Tag: Buffalo schools

Sep 2

2021

Buffalo schools open with laptop shortage

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Some 31,000 Buffalo students are preparing to go back to school next week, but the district’s IT department isn’t quite ready for them. Fewer than half of the 15,000 laptops the district issued to students last year have been returned to the district to be serviced and made compatible with system updates. As a result, only a fraction of students will be fully equipped to jump into the school year. The rest may have to wait until October for functional devices. At the end of the school year the district asked families to return student devices like iPads, laptops and[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Aug 11

2021

Buffalo’s absent schools superintendent

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Updated: 4:52 p.m. Where does the superintendent of Buffalo schools live? Kriner Cash’s employment contract requires him to live in the city. But he’s told the state of Massachusetts that his primary domicile is his million-dollar home on Martha’s Vineyard. That’s where he votes, holds his driver’s license and registers his cars.  Investigative Post looked into his residence in the face of persistent rumors Cash spends a good deal of time away from Buffalo in Martha’s Vineyard, including long stretches during the pandemic. Cash, through the district’s spokesperson, refused interview requests from Investigative Post. His only comment, when asked about his[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 20

2021

Buffalo’s abysmal school attendance

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Students missing two classes a month is a sign of trouble.  A lot of students in Buffalo schools are in a world of trouble. They’re simply not showing up for online classes. Only one-third of students had satisfactory attendance from the start of the school year until the first week of March, shortly after the district began phasing in classroom instruction.  Another third of students missed online classes often enough that their frequent absence put their academic achievement at risk — or worse. The last third were severely absent, meaning they typically missed school at least one day a week,[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 12

2021

Dowdall talks school hack on WBFO, WBEN

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Layne Dowdall reported Tuesday on the underplayed hacking of the Buffalo school district in March. Her story documented how the ransomeware attack has crippled district operations and the leadership’s failure to communicate with parents, teachers and other staff has left many frustrated. A companion story aired on WGRZ and posted to our YouTube channel, and Layne followed up Wednesday with radio interviews with WBFO and WBEN. Both are posted below. Interview with WBFO   Interview with WBEN  

Posted 4 years ago

May 10

2021

Buffalo schools still reeling from hack

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How bad was the hack of the Buffalo school district’s computer system in mid-March? The paper equivalent of lost documents would fill KeyBank Center to the rafters, one source told Investigative Post. The missing records include decades of teaching materials, student records and some 5,000 applications for admission to schools in September. Systems essential to the operation of the district, such as legal and accounting, are crippled. The hack has caused minimal disruption to classroom instruction and distance learning, but it’s impacted the physical operation of school buildings. Automated functions such as operation of heating and cooling systems have been[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 9

2021

Dowdall discusses exam exemptions on WBEN

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Layne Dowdall reported Thursday and Friday about the cancellation of Regents exams last school year and how they resulted in inflated graduation rates in many  districts in Western New York. She discussed her reporting Friday with Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski on NewsRadio 930WBEN.  

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 6

2021

Exemptions boost Buffalo graduation rate

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Buffalo School Superintendent Kriner Cash was ecstatic. The city’s high school graduation rate last year jumped 11.6 percent – eight times greater than the increase statewide. Cash proclaimed he was “extraordinarily proud of the Class of 2020,” terming the increased graduation rate in the midst of the pandemic “a tremendous positive.” Left unsaid: 22 percent of the graduating class – 423 students – was exempted from passing mandated Regents exams, which had been cancelled because of the pandemic. Instead, students needed only to receive a passing grade in their individual classes, and the district adopted a generous grading policy to[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 1

2021

The worst governments, agencies in WNY

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Western New York is saddled with a lot of bad governmental bodies and departments in need of reform. Some cost a lot of money in the form of high taxes, others are simply ineffective, and still more are outright corrupt. There are some 105 units of local government in Erie and Niagara counties — that is, cities, towns, villages and school districts. And countless other departments, authorities, taxing districts and the like. With apologies to David Letterman’s late, great Top Ten list, here’s my take on the worst of the worst, with the list getting progressively worse as you read[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post