By Barbara Zivica

On February 20th, 20 members of Dozier-Libbey Medical High School’s faculty met with a charter conversion consultant and a representative from Clayton Valley Charter High School. Following a lengthy discussion the group unanimously decided to file a petition with the Antioch Unified School District 30 days before the last March school board meeting requesting to convert to an independent public charter high school. (A charter school is a school which receives public funding but operates independently).

I suspect what led to this decision was that the AUSD had been diluting the curriculum at Dozier-Libbey with courses unrelated to its original mission, eliminated the school’s “No D Policy” and allowed students to opt out of some courses. The diverging philosophies between the AUSD and faculty were hindering teachers from carrying out the innovative programs and curricula they built and which made the school a nationally-recognized model.

The reason for the rush to file the petition without including parents, classified staff and the principal was due to concern that, if word got out, the school would have no protection from district-directed personnel changes prior to the petition being filed.

Several public information sessions will be scheduled in the very near future as well as an online forum where parents, students and community members can share input and post questions.

By Sergeant Mike Hulsey, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Monda, March 3, 2014 at approximately 6:47 PMAntioch police officers responded to the 900 block of West 10th Street on a report of an auto vs. pedestrian collision. The victim, a 48-year-old Antioch man, had just walked away from a store and was crossing the street in the crosswalk when he was struck by a vehicle. The driver of the responsible vehicle fled the scene and was not located. The suspect vehicle is described as a silver mini-van (with front end damage) that was last seen east bound on West 10th Street. No suspect information is available at this time. The victim was transported to a local hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Anyone with information regarding this accident is urged to contact the Antioch Police Department at (925) 778-2441.

By Corporal J. McMurry, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 12:32 AM, Antioch policeofficers responded to the 911 call of a vehicle that had crashed through a fence at a residence in the 4500 block of Elkhorn Way and had landed in a swimming pool and submerged with three occupants trapped inside.

Officers arrived and learned all three occupants had exited the vehicle and climbed out of the pool. One 17-year-old male was contacted at the scene but the other two occupants had fled the scene on foot. The 17-year-old had minor injuries that were treated at the scene by paramedics.

Approximately 25-minutes later, officers located two males, 18-year-old David Martinez and a 16-year-old, walking on Lone Tree Way near the Antioch Community Center. Both males were soaking wet from head to toe. Evidence located at the crash site assisted officers in determining that the two males were the two other occupants that had fled the scene after the crash.

Martinez was determined to be the driver of the vehicle and he was later booked into county jail. Speed and alcohol are suspected as being factors and the case is still under investigation. None of the occupants of the damaged home including the 39-year-old owner, or surrounding neighbors, were injured during the incident.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text an anonymous tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word Antioch in the body of the text.