Starlight Elementary School students will have access to a state-of-the-art garden and kitchen center next fall after the Pajaro Valley Unified district won a national grant to fund its innovation. We talked with Starlight Principal Jackie Medina on how it happened and what it will do.
K-12 Education
Posted inEducation
A plan for 300 on-campus beds for Cabrillo College students? Here’s how that is taking shape
Cabrillo — and UC Santa Cruz — tried to tap a new $2 billion state fund to build on-campus housing. While it was shut out for the first year of a three-year program, Cabrillo moves ahead with its planning for its first on-campus units.
Posted inEducation
The collapse of community college enrollment: Can California turn it around?
Despite sinking overall enrollment, some community colleges in California are seeing more students come back. Targeted state aid is likely helping, but so is more in-person instruction.
Posted inK-12 Education
Santa Cruz County’s lowest-paid teachers show up in force, asking for an 8% increase
More than 50 teachers of the Soquel Education Association asked the five-school Soquel Union Elementary School District to rapidly bring up their wages. Their pay ranks at the bottom of the local districts, in one of the nation’s least affordable markets.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California bill would let parents sue social media companies for addicting kids
A bipartisan bill in the Assembly would make social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram liable for getting young users addicted.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California lawmakers pass urgent bill to stop Berkeley enrollment cuts
If signed by Gov. Newsom, the bill would allow UC Berkeley to resume enrollment for thousands of students.
Posted inEducation
Lawmakers unveil rescue effort to help UC Berkeley avoid enrollment cuts after court battle
The legislation would take effect immediately and retroactively, allowing UC Berkeley to maintain its original in-person fall class.
Posted inK-12 Education
How do Santa Cruz kids and parents feel about the end of mask mandates?
Mask mandates are set to end in schools after Friday, and Santa Cruz parents and kids have mixed feelings about the return to normalcy following two years of pandemic-induced restrictions. Kids are ready to see each others’ faces, but remain worried about catching COVID-19. Lookout talked to students at Santa Cruz High and Gault Elementary schools.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
After soccer star Katie Meyer’s death, Stanford vows to bolster mental health services
In wake of the campus deaths of soccer star Katie Meyer and others, Stanford University officials vow to expand mental health services.
Posted inK-12 Education
Q&A: School superintendent Faris Sabbah says parents need to stop bullying teachers over mask mandates
Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah says Santa Cruz County parents are bullying teachers, upsetting staff and filing claims against school districts for enforcing mask mandates. Parents have bombarded schools with hundreds of “threatening messages” and angry emails and have had heated, in-person exchanges with teachers and office staff. How tough a response are the schools mounting? Sabbah describes it in detail.
