Last month, California’s Public Employment Relations Board ruled in favor of the Adult School Teachers United, ordering the West Contra Costa Unified School District to pay lost wages to 12 teachers and to cease and desist all schedule changes for the adult education teachers. In 2022, the district changed the schedules for adult education teachers, reducing their hours. That came as a surprise to the teachers, because changes were supposed to be made with the involvement of ASTU leadership. Before…
Helms Middle School Principal Priya Sembi went to Saturday’s West Contra Costa Unified School District job fair hoping to fill at least some of the five teacher vacancies at her school. The crowd, however, was sparse at DeJean Middle School, reducing her chances. “I’ve been to three of these since August, and I haven’t talked to any teacher candidates,” said Sembi, sitting behind a table draped in black cloth with the image of a roaring cougar. Helms started the school…
Richmond youth soccer teams are struggling to hold practices and compete in matches because of rising field reservation fees and sparse access to outdoor recreation facilities. Officials representing three Richmond soccer clubs say the scheduling system imposed by the West Contra Costa Unified School District has kept them from accessing fields and forced them to play home games in Berkeley and Alameda. “It shouldn’t be this hard to get our kids to play soccer in Richmond,” said Samantha Torres, executive…
Teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District started the year having to fill in for each other, as schools opened with teacher positions vacant. Along with their regular classes, some teachers have had to fill in for shortages by subbing during certain periods. This period-subbing would have otherwise been spent grading and preparing for their own classes, said Mitzi Perez-Caro, a computer science and journalism teacher at John F. Kennedy High School. Teachers receive extra pay for period-subbing,…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: What is your favorite Richmond or Contra Costa County park, and why? “I spend most time at Wild Cat Canyon. Catch turtles, catch animals. ride my bike through the trail. I like it compared to many other parks in Richmond because at least that park has bears and wild lives. It actually…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity Q: Should Richmond City Council return to holding meetings only in person? “It’s a tough question, just because people can’t be exposed to COVID. It’s a good thing to have social settings, but maybe if there’s different ways to hold these meetings, that would be best.” (Angelica Zambrano, social media manager, pictured at…