Monthly Archives: March 2017

Anxiety a “huge, huge issue” in district – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The director of Student Services for Vacaville Unified said student anxiety “is a huge, huge issue” in the 12,500-student district with 18 campuses across the city.

Bill Ewing made the remark early in his slide presentation to the governing board Thursday, as he updated trustees about the district’s mental health services.

His presentation came as Solano County districts and elsewhere are increasingly hiring master social workers to try to stem or solve psycho-social and behavioral problems in 21st-century American public schools.

Speaking in the Educational Services Center, Ewing said the primary supports include, among several things, 1) a master social worker; 2) Vacaville Police Department Youth Services counseling interns; 3) mental health clinicians; and 4) PBIS, an acronym for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

Source:  Anxiety a “huge, huge issue” in district – The Reporter

 

Hundreds fill Armijo gym in name of science – Daily Republic

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By Bill Hicks

Hundreds of students and their accompanying projects filled Armijo High School’s E. Gary Vaughn Gymnasium to participate Friday in a science fair that is growing in size.

This is the third year the school has hosted the fair, which had previously included mainly students from Armijo High and Grange Middle School.

Event coordinators Vigdis Asmundson, a Grange science teacher, and Pete Smith, an Armijo science teacher, say this is the first year the event opened up districtwide, with more than 500 entrants.

“They’re allowed to pick anything that interests them,” Asmundson said. Making the experiments “controlled,” or ones testing one variable at a time, was the only requirement, Smith said.

Source: Hundreds fill Armijo gym in name of science

Mayor Price visits school for some happy news – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Fairfield Mayor Harry T. Price visited Anna Kyle Elementary School on March 15, joining the children for some before-school activities.

Jose Rico‘s fifth-grade class invited Price to Anna Kyle to show his support to the “Reading Revolution” that they initiated as a schoolwide activity to help improve reading skills this year among those who attend the school, according to a press release about the day’s activities.

After learning the secrets on how to improve their reading level, 32 out of 33 children are reading above the fifth-grade level, according to the press release. The goal is to have the whole school reading at grade level by the end of May.

Source: Good News: Mayor Price visits school for some happy news

Travis School District opens kindergarten, transitional kindergarten registration – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Travis School District begins priority registration for kindergarten and transitional kindergarten Wednesday at Scandia Elementary on Travis Air Force Base.

That will be followed Thursday at Travis Elementary, 200 Fairfield Ave., Fairfield; March 27 at Foxboro Elementary, 600 Morning Glory Drive, Vacaville; March 28 at Cambridge Elementary, 100 Cambridge Drive, Vacaville; and March 29 at Center Elementary, 3101 Markeley Lane, Fairfield.

The time is set by the first letter of the child’s last name: A-G at 5 p.m.; H-L at 5:30 p.m.; and M-Z at 6 p.m.

Source: Travis School District opens kindergarten, transitional kindergarten registration

Here’s What You Should Know About That Voucher Bill From Rep. Steve King – Education Week

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By Andrew Ujifusa

Although he’s made headlines recently for controversial comments not directly about schools, Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa has also made waves for introducing a bill that would dramatically reshape K-12 and education policy. That’s House Resolution 610, and it would create federally backed vouchers for students.

We wrote about the bill earlier this year. The Choices in Education Act of 2017, the in-plain-English name of the bill, would repeal the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main K-12 law, of which the Every Student Succeeds Act is the latest version. It would create vouchers funded by Washington for parents to use at private schools if they chose to do so, or to use for home schooling their child. Under King’s legislation, the federal government would fund those vouchers through creating block grants for states.

“As the spouse of a former Iowa teacher, I understand that it’s the right thing for our children to take their education decision[s] out of the hands of the federal government and put it back in the hands of parents who know how best to meet the educational needs of their students,” King said in a statement last year about a similar bill he introduced in 2016.

