Daily "Recent Prince George's County News" updates were suspended in early March 2016. They were compiled primarily from retweets of news headlines. Those retweets continue, but in unformatted and unarchived form at PG-Politics-Briefs. To follow such headlines on a current basis, follow @pgpolitics on Twitter.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

News Briefs (Tuesday)

(Posted 28 Feb 2006)
Education
  • Va., Md. Revising Diploma Counts; Estimates of High School Graduation Rates Seen as Inaccurate.
  • Between the start of freshman year and graduation, the class of 2005 at Frederick Douglass High School in Prince George's County shrank by more than one-third. Yet according to school officials, 90 percent of the class graduated.

    . . . legislators in Maryland and Virginia are seeking a more accurate count of how many students earn diplomas four years after they enter high school, one of the most vital -- but most poorly tracked -- indicators in public education. Bills before both legislatures . . . are part of a national effort to adopt a common formula for figuring graduation rates.

    "Hopefully, with this bill, we'll begin to capture some accurate data," said Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt (D-Prince George's), who sponsored the measure [SB 59] in the Maryland Senate. "And it may not be a pretty picture."

    Leaders of Maryland and Virginia school systems say they are moving toward tracking individual students, using identification numbers generated by statewide testing to follow students from one school to another. Educators in both states say that by about 2009 they will know with near certainty who graduates and who does not, with or without a change in the law.
    [. . .].
Update on School Violence
  • BB Gun Found on Pr. George's School Bus.
  • Two fifth-grade boys in Prince George's County faced disciplinary action after a BB gun was found on their school bus, a school system spokesman said yesterday.

    Officials were alerted to the gun's presence on Bus 551 when students arrived Thursday morning at John Eager Howard Elementary School [Map], spokesman John White said.

    Investigators determined that during the ride to school, the two boys "had the weapon and were flashing it, using it in a threatening way," White said. He said no shots were fired, and no one was hurt.
  • Prince George's Schools Investigates Report Of BB Gun On Bus.
Politicians
  • Lawmakers wary of merger; More testimony sought from energy firms before deal is done.
  • . . . Sen. Leo E. Green, a Prince George's County Democrat who has been critical of the proposed merger, said he is worried about FPL's maintenance record in Florida and about the bonuses executives for the two companies stand to receive if the deal goes through.

    He has introduced a resolution calling on the attorney general to represent the public in merger hearings before the Public Service Commission, and he said yesterday he is exploring legislation to require General Assembly approval of the deal. . . .
Gory Prince Georges: Sentencing.

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