Last in a two-part series examining West Contra Costa Unified School District student data. Read Part One here. The majority of West Contra Costa Unified School District students did not meet state standards on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test last school year. Across the district, scores trailed the statewide average by 13 percentage points in math and 14 percentage points in English language arts. But not all WCCUSD schools performed the same. A Richmond Confidential analysis…
First in a two-part series examining West Contra Costa Unified School District student data After months of watching her 4-year-old daughter struggle with reading, Tomasa Espinoza knew she had to make a change. Her older daughter, who attended a charter school, was thriving. So Espinoza pulled her second child out of Washington Elementary in Richmond and enrolled her in a charter school, too. When it came time for her youngest child, her son, to go to school, she sent him…
Contra Costa County certified the 2024 election counts on Dec. 5. At the county level, voter turnout was 72%, with 519,078 ballots cast out of 722,861 registered voters. This high level of engagement was reflected in the presidential race, where Contra Costa County voters showed strong support for Alameda County native Vice President Kamala Harris, with 67.3% casting their ballots for the Democratic candidate. Here’s how Richmond voted on city, school board, county and state ballots: City Council seats went…
Chevron says it has contained an oil spill that contaminated the San Francisco Bay at the Richmond Wharf on Thursday, and is working to clean it up. A Chevron employee reported the spill to state authorities at 5:14 a.m. The company said less than three barrels of a diesel-based liquid leaked into the bay because of a pump failure at the Richmond Long Wharf. Caitlin Powell, a Chevron spokesperson, said the company is still trying to determine the exact time…
In the two decades Flor Castro has lived in Richmond, she’s seen many things change. One thing that has remained relatively stable is the $1,500 rent for the three-bedroom apartment she shares with her husband and two children, thanks to the city’s rent control laws. “I’m very grateful to God for everything I have because there are other families that need not just one job, but two jobs,” Castro said in Spanish. “So, up until now, that’s not my situation,…