Several families told Lookout they’re leaving Montessori Community School after the director this spring limited discussions of gender identity, religion and social movements in the classroom. Families and one teacher say three out of five teachers are also leaving because of the changes at the Scotts Valley school.
Education
Posted inEducation
She knits, she sails and she studies whales: UCSC graduate student Lauren Fritz wants to know how tourism affects humpback whales
UC Santa Cruz graduate student Lauren Fritz is worried about humans’ impact on humpback whales. She grew enchanted by the gentle giants after college while working on whale-watching boats, but began to wonder about how tourism vessels were affecting the whales’ lives. Now, she studies them in Monterey Bay, using drones and tissue samples to find out more about their lives, and in Antarctica, where she studies how tourist boats disturb the whales.
Posted inEducation
UCSC rescinds some campus bans for pro-Palestine protesters even as criminal charges linger
UC Santa Cruz students and faculty that were cited by police May 31 at a pro-Palestine encampment say their arraignments have been postponed from July to September. The District Attorney’s Office hasn’t yet received police reports from the incident.
Posted inEducation
Lawmakers reach agreement on $10 billion school bond
The money will pay for repairs and upgrades at thousands of schools across California; K-12 schools would get $8.5 billion and $1.5 billion would go to community colleges.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Free speech and civil disobedience – let’s get the differences straight at UCSC protests
Lookout politics columnist and former Santa Cruz mayor Mike Rotkin has been arrested “about a dozen times,” including during the war in Vietnam and during the Civil Rights Movement. Here, he offers advice to UCSC students on what he has learned about police action, arrests and the legal consequences of taking a moral stand.
Posted inEducation
UC graduate student worker strike officially ends
Graduate student workers are no longer striking after reaching an agreement Thursday with the University of California. Union members authorized a strike in May over the UC’s handling of Gaza solidarity encampments at several campuses.
Posted inLatest News
Santa Rosa district hires ex-Live Oak superintendent Morales over staff, parents’ objections
Daisy Morales, who resigned in March amid fiscal and other turmoil at Live Oak School District, will lead the much larger Santa Rosa City Schools district in Sonoma County after that district’s board approved her hiring in a 5-1 vote Wednesday night.
Posted inEducation
Garden-based learning nonprofit Life Lab faces budget cuts, staff reductions following PVUSD contract termination
With the loss of an expected $2.2 million contract with Pajaro Valley Unified School District and other funding, Santa Cruz garden-based learning nonprofit Life Lab is reducing staff and programming. Life Lab released a statement Tuesday about “significant changes” and said it would have updates in the coming weeks.
Posted inEducation
Finish grading in exchange for amnesty: UCSC graduate student workers make the campus an offer
Graduate student workers say they want amnesty for the more than 100 people arrested at UC Santa Cruz’s pro-Palestine encampment May 30-31. They say they will then finish grading of their undergraduate students. UCSC says it won’t negotiate. What’s likely: “pass” grades for those ungraded.
Posted inEducation
What caused December’s UCSC bus crash? After six months, records made public so far show little
Six months after the on-campus bus crash that led to the death of driver Dan Stevenson, UC Santa Cruz officials say they’re still investigating the cause. Through a public records request, Lookout obtained maintenance records that shed little light on what might have happened.
