Some Akron high school students are getting an international view.

Diplomats from the United Arab Emirates spoke to students from Buchtel, Firestone and Ellet High Schools at an Akron hotel Thursday afternoon.

Firestone High School junior Dominic Mussili says that he is interested in international affairs...and more students should pay attention as well.

"I've always been interested in the subject," Mussili tells AkronNewsNow.com, "and I beleive that more students should be paying attention to global affairs, because they affect our every day life as well as politics."

Organizer Jane Walker Snider is executive director of the Akron Council on World Affairs.

She says the contact helps open up students to the prospect of international jobs...and notes very prominent Akron companies with an international footprint.

"What it does is, it lifts them out of the context of seeing occupations as being doctor, lawyer, teacher," Walter Snider explains to AkronNewsNow, "and they meet these diplomats, who talk to them, with the one (Thursday) being the United Arab Emirates, talking to them about the relationship they have with Goodyear."

The students have also had visitors from other countries, including a recent visit from a Japanese delegation.

UPDATE: The all-clear at Innes CLC was given just before 12:30pm Wednesday.

District spokesman Mark Willamson says a search of the school by police dogs turned up nothing suspicious and classes resumed. He says there will be beefed up security at Innes over the next couple of days.

--------

(Previous coverage) Innes CLC is on lockdown after a specific threat was uncovered.

APS Spokesman Mark Williamson says the threat was posted on the wall of a girl's bathroom just before Noon Wednesday, prompting the lockdown procedure.

Williamson did not specify the details of the threat.

Classes will resume once the lockdown has been lifted, but Williamson says they take each threat seriously.

Ray talks with the Akron-Beacon Journal's Jason LLoyd about the Cavs hiring Mike Brown to be their head coach. Again. 

Dr. Gary Riggs made the Community section of the ABJ. Why? He saved a duck! He talk to Ray about saving the duck!

Fred Greetham from the Orange and Brown Report and Fox Sports Ohio talks to Ray about the FBI investigating Jimmy Haslam and looks ahead to the NFL Draft.

The Akron Public Schools are having a garage sale! Peggy Harris tells Ray about everything for sale!

Ray talks about bladder cancer and bladder cancer prevention with Dr. Joseph Dankoff from Akron General Hospital.

Two key Akron Public Schools leaders are stepping away from the board of the APS-sponsored Akron Digital Academy.

APS superintendent David James came under fire after voting to close the digital school, then later changed his mind and voted to keep it open after hearing from parents.

"There were some accusations that it was a conflict of interest for me to be on the board. We've consulted with legal counsel, we don't really think that's true," James tells AkronNewsNow.com. "But, to remove myself from that situation so they can get down to the business of educating kids."

James says he and APS cirriculum director Ellen McWilliams decided to remove themselves from the Digital Academy board.

"The kids are way more important than two personnel on the board," James says.

---

Previous ANN coverage:

3/28/13: AUDIO Akron Digital Academy Closing

4/5/13: Akron Digital Academy To Stay Open

4/5/13: James: Digital Academy Stays Open, But Must Change
 

A lot of Akron Public Schools parents with complaints are taking them straight to the school administration building these days.

And administrators have a new way to help those parents get answers back at the school level.

APS director of community relations Carla Sibley says a new "meeting request form" will help clear up the communications gap.

"It's an opportunity for any parent that comes to the administration building to document their concern in writing," Sibley tells AkronNewsNow.com, "and to have it forwarded immediately to my office, so I can then connect them to the appropriate person."

Sibley tells AkronNewsNow that some of the parents' concerns include bullying and suspensions, which directly impact their children.

Sibley says that though contacts at schools can usually address issues directly, people feel a sense of urgency when they go to the administration building.

At the Monday board meeting, board members got an update on the district's tax collection for the end of the last calendar year.

Treasurer Jack Pierson says actual tax collection was greater than his earlier projection by less than one percent, a figure school officials say won't make any difference.

Superintendent David James is formulating budget cuts that could close as much as a nine million dollar deficit. The board could see the proposed cuts next month.

Update 10:48 A.M.: The lockdown at David Hill CLC ended at 10:23 A.M. with no problems reported.

David Hill Community Learning Center in Akron is on lockdown.  There are no students in immediate danger, according to district spokesman Mark Williamson, but building administrators believe the lockdown was necessary as a precaution.

"The mother of one of the students called, expressing a concern that a family member, we think maybe the father, of one of the children at the school, may be heading in the direction of Akron," said Williamson.

There are unconfirmed reports that the man is a suspect in a criminal matter in the Cleveland area.  Williamson says concern at David Hill is precautionary.  The school began lockdown mode around 9:00 A.M.

"They want to make sure as a pre-preemptive measure that the school is impenetrable, just in case somebody does want to come into the school for some reason that's not healthy and not good," said Williamson.

Williamson says police are involved and the school will remain in lockdown mode until the situation is resolved.

The Akron Public Schools board says problems with part of the King Community Learning Center construction project could push that school's opening back even further.

The APS board voted Monday night to authorize superintendent David James to end part or all of the general trades contract with Hudson's Giambrone Construction.

