WCCUSD schools are losing students to charter schools at alarming rate, stressing district budget

By Daniella Jiménez | December 19, 2024 |
To the left of the frame is a long chain-link fence over a patch of brown grass. Affixed to the fence are blue capital letters spelling out Valley View Elementary. To the right of the frame is a sidewalk.

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…

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Graduate tutors still threatened by school district budget cuts

By Edward Booth | March 22, 2019 |
Graduate tutors arrived at the meeting to protest the proposed cut.

Graduate tutors appeared in force at the meeting alongside officers from the Teamsters 856, who represent unclassified (or non-teaching) employees. “We’re here, we’re devoted, we’re intelligent, we’re amazing,” said tutor Marsha Williamson. “You will never find people like us to help the children in this district ever again.”

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A final trustee-area map emerges as lawsuit resolves

By Edward Booth | March 7, 2019
Mister Phillips and Tom Panas at the School Board Meeting

The map, known as the January Map, was agreed upon in a 4-0-1 vote by the board in a closed session meeting on February 28, with board member Mister Phillips abstaining.The map was designed through negotiations between the district and Ruiz-Lozito. Both sides considered prior public feedback, represented in the map chosen in November. The January Map was approved by a Contra Costa County Superior judge on Wednesday, and further details of the settlement were presented at a board meeting later in the day.

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School board passes resolution asking for a state moratorium on charter schools

By Edward Booth | February 28, 2019 |

On Wednesday, the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education passed a resolution calling upon the state to establish a moratorium on charter school expansion. The final resolution received widespread support from the public—including former and current city councilmembers, union leaders, teachers and parents—and from most of the board, who passed it with…

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School board discusses charter school moratorium

By Edward Booth | February 7, 2019 |
United Teachers of Richmond President Demetrio Gonzalez speaks before the school board

The proposed resolution, inspired by several others—including one that passed last month following the teachers strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District—calls for a moratorium on charter school expansion from the California State Board of Education and seeks to establish additional oversight over existing charter schools.

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WCCUSD hosts recruitment fair to find teachers

By Edward Booth | February 5, 2019
El Cerrito vice principals Jay Elvrin (left) and Eric Mapes (right) chat during a break between interviews.

The fair, the first of several this year, attracted over 50 applicants in three hours. Most arrived early, though some filtered in steadily until the event ended at noon. A team of administrators worked to smoothly guide people through the application process, from registration—more than half had appointments, many walked in—to finding the right interviewer among a maze of wooden desks.

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