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UW System bans TikTok on university issued devices

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The University of Wisconsin System has banned TikTok. The Associated Press initially reported the move, and Media Relations Director Mark Pitsch confirmed to WRN that the UW System will be restricting the TikTok application on System-owned devices.

That follows an executive order from Governor Tony Evers which bans use of the popular video sharing app on state issued devices.

Numerous states and public universities have made the decision to ban the app owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, amid security concerns.

Wisconsin DOJ offers school safety training

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The Wisconsin Department of Justice will offer school safety training to all Wisconsin schools. The training, which will be led by the Office of School Safety, will help school staff to put a plan in place for school crises and get kids back to their parents and guardians following an event, according to a media release.

Attorney General Josh Kaul calls the training part of an ongoing, proactive effort to give schools the tools they need to keep kids safe. The training, which can be used in a range of situations, will reduce stress during a crisis, according to DOJ.

More than $2 million in federal grants and more than $1.8 million from the American Rescue Plan Act has been set aside to fund the training.

School bus law violations increase in Marathon County

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The Sheriff’s Office in Marathon County says in a Facebook post there’s an increase in citations issued for motorists not obeying bus laws in the county. The department states in the post they’ve spoken with a few local bus companies which say roughly 20 violations occur in Marathon County each week.

The sheriff’s office estimates if that volume holds true for other bus companies across the county, “the number of violations each week would increase exponentially.”

The post adds a reminder that most school buses are equipped with cameras that help to capture license plate information of vehicles that commit violations.

No drag show at a Madison high school

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Madison East High School is postponing a planned drag show after school officials say they received messages that “raised a number of safety concerns.” The show was organized by a group of students with the schools Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club and was scheduled for January 19th.

Among notable conservatives voicing criticism on Twitter: former Governor Scott Walker, who compared it to a strip show.

No new date for the event has been set.

DPI won’t take action against Chippewa Falls School District over alleged harassment

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The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction won’t be taking action against the Chippewa Falls School district for claims of harassment of students despite an appeal of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Wisconsin.

DPI said that while Chippewa Falls officials failed to investigate those claims properly, the students involved no longer attend school in the district. ACLU attorney Elizabeth Lambert says there are serious issues that need to be addressed. Lambert says she can’t discuss the next steps they’ll be taking in the case, but that more students are being affected by harassment. Officials from the Chippewa Falls School District did not respond to a request for comment.

Be careful what you share about students on social media, says BBB

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Kids are heading back to school, and while parents might be very proud, be careful with what you’re posting online.

Lisa Schiller with the Better Business Bureau says viral posts like having your child hold up a sign on their first day could come with risks. 

“Back to school photos with those children holding a board with their full name, age, height, and other details. That’s great for your own personal information, you know, keep it in the home. But don’t put it on social media.”

All of that data could be used to steal you or your child’s identity, or it could be used to guess passwords and break into online accounts.

Teens and college students heading back to school also ought to take some time to go over what they’re sharing on social media. Schiller says it’s important to check your settings on who you’re exchanging information with.

“You may want to remove Remove personal information from your account that others can see like your telephone number or your address.”

You should also look over your friend list and make sure what you’re sharing is going to the people you want it to. 

Former UW Chancellor Blank’s cancer diagnosis means she will not take Northwestern job

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Former University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank is making a very sudden and serious change of plans.

Monday was supposed to be Blank’s first day at her new job as president of Northwestern University, but now she’s been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, and will return to Madison for treatment.

In a statement, Blank said she’s leaving Northwestern because fighting her cancer will require all her strength.

The job of president requires multiple events, long days, travel and constant energy, especially in the first year. I have always been able to deliver this in previous jobs, but my doctors advise me that the treatments I am starting will make it almost impossible to do the job you need in a new president. I do not have the words to express to you how disappointed and sad I am to be telling you this. I was excited to be joining you at Northwestern, a world-class institution that is near and dear to my heart.

Blank was UW Madison chancellor for eight years before stepping down a few weeks ago.

SCOWIS won’t allow parents challenging Madison school district policy on transgender students to remain anonymous

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled against anonymity for parents challenging the Madison School District’s policy on transgender students.

The policy in question allows students to use preferred personal pronouns without their parents being notified.

In a 4 to 3 decision, the court ruled that parents challenging the policy must identify themselves to attorneys and the school district, but may remain anonymous in court proceedings.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty claimed the district policy violates parental rights over their children’s education. The school district argued anonymity made it impossible to determine whether those parents are district residents, or if they have students in the district.

WILL argued parents would face harassment if their names became known.

Republicans critical as Regents pick Mnookin as next UW Chancellor

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The University of Wisconsin in Madison has its next chancellor. Jennifer Mnookin is the unanimous choice of the UW System Board of Regents.

Mnookin is Dean of the UCLA law school in Los Angeles. Mnookin has a long history has an educator. She’s been a professor at UCLA since 2005, and before that, taught law at the University of Virginia, and was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

Mnookin becomes UW Madison’s 30th chancellor, after Rebecca Blank’s departure to Northwestern. Blank’s last day is on May 31. Provost John Karl Scholz will serve as interim chancellor until Mnookin starts in August.

Mnookin will have to win over Republican legislators. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Monday called the Regents’ unanimous pick of the UCLA Law School Dean a “blatant partisan selection.” Vos said Mnookin is a supporter critical race theory and campus  vaccine mandates.

State Senator Steve Nass, Vice Chair of the Senate Universities and Technical Colleges Committee, calls Mnookin a “West Coast liberal.” Both lawmakers also pointed out that Mnookin met with Hunter Biden in 2019 and supported having him join the UCLA faculty to teach drug policy.

In a statement to WisPolitics, Mnookin said she hasn’t had an opportunity to meet Vos yet but look forward to doing so, and that she plans to work with all legislators regardless of party to move the university and Wisconsin forward.

Evers vetoes more than two dozen Republican bills

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Democratic Governor Tony Evers has issued more than two dozen vetoes of Republican bills that made it out of the Legislature before recess.

Evers issued 28 vetoes on Friday. Among those bills were measures that would have made it easier to kick people off of unemployment and medical assistance, a bill that would have dissolved the Milwaukee Public Schools District, as well as massive expansion of the school voucher program.

“It is remarkable to me that many supporters of this bill, who commonly express concerns about property taxes when it comes to supporting more than 800,000 public school children in our state, are apparently unfazed by the fiscal impact this bill could have on families due to the way these programs are funded,” Evers said in veto message of the voucher expansion.

“If the Governor had bothered to read the bills we sent to him, he would see that we were giving him the power to be part of the solution for smaller, more accountable, community school districts for Milwaukee. He’s vetoing this bill because he wants to hide from the problem he helped create,” said state Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), author of the bill to break up MPS.

The governor also vetoed a “Parental Bill of Rights” that would have required schools to tell parents their children wanted to change their gender identities and given parents broader leeway on pulling their children from lessons that they viewed as objectionable.