UCSC’s Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in a statement that negotiations failed after administrators “refused to meaningfully concede” to protesters’ demands and they are bracing for police raids.
However, several people close to the negotiations say administrators are looking to avoid imminently calling in police. Meanwhile, details of the negotiations obtained by Lookout show the two sides appeared, at one point, to be close to finding agreement on several student demands.
UC Santa Cruz’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter says the group started negotiations with administrators over their list of demands, one week after they set up an encampment on campus. Students say they won’t leave the Quarry Plaza camp until their demands are met.
Middle school science teacher Christy Fairbairn loves her job and wants to stay in Santa Cruz County, but she and her husband, an ecologist, can’t afford the high rents. Too many fantastic teachers and staff, she writes, are leaving our community because of the high cost of living. To keep our schools thriving, she says teachers and school staff need workplace housing now.
The Live Oak School District governing board has a full agenda for its Wednesday meeting, including appointing a new board member to a vacant seat, voting on a lease agreement with nonprofit Community Bridges and approving an updated list of layoffs.
Samuel Stone, 21, will face a murder charge in the February death of Zainab Mansoor. “If he walks away, still, I lost my daughter,” Mansoor’s father, Mansoor Naseem, said after a preliminary hearing Tuesday. “If he gets a full sentence, I still lost my daughter. She meant everything to me.”
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Heather Contreras comes from a family of educators, and a family that once made its home in Watsonville. With the district facing ongoing challenges including declining enrollment, she’s starting out with a “Look, listen and learn” tour.
Beyond the addition of a packed schedule of events programming, the pro-Palestine encampment at UC Santa Cruz has expanded dramatically since its assembly on Wednesday following a May Day march. The outdoor kitchen now spans three tents, with three meals a day.
Two days after dozens of UC Santa Cruz students first set up an encampment in support of Palestine in Quarry Plaza, the number of campers has nearly tripled to more than 100, according to organizers. Student organizers say they won’t leave until their demands are met.
An initiative that looks likely to appear on the November ballot and that would require a personal finance class in high school circumvents the usual process for curriculum changes.
Scotts Valley Unified School District is considering a bond measure after its board unanimously backed a plan detailing $76 million in facility upgrades. Officials hope better athletic facilities can stem the district’s declining enrollment.
