Teachers, district settle on proposed compensation package – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

After more than eight months of talks, Travis Unified teachers and district officials on Friday hammered out a tentative contract agreement that would boost the educators’ wages and benefits by nearly 4 percent, it has been announced.

Michael Souza, president of the 285-member Travis Unified Teachers Association, said the proposed settlement would be presented to union members at a 3:30 p.m. meeting Thursday in the Vanden High Little Theater, 2951 Markeley Lane, in Fairfield. He said a vote likely would come next week.

If approved, the contract, effective Jan. 1, calls for a 3.25 percent wage hike and $100 per month in health benefits, or about 3.75 percent overall, noted Souza, a Vacaville resident and longtime Vanden High English teacher on temporary leave because of his union position.

Source: Teachers, district settle on proposed compensation package

Measure A transforms Sierra Vista – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

Without public fanfare but certainly with excited students and teachers, Sierra Vista leaders on Jan. 8 opened two new seventh- and eighth-grade science classrooms, part of continuing Measure A expenditures at the Vacaville school, bringing the teaching of basic biology, genetics, plant and animal life cycles and more into a 21st-century learning environment.

The construction, its completion somewhat delayed, Principal Catherine Bozzini said Tuesday, was funded by Measure A, the $194 million bond passed by Vacaville voters in November 2014, of which at least $9 million has been set aside by Vacaville Unified to pay for upgrades and new buildings at the Bel Air Drive campus, a K-8 school.

Source: Measure A transforms Sierra Vista

Vaca Pena to host 4-H Project Skills Day event – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

If you want to know where some of tomorrow’s American leaders are being groomed, you do not have to visit one of our nation’s military service academies or elite private and public universities.

You could begin simply and locally by attending a 4-H education event, including the Solano County 4-H Project Skills Day & Chili Cook-Off Saturday at Vaca Pena Middle School in Vacaville.

Area 4-H’ers will show off what they have learned while completing their projects this year during the annual happening, free and open to the public, at the 200 Keith Way school.

Vacaville’s 4-H clubs — Elmira, Pleasants Valley and Vaca Valley — will host the event, which begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by project evaluations, service learning, food entry tasting and refreshments, when chili will be served. Awards will be handed out from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

Source: Vaca Pena to host 4-H Project Skills Day event

Vallejo school gets makeover on MLK Workday – Daily Republic

By Todd R. Hansen

More than 100 volunteers cleaned up the grounds, added landscaping and helped paint a colorful, flowing, building-long mural at Highland Elementary School in Vallejo on Monday.

The work was part of the ninth annual MLK Workday project hosted by Rebuilding Together Solano County, with the support of Kaiser Permanente and Home Depot.

It was an extra-special opportunity for Eva Garcia.

“When my son was growing up he was crying,” Garcia retells the story. She also sits on the Rebuilding Together board. “So I asked him what he needed and he said he needed me to draw him a bird. So I drew him a bird, and he cried even more.”

Source: Vallejo school gets makeover on MLK Workday

Vallejo school district freezes hiring, spending – Times Herald

By John Glidden

The Vallejo school district has instituted a spending and hiring freeze as it faces a need to slash $12 million from the budget over the coming two years.

Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent Adam Clark made the official announcement on Wednesday via a letter to school and district office administrators.

“We need to make some important decisions about our basic infrastructure so that the programs and services we offer don’t continue to cost more than we can afford,” said Clark in the two-page letter he shared with the Times-Herald. “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

Clark said all vacant classified positions will continue to be unfilled “unless candidates are currently in the process of being hired as we are still filling teacher vacancies.”

He also confirmed the district will honor all its current contracts, while “non-essential spending within the General Fund will be curtailed and any new contractual arrangements or cost impacting spending or event planning will be approved or denied by executive cabinet.”

Source: Vallejo school district freezes hiring, spending

Benicia High Student jump starts district’s move to solar – Times Herald

By Katy St. Clair

Victor Hugo once said that perseverance is the secret to all triumphs. Certainly former Benicia High School student Aaron Feigelman would concur.

The enterprising young man began spearheading the school district’s ambitious transition to solar power back in 2014 when he was a mere junior. Now this “triumph” in clean, sustainable, low-cost energy is set to power up sometime this year.

Feigelman is now well into college, but he’s closely followed the project that first began in his mind’s eye after an educational trip to Ecuador to learn about hydropower and sustainability.

“Every student who left there developed a sustainable master plan,” he said.

For him, it was solar — an energy source that had always fascinated him. While he saw it going up in parts of Benicia, he didn’t see any of it in schools.

Source: Benicia High School Student jump starts district’s move to solar

SCOE trustees nix ELITE charter petition – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

In a packed Fairfield meeting room, Solano County Office of Education trustees on Wednesday voted 4-3 to deny the petition submitted by ELITE Public Schools Countywide Charter School.

