ESSA Funds Can Be Used to Reduce Chronic Absence – Attendance Works

With so many states (36 plus the District of Columbia) now using chronic absenteeism as an accountability metric as part of their plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), many might wonder how ESSA funding mechanisms can be used to help improve attendance.

There are several pots of money in ESSA that states can tap, including funds targeted at promoting academic success for disadvantaged students. Other funds can go towards engaging parents and families or improving “school conditions for student learning.”

FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University,lays out some of the options in a blog post:

  • Title I provides more than $15 billion to support schools educating low-income students and school improvement efforts. Since low-income students are both more likely to be chronically absent and more likely to suffer academically because of those missed days, improving attendance becomes an important strategy.

Source: ESSA Funds Can Be Used to Reduce Chronic Absence – Attendance Works

Candidate’s forum attracts council, mayoral, school board hopefuls – Daily Republic

By Amy Maginnis-Honey

More than a dozen candidates for local city councils, mayor duties and school board gathered Monday night for a candidates forum hosted by St. Stephen Christian-Methodist-Episcopal Church.

Each was allotted three minutes to introduce themselves, talk about their platform and answer a dedicated question.

City council

Candidates were asked how they would encourage economic development within their own cities.

Source: Candidate’s forum attracts council, mayoral, school board hopefuls

9/11 tribute honors victims, those who continue to serve – The Reporter

By Joel Rosenbaum

Students from both Travis and Scandia elementary schools on Travis Air Force Base walked to remember and pay tribute to those that lost their lives during the 9/11 terrorists attack 17 years ago.

Gathered Tuesday on the lawn next to the base’s Airman and Family Readiness Center, the nearly 1,000 students from kindergarten to sixth grade listened to their classmates sing patriotic songs and recite poems.

Travis Elementary School Principal Brian Howard talked to the students about the significance of the day.

“You walk to show support to victims, survivors and families of the September 11, 2001 attacks,” he said.

Source: 9/11 tribute honors victims, those who continue to serve

SCOE board set for up-or-down vote on charter school – The Reporter

By Richard Bammer

Solano County Office of Education leaders will grant or deny the appeal of a Vallejo charter school petition when the governing board meets tonight in Fairfield.

The trustees’ decision will come nearly five weeks after a public hearing about the appeal from Marie Issa Gil, whose petition to form Rocketship Vallejo Elementary Charter School was denied June 20 by Vallejo City Unified trustees, after district staffers described the petition as “deficient in many key respects.”

SCOE governing board members will have two formal options, according to agenda documents: 1) Obtain the school’s written agreement to the memorandum of understanding and grant the appeal; or 2) Deny it and adopt Resolution No. B18-19-07 in support of the denial.

It is unclear just how the seven-member board will ultimately vote, but the members’ recent history — notably denying some months ago an appeal by leaders at a Vacaville charter school, Heritage Peak — may serve as a guide.

Source: SCOE board set for up-or-down vote on charter school

CA schools would start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. under bill sent to governor – Daily Republic

By Tribune Content Agency

Eileen Gaspar estimates that her high school daughter gets four to five hours of sleep a night.

Her daughter goes to Olympian High in Chula Vista, where school starts at 7:30 a.m., so she’s out the door each morning by 6:45 a.m. But she has cheerleading practice every evening until about 7 p.m., and once she gets home, she has to shower, eat dinner then stay up late doing homework.

“Kids stay up so late now and doing homework, and then they have to wake up early to go to school,” Gaspar said. “They don’t get that eight-hour rest that they really need.”

Lawmakers recently passed a bill that would force schools to start later, which some hope will address this lack-of-sleep problem that Gaspar sees in her daughter.

Source: California middle and high schools would start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. under bill sent to governor

Travis students remember, honor 9/11 with Freedom Walk – Daily Republic

By Bill Hicks

Time heals all wounds. Some deep scars, however, often linger and serve as a reminder of a painful past.

