacher evaluations, an impasse between the state and the teacher unions. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are both frustrated that a more robust evaluation system with consequences including firing is being held up by the unions over issues including an appeals process and the role of test scores.

Dr. Paul Howard-Jones told attendees at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference in London last week that video gaming engages kids because gaming stimulates the reward system in the brain to produce dopamine, “which helps orient our attention and enhances the making of connections between neurons, the physical basis for learning,” the New York Times reported.

The National Center for Education Statistics publishes a biennial series of compendia describing key education outcomes and contexts of education in the Group of Eight (G-8) countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 2011 report is organized into six topical areas: population and school enrollment, academic performance, contexts for learning, expenditures for education, and educational attainment and income.

Q: As the School Head, should terminations of faculty and staff be my decision, or the Board’s decision? Throughout my career as a Head (this is my first year at this school), employment decisions have always been under my purview. Board members here, though, keep trying to insert themselves in personnel decisions. What do you recommend?

We want to briefly review two cases that have been decided in recent weeks. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC In early January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that federal discrimination laws “do not protect church employees who perform religious duties, a major church-state decision that recognizes religious groups’ constitutionally protected right to select their own leaders.” (Quoting from a Washington Post article).

In recent years, there has been widespread interest in books recommending “fierce” or “difficult” conversations. For example, two well-known tomes—Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (by Stone, Patton, and Heen), and Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time (by Susan Scott)—offer many excellent communication techniques.