Two young women have posted more than 45 stories detailing sexual assault and violence from students and alumni of San Lorenzo Valley High and other schools in Santa Cruz County to an Instagram account. The accusations have resulted in the district putting two teachers on paid leave and investigating two other district employees. The 18-year-olds sat down with Lookout to talk about the account, their motivation and their goals.
K-12 Education
Posted inK-12 Education
‘Heartbreaking it’s happening in our schools’: Faris Sabbah talks educator misconduct, flaws in the system
“I think we have this responsibility to do everything we can to make sure our schools are safe. At the same time, I think that it’s bringing awareness in the same way that I think cameras are changing our understanding of what happens in law enforcement. I think that bringing awareness is a good thing.”
Posted inK-12 Education
Campaign to recall PVUSD trustee Georgia Acosta says it is ready to move forward
The “Committee to Recall Georgia Acosta” gave the embattled Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee notice of its intent to petition her recall — after gaining the required 20 signatures from district residents — at a board of trustees meeting Wednesday night.
Posted inK-12 Education
SLV school district parting ways with senior administrator Ned Hearn, accused of decades-old sexual abuse
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District is not renewing the employment contract of Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services Ned Hearn, an administrator shadowed for years by allegations he sexually abused a high school student in the 1990s at another district. Hearn has consistently denied the allegations.
Posted inK-12 Education
‘Predatory behavior’: Kirby School investigation concludes former teacher engaged in ‘grooming’ misconduct
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District is not renewing the employment contract of Assistant Superintendent of…
Posted inK-12 Education
Newsom proposes transitional kindergarten for all California 4-year-olds in budget plan
Providing transitional kindergarten for all 4-year-old children could cost $2.7 billion a year at full implementation.
Posted inK-12 Education
‘Difficulties and wariness’: Soquel school district’s student services director taking fire from staff
After taking a no-confidence vote in the leadership of their department’s director in January, student services staff at Soquel Union Elementary School District aired their grievances against Eric Olsen publicly this week.
Posted inK-12 Education
Decades-old sexual abuse allegations against SLVUSD administrator resurface in lawsuit
SLVUSD Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Ned Hearn is accused in a civil lawsuit to have raped and sexually abused a then-16-year-old girl when she was a student at Dixon High School in Solano County and he worked at the school. Hearn is denying the allegations.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Here’s what UC says about the chances of being plucked from massive waitlists at UCSC, systemwide
Tens of thousands of UC applicants are wait-listed this year amid record applications, and admissions chiefs say forecasting chances of being selected is as uncertain as ever. At UC Santa Cruz, admissions director Michelle Whittingham says she wouldn’t even use waitlists if she didn’t have to. But enrollment prediction — a discipline that aims to meld the science of data analysis with the guesswork of anticipating teenage whims — can be dicey.
Posted inK-12 Education
Enrollment dipped across many Santa Cruz County public schools last fall, threatening ‘huge impact’
The number of students in Santa Cruz County’s public schools fell to 39,724 as of fall 2020. The decrease marks the first time in nearly a decade that countywide enrollment fell below 40,000, and it threatens to impact districts’ staffing and budgets in years ahead unless it rebounds.
