Education

El Cerrito school combats social media bullying: ‘These anonymous posts are shaming and harassing students.’

As class ends for the day at Fred T. Korematsu Middle School in El Cerrito, students stream through the gates, blinking into the sun. They board buses, climb into cars, or sit on the cement blocks that line the campus. Many of them crouch over their phones.  Some of these students are being bullied or harassed through social media apps.  Korematsu’s principal, Matthew Burnham, has been on a crusade to shut down bullying accounts on Instagram for years. So far,…

‘I got a lot of future. … I want to do something positive’: RPAL helps keep kids from returning to jail.

At 15, Demaria was arrested for carrying a gun to school and was sent to West County Detention Facility for 10 days.  Tall in stature and brusque in manner, Demaria said he remembers the nights there as lonely.  “The lights were switched off at 10 p.m., and you couldn’t distract yourself with a book or anything else,” he said.  To avoid any chance of returning to juvenile hall, Demaria — whom Richmond Confidential is identifying only by his first name…

Costs cut education short for many Contra Costa community college students

When Adamaris Cabrera was in high school, she was in “boss mode,” taking classes at Contra Costa College and working multiple jobs to become a first-generation college graduate. She wanted to make her immigrant parents proud. College was her ticket to success. Or that’s what she thought.  “As a first gen, all we hear growing up is, ‘Go to college,’” she said. “That’s the only way out.” But after a particularly challenging anatomy test, Cabrera decided she had had enough….

Richmond high schools have worked to become safer for LGBTQ students, but bullying hasn’t stopped

A  junior at Kennedy High School in Richmond, Willow, a transgender and pansexual student, had experienced a hard time in freshman year, being bullied both verbally and physically.  Once, Willow recalled, a boy tried to hurt them by hammering nails upright into their chair. “So I would sit on them and I would obviously poke myself or stab myself on them,” said Willow, who uses the pronoun they. A friend noticed the nails and pulled Willow away.  In a shop…

State board rules against WCCUSD in dispute with adult education teachers

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…

People of Richmond: Why do you think teens are so sad?

“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: Why do you think chronic sadness is so prevalent among WCCUSD high school students? “I’m a student athlete and I work. Sometimes I feel like I ignore my own feelings so I can get through the day.” (Alejandra, high school senior) “The environment is not safe, so definitely the schools aren’t safe…

Few teacher candidates among job-seekers at WCCUSD recruitment event

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…

People of Richmond: Do you go to the library?

“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: Do you use the public library system? “Definitely. My daughter loves to read, Susan (the librarian) is amazing, and we’ve got a little knitting group. We meet every Thursday and everyone’s learning together. My daughter really likes to knit, but she’ll only do it when she’s here.” (Keri Sullivan, pictured above) “Yes….

Soccer clubs say WCCUSD field rules are punishing kids

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…