That healing, on the other hand, comes through strength and resilience.

Both qualities were on display Tuesday during the 12th annual Freedom Walk at Travis Air Force Base, which marked the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Source: Travis students remember, honor 9/11 with Freedom Walk

Dollars for Child Care and Preschool in 2018-19 Near Pre-Recession Levels With Boost From One-Time Funding – California Budget & Policy Center

By Kristin Schumacher

For the fifth year in a row, funding for California’s subsidized child care and development system has increased. This system provides critical child care and early learning opportunities for a limited number of children from low- and moderate-income families, but state funding was cut dramatically during and after the Great Recession, while federal funding for subsidized child care remained relatively flat.[1] This meant that fewer children and families received subsidized care than prior to the onset of the Great Recession. However, state policymakers have incrementally reinvested in these programs and services beginning with the 2014-15 state fiscal year, and bipartisan support for subsidized child care at the federal level has resulted in newly available federal funds, as well. Due to these investments, after adjusting for inflation, overall funding for California’s subsidized child care and development system in the 2018-19 fiscal year is $3.887 billion, 15% greater than in 2017-18 ($3.375 billion), and nearly even with funding levels in 2007-08, prior to the onset of the Great Recession (see chart).

Source: Dollars for Child Care and Preschool in 2018-19 Near Pre-Recession Levels With Boost From One-Time Funding – California Budget & Policy Center

School board approves tentative agreement with teachers union – Benicia Herald

By Nick Sestanovich

Following nearly a yearlong impasse over contract negotiations with the Benicia Teacher Association (BTA), the Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District voted to ratify a tentative agreement with a 2.5 percent salary increase at Thursday’s meeting.

Throughout the 2017-18 school year, the BTA and BUSD’s bargaining teams met for several negotiation sessions. In January, the district had proposed a one-time bonus of 1 percent off the salary schedule for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. BTA countered with a 5 percent increase for 2017-18 and a 4.25 percent increase for 2018-19 school year. After being unable to reach an agreement, BTA requested to file for impasse. Teachers, students and parents voiced their disapproval at board meetings, with some educators providing lists of free services they would no longer offer to students outside of their contract hours unless an agreement was reached.

Source: School board approves tentative agreement with teachers union

BUSD survey results presented to school board – Benicia Herald

By Nick Sestanovich

Results from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and Relationships Effort Aspirations Cognition and Heart (REACH) Survey were presented at Thursday’s school board meeting.

Dr. Carolyn Patton, Benicia Unified School District’s special services director, presented a quick overview of the two surveys’ results. The reports come out publicly in November, so Patton initiated a preliminary discussion with some highlights locally.

The CHKS is administered to seventh, ninth and 11th-graders every two years to capture behavioral data in the areas of substance abuse, school safety, social/emotional wellness and student/teacher relations.

Patton noted that mental and physical health indicators were stable with a small decrease in substance abuse among students surveyed. She said the district defined substance abuse as “binge drinking” and “binge usage of marijuana,” although she was not able to say if chronic use had decreased.

Source: BUSD survey results presented to school board

BUSD Board candidates at Tuesday’s Progressive Dems Democrats meeting – Times Herald

By Times Herald Staff

The Progressive Democrats of Benicia will host a panel discussion with candidates for the Benicia Unified School District Governing Board at 7 p.m., Tuesday.

All five candidates have been invited to the Progressive Dems General Membership meeting which will be held in the Dona Benicia Room at the Benicia Library, located at 150 E L St.

The candidates are vying for three seats on the board this fall. They are Diane Ferrucci, Adrean Hayashi, Mark Maselli, Gethsemane Moss and Sheri Zada.

Each candidate will give a five-minute presentation, and following the presentations the candidates will answer questions from the audience, according to a news release from the Progressive Democrats.

CA Adopts First-Ever Computer Science Standards – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

The State Board of Education on Thursday approved California’s first-ever computer science standards—learning expectations that will help each student reach their creative potential in our digitally connected world.

