Monthly Archives: September 2017

State Board of Education Approves ESSA Plan – Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

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The State Board of Education today approved a plan for using federal assistance that upholds California’s commitment to the ground-breaking educational reforms of the Local Control Funding Formula.

Every state that receives federal funding to support low-income students and English language learners is required to submit an Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to the U.S. Department of Education. Several states submitted their plans earlier this year, while California and more than 30 other states will be submitting their plans on September 18.

The plan—essentially a grant application—allows each state to make a case for how it will utilize and manage federal dollars.California’s ESSA plan meets federal requirements while ensuring the state retains maximum flexibility to continue its shift away from top-down decision-making and toward local control that allows local school districts to better meet local needs. The plan was developed over 18 months with input from thousands of Californians.

“With the ESSA plan, we believe we have achieved the right balance between meeting federal requirements and focusing on our state priorities that will help prepare all students for college and careers,” said State Board President Michael W. Kirst, a Stanford University professor emeritus. “We look forward to working with the U.S. Department of Education as our application moves through their process.”

Source: State Board of Education Approves ESSA Plan – Year 2017 (CA Dept of Education)

Fairfield-Suisun USD Teacher Helps Set National Standards for Accomplished Teaching – Daily Republic

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By Tim Goree

Fairfield, California September 11, 2017 — National Board Certification is the teaching profession’s mark of accomplished practice. The more than 112,000 teachers who have achieved Board certification demonstrate their ability to teach to profession’s highest standards. Pam Williamson, a teacher at Early College High School, recently joined 271 of the most accomplished teachers across the United States in Chicago, IL to help set the National Board performance standards across 25 certificate areas.

National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) collaborated in groups according to their National Board certificate area/specialty. Each group of NBCTs dedicated one to two intensive days to assist the National Board in setting the performance standard indicating accomplished teaching for part of the content knowledge component for their particular certificate area.

Source: Good News: Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Teacher Helps Set National Standards for Accomplished Teaching

Official lauds ‘destination district’ status for Fairfield-Suisun schools – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

The Fairfield-Suisun School District’s status as a “destination district” for teachers will help deal with special education issues the California Department of Education identified, the special education director for Fairfield-Suisun says.

“Fairfield does a terrific job of making this a destination district for teachers,” Tom Anderson said.

Teachers get wonderful curriculum and professional development support at schools and from the district office, he said at a school board meeting Wednesday to discuss two state reports about special education in the district.

Source: Official lauds ‘destination district’ status for Fairfield-Suisun schools

VUSD leaders poised to OK $35M in Markham upgrades – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

After a community outreach meeting Tuesday, Vacaville Unified leaders appear poised to approve $35 million in Measure A dollars to modernize and upgrade Markham Elementary, one of the oldest schools in the district.

Their decision, expected during the Sept. 21 trustees meeting, will come after more than a year of discussion, including an August facilities planning workshop, of how to improve facilities at the aging Markham Avenue campus and how much to spend doing it.

District administrators scheduled the meeting because time is running out to adhere to preferred deadlines — for design and landscaping plans, heeding city regulations, and approvals by the Office of the State Architect, for example — before planned groundbreaking in summer 2019.

Source: VUSD leaders poised to OK $35M in Markham upgrades

Where “the whole child” is nurtured – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

More than anything, the real mission of Suisun Elementary is about nurturing “the whole child,” said Principal Ann Marie Neubert.

“It’s not rocket science,” added the University of California, Davis, graduate, and Vacaville resident, standing in her office Wednesday, a day when she informally ceded some of her duties to me as part of my Principal for the Day visit.

At the Golden Eye Way campus, educators are committed to making sure each child’s “social-emotional-behavioral-academic needs” are met every day, said Neubert, the 1993 valedictorian at Vacaville High who also attended Stanford University for a time before transferring to Davis.

Source:  Where “the whole child” is nurtured

Betsy DeVos Wants to Rethink ‘Mundane Malaise’ of Traditional Schools – Education Week

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By Alyson Klein

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants teachers and school leaders to move past the blackboards-and-desks model of schooling, with an eye toward better serving individual kids.

Schools, she said, have looked pretty much the same over the past five decades or so.

“For far too many kids, this year’s first day back to school looks and feels a lot like last year’s first day back to school. And the year before that. And the generation before that. And the generation before that! That means your parent’s parent’s parents!” she told students at Woods Learning Center in Casper, Wyo., according to prepared remarks. “Most students are starting a new school year that is all too familiar. … They follow the same schedule, the same routine—just waiting to be saved by the bell.

“That’s not helping keep kids engaged, she added: “It’s a mundane malaise that dampens dreams, dims horizons, and denies futures.”

Source: Betsy DeVos Wants to Rethink ‘Mundane Malaise’ of Traditional Schools – Politics K-12 – Education Week

BUSD names new educational service coordinator – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

At Thursday’s school board meeting, the Benicia Unified School District welcomed Stephanie Rice as the new coordinator of education services. In this role, she will be working at all grade levels and curricular areas to support instructional programs and practices at each school.

