Election 2012
In a supermajority vote, the West Contra Costa County School Board on Wednesday night approved a $575 million school construction bond to be placed on the March 2020 election ballot.
The West Contra Costa County Unified School District (WCCUSD) board held a special closed meeting Friday night and voted unanimously not to terminate the contract of Superintendent Matthew Duffy, Board President Tom Panas said. Superintendent Duffy was not present at the November 15 meeting, which had been called to review his employment. But supporters—including teachers, parents and residents—turned out to urge the board not to fire him. On Wednesday, school board member Mister Phillips issued a statement that he believed…
Faculty, students, and parents from Aspire Richmond California College Preparatory Academy (Cal Prep) urged the Board of Education to renew the school’s charter at this week’s meeting of the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) at Lovonya DeJean Middle School. Cal Prep is a public charter and early college secondary school in Richmond. During a public forum at Wednesday night’s meeting, Cal Prep supporters testified that the charter renewal would allow Cal Prep to continue with its mission statement…
Diane Maddox sold gold jewelry as a side hustle, just to get by during her 33 years of teaching in Richmond. The single mother raised her two daughters in an apartment above a garage. It took the 56-year-old Maddox more than two decades until she could finally afford to purchase a home. She currently teaches transitional kindergarten for English learners at Downer Elementary School. “I’m a single parent in the Bay Area, so then trying to make it on one…
Seven charter schools in Richmond were among 43 charter schools in the state found to have faulty records for funds generated by high needs students, says a report by nonprofit law firm Public Advocates. The report published this year by the advocacy organization known for working with low income communities to bring strategic policy reform found that the charter schools were not abiding by state guidelines. The Local Control Accountability Plan and Local Control Funding Formula are state guidelines adopted…
Reading is a struggle for many of Richmond’s youth. Almost half of students in West Contra Costa County Unified School District are unable to read at grade level. To boost reading in Richmond, the owners of R&R Coffee hosted a party on Monday for local families at the Bridge Storage and Artspace, where food and books were given away. It was “like an adventure” for her children, said Richmond mom Sherab Osugi. She said the party made her children,…
Meditation and breathing exercises are daily rituals at Grant Elementary School in Richmond. Principal Farnaz Heydari introduced these practices in an effort to reduce bad behavior, which had led to high numbers of student suspensions.
West Contra Costa district schools failed to improve in California’s annual test. District leaders and education expert said the standardized test is not the only way to measure student performance.
The West Contra Costa Unified School District is expecting to receive more than $1 million to assist English-as-a-second-language instruction for this current school year. The state grant is part of a federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which allows each state to decide how to utilize federal funding to improve the quality of instruction and advance education equity. California’s draft plan was signed and submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) by Gov. Jerry Brown last…