Live Oak School District has named San Jose district administrator Jennifer Baldwin as its next superintendent, effective July 1. Baldwin, a Santa Cruz resident, has three decades of public education experience.
K-12 Education
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Achievement gaps, artificial intelligence and more: State superintendent hopefuls detail their plans at candidate forums
EdSource hosted two forums this week for the top six candidates vying to be California’s next superintendent of public instruction.
Posted inEducation
Renaming Watsonville’s Cesar Chavez Middle School could cost $100,000, district says
Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials say it will cost more than $100,000 to rename Cesar E. Chavez Middle School as they move forward with the process following recent sex abuse allegations against the late civil rights leader. Trustees voiced support for the change but raised concerns about the expense, the risks of naming schools after individuals and the possibility of spending funds on a campus that could later face closure.
Posted inEducation
California’s next governor to face tough choices for education as state budget tightens
Coalitions of school districts are grumbling about new program overload and are calling on the next governor and the California Legislature to focus on raising base funding.
Posted inEducation
The Santa Cruz County school districts that approved layoffs this year
Amid declining enrollment and shrinking state and federal funding, several Santa Cruz County school districts approved significant layoffs this year to maintain long-term financial stability. Districts including Pajaro Valley Unified, Soquel Union Elementary, Live Oak, Scotts Valley Unified and Santa Cruz City Schools proposed cuts affecting dozens of positions, though officials say some reductions could be avoided through attrition or other savings measures.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
California kids are going without vision care, and the problem is getting worse
Nearly every California county saw a drop in children’s eye exams over the past decade, a new report finds.
Posted inEducation
Black Student Union presidents lead growth, anti-hate speech efforts
Soquel High student Ivory Woodson and Santa Cruz High student Amara Anderson are co-leading the development of a public service announcement addressing racial slurs in schools, just part of the impact they’re making as leaders of their schools’ Black Student Unions.
Posted inEducation
Built from the ground up: Pajaro Valley High students stage ‘Zoot Suit’ in DIY theater
Pajaro Valley High School students are staging the play “Zoot Suit” in a makeshift “black box” theater built from unused classrooms, reflecting their teacher’s embrace of the Chicano theater ethos of rasquachi, or creating something from nothing. The production, rooted in the historical events of the Zoot Suit Riots, has fostered cultural pride and identity among students while drawing on community support and ties to El Teatro Campesino.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
How sewage pollution in a California beach town is affecting kids’ health: Headaches, rashes and more
Students in Imperial Beach, near San Diego, face sewage pollution that causes headaches, asthma, rashes and brain fog, as schools contend with sewage pollution from the Tijuana River.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Supervisors to establish youth commission to remedy lack of representation in Santa Cruz County government
In an effort to bridge gaps in youth representation among government boards and committees in Santa Cruz County, the board of supervisors will adopt an ordinance next week establishing a youth commission to advise the board.