Rice graduated from Benicia High School in 1992, attended Sonoma State University and the University of Southern California and has a master’s degree in education. She has been an educator for 18 years, 16 of which have been with BUSD, including a period as a fourth-grade teacher at Robert Semple Elementary School. For the past two years, she was a Teacher On Special Assignment, with a particular focus on math and science. She helped implement the district’s current elementary math program, promoted vertical articulation with Benicia Middle School math and science teachers, assisted with the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards at Benicia and Liberty High and worked closely with Benicia High’s math and science departments.

Additionally, Rice was also a camp coordinator at 2016’s C-STEM Girls in Robotic Leadership Camp, in which female Benicia Middle Schoolers got to spend a week learning lessons in robotics and coding and even got to go on an excursion to UC Davis.Rice has two daughters, a fifth-grader at Robert Semple and a seventh-grader at Benicia Middle.

Source: BUSD names new educational service coordinator

Vallejo, Solano schools, parks get water bottle filling stations – Times Herald

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By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

With Solano County students back at school this month, many will find it easier to make healthy food choices and stay hydrated with clean, fresh water, thanks to a partnership between the county, cities and school districts, including Vallejo’s, county officials announced.

Over the past two years, the Solano County Department of Health and Social Services, Public Health Division’s Vibe Solano has collaborated with community partners to provide 95 water stations with bottle fillers at parks and schools throughout the county. Students and visitors to our local parks who bring a water bottle are now able to refill them at these stations to stay hydrated, they said.

Fifteen Vallejo City Unified School District campuses and 35 parks have already had these filling stations installed while another nine are awaiting installation, Solano County Health Services Manager Wendy Loomas said.

Source: Vallejo, Solano schools, parks get water bottle filling stations

California’s education plan affirms commitment to local control | EdSource

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By Michael Kirst

California is fast approaching the September 18 deadline to submit its draft Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to the federal government. This plan – essentially a grant application – allows California to makes its case for utilizing federal funds to assist low-income students across the state.

Our plan meets the federal government’s requirements while affirming California’s commitment to local control that allows teachers, principals and superintendents to meet the needs of our diverse students.

However, it is shortsighted to judge California’s efforts to improve outcomes for all students by the draft plan alone. California has a much bigger plan: the Local Control Funding Formula, or LCFF, which has been developed over years with input from thousands of Californians and youth advocates. The Local Control Funding Formula empowers parents, students, teachers and community members to recognize inequities and develop and implement programs that meet the needs of all students.

Source: California’s education plan affirms commitment to local control | EdSource

Symbolic walk recalls those who died on 9/11; keeps memory alive for younger generation – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Children from Travis and Scandia elementary schools walked Monday in memory of those fallen during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Teachers – many dressed in red, white and blue – escorted the first-, second- and sixth-graders to an open space on the lawn by the Airmen and Family Readiness Center.

“This is the 11th year for this Freedom Walk,” said Deanna Yashki, principal of Travis Elementary. “This is a way to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the survivors and heroes of that day.”

Source: Symbolic walk on Travis base recalls those who died on 9/11; keeps memory alive for younger generation

On TUSD agenda: Impact Aid, Scandia roofing project – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A resolution urging Congress not to reduce and also increase Federal Impact Aid and a nearly $300,000 change order for the Scandia Elementary roof project are on the agenda tonight when Travis Unified leaders meet in Fairfield.

Superintendent Pamela Conklin recommends that the five-member governing board approve a resolution that urges Congress to prevent spending cuts and to increase funding for Federal Impact Aid, millions of taxpayer dollars annually upon which the district, with schools on or closely adjacent to Travis Air Force Base, depends to pay its bills. The district also operates two elementaries in Vacaville, Cambridge and Foxboro.

Federal Impact Aid, a law which President Harry Truman signed in 1950, is money given by the federal government to school districts that are affected by a large number of students living on federal property — such as military bases, national parks and Indian reservations — to compensate for the loss of local property tax revenues. About one in three Travis Unified 5,500 students is a military dependent.

The resolution comes amid the ongoing Scandia Elementary Modernization Project on Travis Air Force Base.

Source: On TUSD agenda: Impact Aid, Scandia roofing project

Trustees still want more info about proposed new school-start times – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville Unified leaders still want more information — and answers to some pointed questions — about proposed new school start times that may take effect next year.

During Thursday’s governing board meeting, Mark Frazier, chief academic officer, presented results of “bus route modeling” related to new start times for elementary and secondary students at the outset of the 2018-19 academic year.

Certain to affect every student, family, teacher and school-support employee in the district, the changes, depending on the school — in which elementary students would start class earlier, between 8:10 and 8:35 a.m., and middle and high school students would begin classes between 8:35 and 9 a.m. — have been discussed during several board meetings during the past 12 months.

In a slide presentation, Frazier, as he has done in past presentations, again detailed research about best wake times for young children as opposed to those experienced by preteens and teenagers.

