WBFO Education Desk

Many questions remain outstanding about the fall semester of school: When will classes start? How many students will be allowed in each classroom? Will face masks be required? However, the biggest problem might be getting students to school in those big, yellow buses.

There is a petition drive expected soon aimed at getting armed and uniformed Buffalo Police officers out of city schools.

Earlier this spring, Amherst Central High School decided not to offer a longtime elective class called “Race in America” during the coming school year. Then came the police killing of George Floyd, nationwide protests over systemic racism, and a group of students that wasn’t having it.

A group of Niagara University students recently presented the administration a list of demands aimed at creating a more inclusive environment.

Educators from across Western New York gathered yesterday on the steps of Buffalo City Hall for the second time as an act of solidarity to combat systemic racism in the education system.

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday against the state education department over the new security system in Lockport schools, which recognizes two things: guns and faces. WBFO’s Kyle Mackie reports on how the system works and how the same technology used by Scotland Yard and INTERPOL ended up in a school district in Niagara County.

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday against the state Education Department over its approval of the Lockport City School District’s facial recognition security system, which was activated in January.

The school year is ending, but many Buffalo families continue to struggle with the varied impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the message several parent leaders expressed to the Buffalo Board of Education during its regular meeting Wednesday night.

Buffalo's first "Excellence in Education" awards were handed out Sunday evening as an event that was intended to be a public bash turned into a virtual celebration.

Buffalo Public Schools staffers, teachers and administrators are pushing for more African American history in what the district teaches, as well as pushing young people and their parents to vote and permanently change things.

There are three different security forces in Buffalo's public schools and the board of education wants more information about how they mesh and what it all costs.

Hundreds of Western New York educators gathered on the steps of Buffalo City Hall late Tuesday afternoon to voice their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. From elementary to collegiate, urban to suburban, educators, parents, students and officials of all levels stood in front of Niagara Square to address their roles in confronting systematic racism.

The New York State Board of Regents reversed a decision Monday its members made last month denying the Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School’s renewal application. The new decision follows a month of backlash from angry parents and charter school advocates and reauthorizes the school through June 2025.

Saturday is the deadline for voters in the state’s school board and school budget elections to get their ballots in the mail.

How do you talk to your children about race? That’s the topic of a two-part series this week from WBFO education reporter Kyle Mackie as protests against police brutality and racial injustice continue nationwide.

As protests and riots sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day continue to sweep the country, Buffalo parents are weighing in about how they’re talking to their children about disturbing events in the news—and race.

High school seniors who attend Buffalo Public Schools, including some of the newest immigrant and refugee arrivals to the United States, are eagerly awaiting plans for an unusual graduation season. To learn more, WBFO’s education reporter Kyle Mackie interviewed two seniors at Newcomer Academy.

Buffalo Public schools have a new budget for next year, a budget that probably won't hold for long, as Albany deals with a state budget much larger than the revenues coming in.

The Buffalo Board of Education passed a resolution last week asking city leaders to keep 15 mph speed zones around schools intact and to make infrastructure changes that would make it easier for drivers to comply.

One of Buffalo’s highest-performing public schools faces closure following a vote by the New York State Board of Regents last week. WBFO’s education reporter Kyle Mackie reports on how Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School got caught in pandemic politics and the great debate about charter schools.

Memorial Day weekend begins with it beaches opening up and other tentative steps to restart the economy. In his daily coronavirus briefing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the reopenings can be done safely if people follow the rules.

With no prior notice, Buffalo Public Schools on Wednesday unanimously approved a fundamental change in education, a change the school board wants to put into effect in the fall of next year.

Lawsuits against universities like Columbia, Drexel or the University of Pennsylvania are appearing across the United States, after more and more students feel like they’re not getting the quality of education they paid for before the pandemic hit. A similar trend is starting to appear right across the border.