“As a forward-leaning state and home to Silicon Valley, California’s new standards will not only enable students to understand how their digital world works but will encourage critical thinking and discussion about the broader ethical and social implications and questions related to the growing capabilities of technology,” said State Board Member Trish Williams, who serves as the Board’s computer science liaison.

Developed by educators, the standards are designed to help students move from passive users of technology to creators and innovators who interact with computers. Beyond simply learning to code, the standards push students to communicate as scientists and find creative solutions to difficult problems.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said the standards would help improve computer science education in California.

Source: CA Adopts First-Ever Computer Science Standards – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

Tickets available for lobster boil to benefit Fairfield after-school program – Daily Republic

By Daily Republic Staff

The deadline to purchase tickets to the Fairfield-Suisun Twilight Rotary Club’s annual Lobster Boil at a discount is Sept. 15.

The lobster boil, now in its sixth year, is a fundraiser for Fairfield’s Fun on the Run after-school nutrition and recreation program.

Fun on the Run is a free, joint venture between the Fairfield Community Services Foundation and the city. The program delivers various recreational and healthy food offerings to children in low-income areas of the community. The program not only operates during the school year, but continues through the summer months.Guests at the event are served a complete lobster dinner, family style, that includes boiled lobster along with boiled vegetables and sausages. The event includes a silent auction, a dessert auction and a live auction.

Source: Tickets, sponsorships available for lobster boil to benefit Fairfield after-school program

September is Attendance Awareness Month – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, in recognition of September as Attendance Awareness Month, said school districts, public agencies, community groups, students, and their families must work together to combat chronic absenteeism.

“Students aren’t learning if they are not in class. Cohesive partnerships, intervention strategies, and solid support services create attendance teams that are armed with the necessary tools to identify and help students struggling with attendance problems,” said Torlakson. “By combining resources and working together, school attendance administrators, parents, and community organizations can build systems to reduce chronic absenteeism rates that are positive and effective, not negative and punitive.”

A recent report by Attendance Works, Children Now, and the UC Davis Center for Regional Change noted that high levels of chronic absence in a school are a sign that additional support from the district, other public agencies, and nonprofits is needed.

Source: September is Attendance Awareness Month – Year 2018 (CA Dept of Education)

Benicia High sophomore raising funds for volunteer trip to Africa – Benicia Herald

By Nick Sestanovich

Olivia Andrade just started her sophomore year at Benicia High School, but she is already looking forward to the summer where she will be embarking on a volunteer trip to West Africa as part of Global Leadership Adventures (GLA).

GLA is an organization that offers study abroad programs for high schoolers to provide them service skills in such nations as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Indonesia, South Africa and more. GLA has twice hosted events with Archbishop Demond Tutu in South Africa to discuss the lasting impact of apartheid, and in 2013 then-President Barack Obama recognized GLA founder Fred Swaniker in a speech.

Andrade’s family has resided in Benicia for generations. In fact, she is the great granddaughter of former longtime Benicia High teacher, administrator and coach George Drolette.

Source: Benicia High sophomore raising funds for volunteer trip to Africa

Tired teens could get to sleep in after legislators pass bill – Daily Republic

By Mini Racker, LA Times

A two-year battle to set middle and high school start times at 8:30 a.m. or later was finally put to bed in the Legislature when the measure squeaked through Friday night.

Last year, Senate Bill 328 by Democratic Sen. Anthony Portantino failed to pass the Assembly by 15 votes. Since then, the bill was amended to exempt rural school districts in order to accommodate farming needs.

Lawmakers enthusiastically affirmed the research the bill was based on, which shows that early start times combined with teenagers’ natural sleep schedules lead to sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep, in turn, increases risks of poor grades, mental illness and car accidents. One study found moving start times from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. made students happier and more likely to show up for class.

Source: Tired teens could get to sleep in after legislators pass bill requiring later school start times