Source: Trustees still want more info about proposed new school-start times

Markham community to hear VUSD plans for $35M in school upgrades – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Vacaville Unified leaders tonight will hold a community stakeholder meeting about a recommended proposal to spend $35 million in Measure A dollars to modernize and upgrade Markham Elementary, one of the oldest schools in the district.

The governing board discussed the matter during a facilities planning workshop in late August in the Educational Services Center.

The stakeholder meeting comes, in part, because the clock is ticking on adhering to preferred deadlines — with design and landscaping plans, approvals by the Office of the State Architect, for example — before planned groundbreaking in summer 2019, Dan Banowetz, the director of facilities for the 12,500-student district, told The Reporter on Aug. 28.

“We’ve got to get moving on it,” he said at the time.

The district will provide Spanish translators and the meeting, which district leaders are billing as a chance for Markham community members to make some choices about what they want to see in upgrades and modernization.

Source: Markham community to hear VUSD plans for $35M in school upgrades

9/11 remembered at Travis Air Force Base – The Reporter

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Students, teachers and staff from both Scandia and Travis elementary schools at Travis Air Force Base walked to honor the victims and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Monday, marking the 16th year since the tragic events in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. Walking about a mile to the base’s Airman and Family Readiness Center, they heard about the history of the American Flag, listened to classmates sign patriotic songs and poems and waved flags to honor the heroes. To view more images from the ceremony visit TheReporter.com.

Source: 9/11 remembered at Travis Air Force Base

FSUSD Trustees to meet for study session about state reports – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Trustees for the Fairfield-Suisun School District will take part in a special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday about California Department of Education reviews of special education in the district.

The first review analyzed individual educational plans of special education students and interventions taken before a student is recommended for special education assessment, according to a school district staff report.

The second review studied “disproportionality” of students who qualify for special education and steps the district needs to implement to reduce disproportionality, the staff report said.

Source: Trustees to meet for study session about state reports on special education in Fairfield-Suisun School District

BUSD chief business official discusses declining enrollment – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

Benicia Unified School District’s chief business official went over the district’s decline in enrollment at Thursday’s Governing Board meeting.Tim Cahill noted that BUSD has been experiencing a slight decrease in enrollment over the last few years, although prior to that enrollment numbers had been stable for a number of years.

“It was a little bit up in enrollment, a little bit down maybe within 10 students in some cases,” he said.

However, this year BUSD was anticipating 89 fewer students. When the 2017-18 school year actually began, there were actually 106 fewer students than the previous year.Rahill said that enrollment numbers have been monitored every day since the start of school through monthly checks.

“We take a look at the first Monday enrollment count each month,” he said. “We started that in September, will do that in October, do that in November and that gives us kind of a monthly check on where we’re at in enrollment.”

Source: BUSD chief business official discusses declining enrollment

CSOs earn promotions at Solano College – Daily Republic

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By Solano County Sheriff’s Office

Several members of the Solano Community College, Community Service Officer (CSO) program were promoted Thursday.

These individuals are students at our local colleges and have been volunteering as student leaders, working hard towards a career in law enforcement.

The Solano County Sheriff’s Office currently has three sworn members who are working full-time at the Solano Community College campus. This ia a large multiple-campus district with a workforce of 572 and a student body of more than 10,000.

Source: CSOs earn promotions at Solano College

Fairfield-Suisun USD Serves Free and Reduced-Price Meals – Daily Republic

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By Tim Goree

School Year 2017-18

Public Media Release for Free and Reduced-Price Meals

Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District announces its policy to serve nutritious meals every school day under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and/or Afterschool Snack Program. Effective July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals if the household income is less than or equal to the federal guidelines.

Source: Good News: Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Serves Free and Reduced-Price Meals

Solano firefighters, children, service members, volunteers mark Patriot Day – Daily Republic

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By Ian Thompson

Solano County residents will mark Patriot Day with a variety of planned activities and events to mark the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that thrust the nation on a war footing that has since remained largely in place.

Suisun City’s firefighters will continue their tradition of honoring those who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 with a morning bell ringing and an evening ceremony.

Source: Solano firefighters, children, service members, volunteers mark Patriot Day

Parents assail Browns Valley’s year-round proposal – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Some dozen Browns Valley Elementary parents Thursday let Vacaville Unified leaders know they are adamantly opposed to Principal Jennifer Austin’s plan for year-round classes next year and several said the solution to the Wrentham Drive campus’ overcrowding was simple: Build a new school.

As the public comment segment of the district trustees meeting got underway, President Michael Kitzes told parents the issue had not been aired among governing board members.

“Nothing’s really been talked about up here,” he said from the dais. “Nothing’s been decided.”

Superintendent Jane Shamieh said Austin’s 14-page proposal — with sections devoted to the “problem,” the “solution,” “potential obstacles,” and a proposal process timeline that stretches to March — was exactly that, a proposal, nothing more.

Source: Parents assail Browns Valley’s year-round proposal