The governing board made its decision at 10:20 p.m., more than four hours after the meeting began inside the county agency’s Business Center Drive office building, after testimony by the board’s attorney, John Yeh, a partial clearing by a fire marshal of the Business Center Drive room midway through the meeting, remarks in support and opposition by some 60 speakers, more comments and questions from the seven-member board, followed by a roll-call vote that board President Elease Cheek called “a tough, tough decision that will set a precedent.”

Source: SCOE trustees nix ELITE charter petition

Will C. Wood High School’s new field, track is behind schedule – The Reporter

By Michael Morris

The long-awaited construction of Will C. Wood High School’s new synthetic field and track won’t be finished by the anticipated Feb. 1 completion date.

Wednesday, Vacaville Unified School District Director of Facilities Dan Banowetz and Will C. Wood High School boys soccer coach Jorge Ruiz-Chavez confirmed that the $16 million project is behind schedule.

Although Banowetz was unable to provide a specific date regarding the completion of the field and the palatial stadium, he expects to have additional information once he sits down with Alten Construction President Bob Alten early next week.

Source: Will C. Wood High School’s new field, track is behind schedule

New home for math at Vaca High – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

It was a mammoth and desired present ready to use after the Christmas holidays.

Vacaville High School students, teachers, support staff and administrators ushered in the new year with a newly built $9 million, 15-classroom mathematics building, part of Vacaville Unified’s continuing districtwide campus upgrades under Measure A.

The two-story structure, which opened Monday when classes resumed, further enhances the West Monte Vista school — one of the district’s oldest at 66 years — coming five months after completion of the campus’ new and similar English building.

Source: New home for math at Vaca High

Solano board rejects Elite Charter School on 4-3 vote – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

Solano County Board of Education trustees turned down Elite Charter School by a 4-3 vote Wednesday after supporters said the school would address an achievement gap for African-American and Latino students but opponents said public schools are dealing with the gap.

“It’s a hard call,” Trustee Peggy Cohen-Thompson said. “It’s a very hard call.”

She along with Trustees Mayrene Bates and Michell Coleman voted for Dana Dean’s motion to deny the Elite Charter School petition.

Bates spoke about attending all-black schools from kindergarten to college and protests about the separation of races.

She said she was concerned when hearing proposals to do more for one group than another.

Source: Solano board rejects Elite Charter School on 4-3 vote

Board backs $19M in work for Public Safety Academy – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

A plan that calls for $19 million in spending for a new library, gym and locker buildings at the Public Safety Academy won support Thursday from Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees.

School district staff had recommended approval for the agreement between the district and Landmark Construction in Placer County.

The Public Safety Academy opened in 2012 and has a higher attendance rate than other schools in the Fairfield-Suisun School District, few suspensions and “is doing very well,” according to a self-study for its accreditation.

Source: Board backs $19M in work for Public Safety Academy

Trustees OK pay raises for Fairfield-Suisun School District teachers – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

A contract that grants teachers a 2 percent pay raise for the previous school year and a 1 percent raise this year won approval Thursday from Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees.

The agreement between the Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association and the school district covers July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2019.

Robert Martinez, assistant superintendent, and Stephanie Cobb of the teachers association signed the contract Dec. 1.

Source: Trustees OK pay raises for Fairfield-Suisun School District teachers

Fairfield High School self-study gets green light from trustees – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

A self-study of Fairfield High School that includes the finding that 49 percent teaching staff at the school is white while only 12 percent of the students are won approval Thursday.

Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees approved the study is part of the accreditation for Fairfield High.

Employees required to have a teaching credential, including teachers, speech therapists and school psychologists, represent the teaching staff.

Forty-four percent of students at Fairfield High School are Hispanic, 20 percent are black and 9 percent are Filipino, the study states.

Source: Fairfield High School self-study gets green light from trustees

School-Based Telemedicine Can Be a Game Changer For Students With Asthma – Education Week

By Evie Blad

A partnership between schools and health care providers could make a big difference for children with asthma, who don’t always take their medication properly, even after they are initially diagnosed with the disease, says a new study.

Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center tried a combination of two school-based interventions for 200 young students with the respiratory illness, says the study, which was published this week in the Journal of American Medicine Pediatrics. The children took their preventative asthma medication at school, under the supervision of the school nurse to make sure they were using it properly. And, to address circumstances that may keep them from receiving preventative care and check-ups, those same students used telemedicine equipment to meet remotely with a primary care physician three times throughout the school year to assess how the medicine was working and any follow-up concerns.

Source: School-Based Telemedicine Can Be a Game Changer For Students With Asthma, Study Finds – Rules for Engagement – Education Week

Torlakson Praises Governor’s Proposed Budget – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson issued the following statement today on Governor Brown’s proposed budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year:

“Governor Brown’s budget proposal provides a big boost to our public school students. The proposal shows how far we have come as a state in the past seven years in increasing investments in education so our students can continue to succeed in college and the 21st Century economy.