Source: Here’s What You Should Know About That Voucher Bill From Rep. Steve King – Politics K-12 – Education Week

Special Education Funding Maintained in Trump Administration Budget Blueprint – Education Week

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By Christina Samuels

The “skinny” budget blueprint released by the Trump administration Thursday would maintain current spending levels for special education—about $13 billion, most of which is money sent directly to states.

The budget blueprint is just the beginning of a long process. While this document shows the administration’s priorities, it is Congress that ultimately passes spending legislation. And lawmakers have their own ideas about what programs should be cut, and which should be kept.

But, if these funding amounts were to stay in place, the federal contribution for special education and related services would be about 16 percent of the excess costs of educating a student with a disability, compared to a general education student.

In 1975, when the federal government passed the law that was to become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Congress authorized paying states up to 40 percent of the excess costs of educating a student with disabilities, based on national per-pupil expenditures. But in the 40-plus years of the law’s existence, the federal government has never gotten close to meeting that goal. The Trump administration is not different from other administrations in that regard.

Source: Special Education Funding Maintained in Trump Administration Budget Blueprint – On Special Education – Education Week

New BHS club opens up discussion on gender issues – Benicia Herald

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Revision by Benicia Herald 3/20/17:

The quote from Caitlyn Clark was misquoted; the phrase “a movement of small people” should have read “a small movement of people.”

By Nick Sestanovich

At Benicia High School, education does not always stop when the lunch bell rings. Over the years, BHS has been host to a number of clubs where students can discuss topics such as the environment, Christianity, LGBTQ rights and providing assistance to the military to fellow club members and educate the student body at large.

New this year is Benicia High’s Gender Equality Club, which meets Wednesdays at lunch in social science teacher Sadie O’Neill’s room to talk about issues facing gender today, whether female or male, trans or cis and so on.

Club President Caitlyn Clark, a junior, said the idea for the club came toward the end of the previous year as female students were expressing concerns over the school’s dress code.“There was a movement of small people who were trying to change the way that the dress code targets girls in particular in a way that’s really over sexualizing and makes girls feel uncomfortable or guilty for wearing clothes that make themselves feel good,” she said.

Source: New BHS club opens up discussion on gender issues

Fairfield High career fair shines light on opportunities for future – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

The Fairfield High School gym echoed Thursday with the sounds of students learning about opportunities for their future, and with 40 booths of businesses from the medical field to construction, there was a lot for students to take in.

Vanessa Garcia, 14, a freshman, is still deciding what she wants to do after high school.

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “Maybe I want to be a lawyer or a registered nurse.”

Her friend Leslie Rangel, 16, still has a few years left of high school but she might have her plans nailed down. She learned a little from some of medical tables, and visited the U.S. Marine Corps booth.

Source: Fairfield High career fair shines light on opportunities for future

CA School Dashboard Debuts – Year 2017 – CA Dept of Education

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The State Board of Education (SBE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) today unveiled the California School Dashboard, a new Web site that provides parents, educators, and the public with important information they can use to evaluate schools and school districts in an easy-to-understand report card format.

The California School Dashboard is a critical piece of California’s new school accountability and continuous improvement system. The state’s former accountability system—the Academic Performance Index (API)—relied exclusively on standardized tests and gave schools a single score. That system was suspended three years ago.

“The California School Dashboard provides local communities with meaningful and relevant information on how well schools and districts are doing,” said State Board of Education President Michael W. Kirst. “It will help in local decision-making by highlighting both the progress of schools and student groups, shining a light on disparities and helping stakeholders pinpoint where resources should be directed.

Source: CA School Dashboard Debuts – Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Vacaville Unified agenda: 16-17 budget report, mental health supports, $38M bond sale – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The second interim 2016-17 budget report, an update about district mental health supports, and the sale of $38 million in Measure A bonds are on the agenda when Vacaville Unified leaders meet tonight in Vacaville.

Deo Persaud, the chief business officer, will note major changes since the first interim report in December; updates on revenues and expenses and the ending fund balance; multiyear projections (with assumptions); and next steps.