Board president Jason Haas says that the district and its architect have found a vapor barrier applied to the outside of the new King CLC is defective.

"Our team has investigated and determined that it has not been applied correctly," Haas tells AkronNewsNow.com, "and therefore there's a chance of moisture entering the barrier and causing mold and mildew problems in the school."

Haas says Giambrone will get one more chance to come up with a plan to fix the problem this week. Then, the district could remove the firm from the vapor barrier part of the contract, or more.

But he says the concern is that the opening day for King could be pushed back even further.

King was set to be done in July to open in the upcoming school year.

Haas says the earliest completion date right now would be October, with a January opening for King if they use the winter break to move the school.

Haas told reporters that he's worried that with the time needed to deal with the issue, King CLC may not see students this entire upcoming school year.

In other business, the Akron district says 57 students have met the guidelines set up by the University of Akron and the district for the scholarship funded by the sale of the former Central Hower High School.

School officials tell AkronNewsNow that all the students have to do is say they want to go for the scholarship.

But officials hope about half of those eligible could go for it...with the distinct possibility they'll have other, competitive offers.

26 students entered the first phase of the "Innovation Generation" program before it was officially approved.

The Akron Digital Academy will remain open after a reversal of an earlier decision to close it. And one key board member is making it clear...changes need to be made there.

Akron Public Schools superintendent David James is one of two APS employees on the Digital Academy board.  The Akron district sponsors the school. James says that he reversed his vote on the school's closure after hearing from a number of parents.

James says that the reprieve for the Digital Academy doesn't mean things should stay the same at the school.

"The board is going to have to reconcile some of the improvements that I feel are needed," James tells AkronNewsNow.com, "with the management of the school, protocols, things like that."

James says that the Digital Academy's administration needs to be addressed.

"It's not a large operation in terms of students," James says, "but we have quite a few administrative staff."

James points out that the Digital Academy's elementary school has 85 students, and is being subsidized by the academy's high school.

He supports the earlier plan to close two satellite campuses.

"As a digital academy, having it centralized at one location, and then allowing students from their homes to be able to access a curriculum on a computer, I think that would be a good idea," James tells AkronNewsNow.com.

----

Previous Coverage:

4/5/13: Akron Digital Academy To Stay Open

3/28/13: AUDIO Akron Digital Academy Closing

An on-line Akron charter school is closing at the end of the school year. AkronNewsNow has learned that the Digital Academy in Akron will close after the Board of Directors voted  Wednesday 3-2 to end the school's ten year run.

The Digital Academy is sponsored by, but not operated by Akron Public Schools. APS Superintendent David James is a member of the Academy's board and voted with the majority to close the School. 500 students and 8o staff members and teachers are affected by the closing decision.

Akron Digital Academy director Bernadine Burchett tells AkronNewsNow " The decision was made for several reasons. The first one being that over the past couple of years there has been a decline in enrollment here at Akron Digital and the one-line school. Second, we have the new standards, the new course standards coming in which is going to require some major changes in the way that we do business. Akron Digital Academy is 10 years old and many of the digital on-line schools that you find throughout the country look a little different than we do. They offer a wide variety of courses connected to universities. So that being involved we have a position where our kids we would like to see them have a chance to succeed more than they have. So, in light of that, the feeling was if we could perhaps get them back in the Akron schools, Akron schools are looking at some exciting things as far as some on-line programming that might give these kids more of a variety , and more of an opportunity to succeed. In light of that perhaps it's time to go in a different direction."

Burchett says students today have a tremendous number of on-line options including courses offered by universities as far away as Florida to help students with the high school course work. Burchett says on-line courses are exploding as far as vocational and advanced classes, and making up course work they need to catch up with. She says students of today have many more opportunities that didn't exist 10 years ago. Burchett says there are a number of new on-line schools that will appear in Akron in the next year or two.

" Parents will be receiving a letter today, and since we are sponsored by Akron Public Schools a transition team is going to be put together to look at different options that these students have that they can look at for next year, so that we meet their needs and serve them," says Burchett.

Here's something Akron Public Schools board members aren't used to hearing from the district treasurer: good news.

But treasurer Jack Pierson passed along to the board at Monday night's meeting that the number of students leaving the Akron district for other options is no longer increasing.

Board president Jason Haas says that fewer students leaving could result in a -slight- uptick in state money, over time...assuming the trend holds...

"We would actually see a little bit of an increase in our annual per pupil allocation, if those numbers continue to stablize, as they look like they're going to," Haas tells AkronNewsNow.com, based on earlier budget projections that the number of students leaving would continue to rise. "So, it's a positive, rare, but we'll take it, positive bit of financial news."

Haas thinks the district is doing a better job getting the district's strengths out there...in direct comparison to charter schools.

"We've really been conscious over the past couple of years of 'telling our story'", says Haas. "And we're getting a little bit better at it...we've got a long way to go, but we are getting better at that."

But the Akron district still must make some more cuts.

The appointment of new board member Veronica Sims, who took office Monday evening, has slowed down some of the process, but Haas says the board should have something to chew on, as far as possible budget cuts, sometime in the next month.