The proposal adds $3.8 billion to the annual Proposition 98 guarantee for public education, which will raise per-pupil spending 66 percent above 2011-12 levels and bring total Proposition 98 funding from $47.3 billion in 2011-12 to $78.3 billion. The proposed budget will provide $11,614 per pupil in the next fiscal year, compared with $7,008 in 2011-12.

The budget also maintains Governor Brown’s commitment to fully funding the Local Control Funding Formula. The formula is California’s ambitious, ground-breaking plan to help all students, while giving extra resources to those with the greatest needs, students from low-income families, English learners, and foster youth.

Source: Torlakson Praises Governor’s Proposed Budget – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

Benicia High School grad scores lead role in ‘Hamilton’ – Benicia Herald

By Nick Sestanovich

Austin Scott has had an incredible acting journey. The 2011 Benicia High School graduate has gone from starring in advertisements at the age of 8 to being cast in the title role in “Hamilton” for the smash hit musical’s national tour.

“It’s a dream come true,” Scott said of his role.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning hip-hop musical about the life of America’s first treasury secretary debuted on Broadway in 2015 and began its first national tour last year. Scott is succeeding Michael Luwoye, who starred in the original touring production and is now playing the same role in the Broadway version.

Scott first caught the acting bug at a young age when he and his mother passed by a John Robert Powers performance academy which was offering acting classes.“I just kind of looked up at her and said ‘I want to do that,’” he said. “She took me in, and that day we signed up for acting classes.”

Source: Benicia High School grad scores lead role in ‘Hamilton’

SCOE trustees deny ELITE charter school petition – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

In a packed Fairfield meeting room, Solano County Office of Education trustees on Wednesday voted 4-3 to deny the petition submitted by ELITE Public Schools Countywide Charter School.

During the meeting that lasted more than four hours, which included more than 60 speakers, a small group of educators cheered after the result.

The closed vote, taken in the county agency’s Business Center Drive offices, a contentious Dec. 13 public hearing that saw some 50 speakers in support or opposition to the petition praised, assailed or merely questioned the document forged by Ramona Bishop, the former Vallejo City Unified superintendent who was fired from her post last March.

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Source: SCOE trustees deny ELITE charter school petition

Solano representatives praise governor’s proposed state budget – Daily Republic

By Daily Republic Staff

Three members of Solano County’s delegation in the state Legislature issued optimistic responses Wednesday to the governor’s state budget plan.

State Assemblyman Jim Frazier said he’s proud to see the level of transportation spending in Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2018-19 budget. State Sen. Bill Dodd, whose district bore the brunt of the region’s October wildfires, focused on disaster-prevention and disaster-relief spending.

“Supporting wildfire recovery and reducing fire risk must be top priorities in the budget,” Dodd said in a prepared statement. “I believe Governor Brown’s budget reflects a thoughtful starting point for this year’s budget negotiations. I will be working with the administration and my colleagues in the Legislature to expand our efforts on disaster recovery and preparedness.”

Source: Solano representatives praise governor’s proposed state budget

More resources needed to help Solano youth thrive – The Reporter

By Kimberly K. Fu

Solano’s youth are improving, though more can be done to ensure they thrive.

Such was the sentiment Tuesday during a joint meeting of the Solano County Board of Supervisors and First 5 Solano.

During the hours-long event, officials talked about children, the milestones that put them on the path to success, available resources and gaps and, most important, what happens next.

“We are clearly supporting children in all aspects,” emphasized Supervisor Erin Hannigan at the start of the gathering.

Officials hammered home the need to help youths reach set milestones throughout their lives.

From ensuring bonding between parents and children to reducing kids’ stress to help their brains grow to motivating them academically, physically and socially through graduation, experts said all the stops should be pulled out in the interest of developing healthy youth.

Source: More resources needed to help Solano youth thrive

SCOE trustees set to vote on ELITE charter – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

An action sure to draw a large crowd, the Solano County Office of Education governing board will vote Wednesday to grant or deny the proposed ELITE Public Schools Countywide Charter School petition submitted by Ramona Bishop, the former superintendent of Vallejo City Unified who was fired from her post last March.

With county staff urging trustees to deny the petition, the board’s decision will come about one month after a contentious December board meeting that saw several dozen speakers address trustees in support of and opposition to the petition, which would establish a charter school first in Vallejo, then other charters in Fairfield and Vacaville in the coming months and years.

Just how much sway the county staff recommendation will ultimately have remains an open question, but it will certainly be on the minds of opponents, who likely will drive home the point during their remarks to the seven-member board before the vote.

Source: SCOE trustees set to vote on ELITE charter