The district will file a positive certification, based on current projections, meaning it will be able to pay its bills for the current year and next year, he will tell the seven-member governing board.

In a slide presentation, he will note $113.4 million in expenses (a slight change from a previous report), with an ending balance of nearly $18 million (also a slight change), with 8 percent in prudent reserves of more than $9 million.

Source: Vacaville Unified agenda: 16-17 budget report, mental health supports, $38M bond sale

Budget report, open enrollment, alternative elementary configurations on DUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The second interim budget report, open enrollment practices, and alternative elementary school configurations are on the agenda when Dixon Unified leaders meet tonight in Dixon.

As school districts statewide are doing in March, an update on the rural eastern Solano district’s 2016-17 budget likely will be approved by the five-member board. Adrian Vargas, assistant superintendent for business and operations, will make the presentation.

He is expected to note the $34 million budget will incur some red ink, about $286,000, with an ending balance of $3.4 million. Vargas will tell trustees that the district’s budget will receive a positive certification and district officials will be able to pay their bills for the current year and the next two.

The district’s projected $32.2 million 2017-18 budget likely will continue to evolve with Gov. Brown’s “May revise” of the state budget before a final district budget is sent the County Office of Education, Vargas will probably note.

 

Source: Budget report, open enrollment, alternative elementary configurations on DUSD agenda

Dixon School District misses deadline to form bond oversight panel – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

The superintendent for the Dixon School District apologized to the Solano County Taxpayers Association for missing a Monday deadline to form a bond oversight committee after the Nov. 8 passage of the $30.4 million Measure Q school bond.

Brian Dolan, in an email Monday to taxpayers association members, said he failed to get all of the pieces in order to meet the deadline.

“This was not a willful attempt to skirt our responsibility as the need for a citizens oversight committee is well-known to us,” Dolan said of the school district. “I won’t go into all of the factors that got us to this position, but instead reiterate that the committee will be formed as soon as possible.”

Source: Dixon School District misses deadline to form bond oversight panel

State’s new schools report card has more, less information for parents – Times Herald

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By  Sharon Noguchi

Four years after dumping its single-number rating of every public school, California on Wednesday rolled out a new education report card with bold color charts and minute detail on select metrics for each school district.

The California School Dashboard — which went live Wednesday after a nearly two-hour hiccup — offers a more rounded view of public schools, including charter schools, with reports on suspension and graduation rates, English-learner progress, and English and math test scores for grades 3 through 8.

The colorful matrix replaces the instantly understandable Academic Performance Index, the three-digit figure that represented the official grade of each school and made school-to-school comparisons simple. The API, whose annual release was much anticipated, was loved by high-scoring schools in affluent areas and reviled by educators serving poor kids as unfair and incomplete.

 

Jesse Bethel students observe real DUI trial held in auditorium – Times Herald

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By Matthew Adkins

The auditorium of Jesse Bethel High School was temporarily transformed into a courtroom Tuesday morning as part of an educational presentation for the students.

Beginning at 8 a.m., Solano Superior Court Judge Daniel Healy and company held an actual DUI trial in front of the student audience, including real attorneys, a defendant and an outcome.

The school’s AP Government and Politics teacher Scott Heinecke was responsible for nearly half of the 225 students in attendance. Heinecke explained the trial is part of his curriculum, and is important because it has a stronger take-home effect than a mock trial would.

“It’s a real defendant, a real bailiff, a real everything,” Heinecke said. “I have seniors in there who are becoming adults and may soon face the decision to drink and drive. It’s good for them to see the consequences before actually being in that situation.”

 

Source: Jesse Bethel students observe real DUI trial held in auditorium

Solano children get taste of farm life at annual Ag Day – Daily Republic

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By Amy Maginnis-Honey

From cows to chickens, walking sticks to dogs wagging tails and branding to (churning) butter, the 15th annual Youth Ag Day offered something Tuesday for every Solano County third-grader.

