FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, April 24, 2014

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Charter of Van Nuys’ CHAMPS in jeopardy over staffer’s $27,000 credit-card misuse

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Education Headlines

Thursday, April 24, 2014

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Stockton USD trustees terminate deputy superintendent

Stockton Unified School District trustees voted to terminate the contract of Deputy Superintendent Sheree Audet on Tuesday night, effective April 30.

EdSource: Transitional kindergarten teachers say they need more training

Ninety-five percent of the first transitional kindergarten teachers in California had previously taught preschool, kindergarten or 1st grade, but said they could have used more training on how to teach 4-year-olds,  according to a new report American Institutes for Research.

Residents critical of Santa Ana district's discipline efforts

The Santa Ana Unified School District board faced a packed house Tuesday, with a steady stream of local residents calling for a reshaping of student discipline in the wake of a controversial arrest of a 14-year-old boy.

New contract for Poway superintendent

The Poway Unified school board Wednesday night awarded Superintendent John Collins a three-year contract with a $63,000 raise in base pay — a pact the district says will actually save money.

Charter of Van Nuys’ CHAMPS in jeopardy over staffer’s $27,000 credit-card misuse

Charter High School of the Arts officials have 10 days to convince Los Angeles Unified they’ve fixed mismanagement that let a former staffer rack up $27,000 in personal expenses on her school charge card and quit without repaying it.

May 6 voting deadline looms for school parcel tax election

Just a little over a week remains for Lamorinda voters to decide whether to tax themselves for an indefinite period of time to continue funding local public schools.

Survey finds Californians back both Common Core and new funding formula

Resistance to the Common Core State Standards may be spreading in parts of Red State America, but Californians are learning more about the new math and reading standards and generally like what they have heard, according to a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Stockton USD to vote on charter in May

The Stockton Unified School District has 30 days to decide if it will recommend approval of a new dual immersion language and International Baccalaureate charter school on Fremont Street.

Gonzales schools banking on bond

The school bond initiative would provide $16.9 million toward building a new elementary school and upgrades at La Gloria Elementary and Fairview Middle schools.

Monterey school district delays naming superintendent

The contract was ready to be approved. A recess to welcome the new top administrator was on the agenda. But at the last minute, plans to appoint a new superintendent for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District were dropped from Tuesday's regular trustee meeting.

Autism cases increase by 8% among Calif. public school students

The number of California public school students who have been diagnosed with autism increased by 8% from 2013 to 2014, bringing the total number of diagnosed children in the state to nearly 79,000, according to data from the state Department of Education, the Sacramento Bee reports.

California's drought ripples through businesses, then to schools

One area that has officials worried is the effect on education in places affected by the drought. Jane Brittell, the principal at Lorena Falasco Elementary School in Los Banos, a town about 35 miles north of Mendota, says she's worried that the drought will force families to leave and pull their kids out of school.

Bond firm's gifts to California school officials probed

California’s political watchdog is investigating whether school officials failed to report gifts from municipal bond underwriter Stone & Youngberg, now a unit of Stifel Financial Corp. (SF)