El Cerrito Gauchos

WCCUSD investigates alleged ringers on El Cerrito football team, forcing Gauchos to forfeit 6 games and prompting student walkout

El Cerrito Principal Malcolm Norrington was at the center of a student walkout this week, after a letter surfaced in which Norrington apparently reported to the California Interscholastic Federation that the school would forfeit six football games because of ineligible players.  The student protest also was in response to the West Contra Costa Unified School District’s decision to place the team’s head coach, Jacob Rincon, on administrative leave in September. The district has not said why it suspended Rincon –…

‘We’re school shopping for mediocre:’ Richmond’s students and parents try to navigate a ‘broken’ education system

Seventeen-year-old Phillip Poe starts his days early. He gets up at 5:45 a.m. so that he can catch a ride to BART with a family member. Then he takes a train to catch a bus, arriving at school just before 8 a.m. His days end late, too. He often doesn’t return until 10 p.m., sometimes taking a long bus ride home after evening varsity basketball practice. After finishing homework, he gets to bed by midnight, catching less than six hours…

Lady Eagles softball team comes out swinging, lose season opener to El Cerrito

On Friday, Lady Eagles head softball coach Amanda Stevens stood outside the dugout during the fourth inning and watched the first game of the year with a handful of fans near home plate. Red tape—Steven’s background check hasn’t been reviewed by the school district—kept the first-year coach from getting closer to the diamond. Tim Logan, Kennedy’s head baseball coach, pinch-hit for Stevens and filled out the starting line-up and acted as the third-base coach throughout the game. “You in the…

Oilers suffer another defeat

The game between Richmond and El Cerrito on Thursday evening was decided much before the final whistle. It was an exercise in waiting for the final score and for the Richmond High fans, the score was dismal: El Cerrito 58, Richmond 6. On the sidelines during the game, the Oilers had six players to the Gauchos’ 21. On the field it was 11 against 11, but the Oilers seemed to be outnumbered there as well. The Richmond defense seemed to…