The event is a collaborative effort of the Solano County Fair and agricultural-related businesses, organizations, farmers, ranchers and other individuals. The goal is to let the children, in a fun setting, learn about the county’s agricultural wealth.

Schoolchildren such as those taught by Jeremy Schweiger at Federal Terrace Elementary School in Vallejo.

“They are seeing things they don’t normally see,” Schweiger said.

Source: Solano children get taste of farm life at annual Ag Day

SCC leaders to consider $90M bond sale, Measure Q, Strong Workforce contracts – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A resolution to issue $90 million in Measure Q bonds, several large Measure Q-related contracts, and a $500,000 Strong Workforce Program contract are on the agenda when Solano Community College leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

The college’s governing board likely will approve the pending sale of $90 million in Measure Q bonds on the open market. Trustees previously approved $120 million in bonds under the $348 million measure, which Solano County voters passed in 2012, to upgrade the school’s aging classrooms, other buildings, infrastructure as well as pay for some new construction.

Also related to their Measure Q considerations, trustees are expected to approve a $162,000 contract with Arthulia Inc., a Millbrae firm, for a performing arts costume workshop and classroom project, part of the Solano College Theatre renovation.

 

Source: SCC leaders to consider $90M bond sale, Measure Q, Strong Workforce contracts

On Kairos agenda: Second interim budget, facilities update – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Approval of the second interim budget for 2016-17 and updates on facilities and open enrollment are on the agenda when Kairos Public School Vacaville Academy leaders meet tonight in Vacaville.

Anita Schwab, the chief business officer for the independent charter school on Elm Street, will update the board on the budget. The board of directors likely will approve it.

She will stress that the current budget is a “blueprint” for the final one to be adopted before June 30, and that it will be subject to Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget revision due in May.

In her summary, as indicated by agenda documents, Schwab said the budget reflects, among several things, the revised Local Control Funding Formula funding gap percentages adopted by the state, reduction in the per-pupil rate for one-time mandated money, additional curriculum for a new academy, and increases to tenant improvements.

 

Source: On Kairos agenda: Second interim budget, facilities update

Can educators, business leaders bolster state’s workforce? – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Prominent educators and equally prominent members of business communities, it seems, are finally beginning to talk about preparing students for the 21st-century workplace, as local school district trustee have for many years.

On Wednesday, a Jelly Belly vice president spoke to some 40 AVID students at Armijo High in Fairfield, telling them what employers are looking for in a prospective employee.

On Friday, a revived K-12-community college committee met for the first time in Sacramento about how the two educational sectors can work together to help more Californians find success in the job market and strengthen the state’s workforce.

John Jamison, vice president of retail operations at Jelly Belly, the giant candymaker in Fairfield, generally spoke in broad terms about what employers seek in young people entering the labor force.

 

Travis school district to begin priority registrations for TK and K classes – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified schools will hold in the coming week priority registrations for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten classes for the 2017-2018 school year, it has been announced.

Priority registration guarantees that a spot in a child’s home school, noted Vince Ruiz, director of student services.

Source: Travis school district to begin priority registrations for TK and K classes

Travis district schedules kindergarten registration – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Travis School District begins priority registration for kindergarten and transitional kindergarten March 22 at Scandia Elementary on Travis Air Force Base.

That will be followed March 23 at Travis Elementary, 200 Fairfield Ave., Fairfield; March 27 at Foxboro Elementary, 600 Morning Glory Drive, Vacaville; March 28 at Cambridge Elementary, 100 Cambridge Drive, Vacaville; and March 29 at Center Elementary, 3101 Markeley Lane, Fairfield.

The time is set by the first letter of the child’s last name: A-G at 5 p.m.; H-L at 5:30 p.m.; and M-Z at 6 p.m.Priority registration guarantees a spot in a child’s home school. If parents and their child(ren) are unable to attend registration, they can attend any event date or time. A military identification or base pass is required for Travis or Scandia schools.

Source: Travis district schedules kindergarten registration