The 40th Annual Contra Costa County High School Mock Trials were held virtually, this year from January 26 through the final round on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Antioch’s Deer Valley High team from the Law & Justice Academy won three of the first four rounds but fell to Acalanes High in the Quarter Finals. In the first and third rounds, as well as the Quarter Finals the Deer Valley team played in the role of the Defense. In rounds two and four, Deer Valley fulfilled the role of the Prosecution.

Deer Valley beat the team from Hercules High in Round 1, the team from Dougherty Valley High of San Ramon in Round 2 and the team from El Cerrito High in Round 4. They lost to Miramonte High of Orinda in Round 3.

The team from California High School of San Ramon won their fourth straight championship, beating Acalanes of Lafayette in the final round. The match was judged and scored by former judge and current Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, along with five Bay Area attorneys, serving as Mock Trial scorers.

Also, noteworthy, the Miramonte team defeated the Hercules High team during the same evening’s consolation match. This trial was judged and scored by Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Steve Austin, along with five attorney scorers.

The 2021 top four teams were ranked in this order: 1) California High, 2) Acalanes High, 3) Miramonte High, 4) Hercules High. California High has now won four consecutive championships.

The Mock Trials Awards Ceremony were also held virtually, on Thursday, Feb. 18. Opening the event, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey gave the welcome and message to the attendees, followed by remarks made by Contra Costa County Superior Court Presiding Judge Rebecca Hardie, and the Mock Trial coaches presented their Coaches Awards to their exceptional-performing students. This was followed by the announcement of individual awards that were recorded by the volunteer Mock Trial judges and attorney scorers during the four opening preliminary rounds. The ceremony concluded with naming of this year’s championship team from Cal High.

“As like numerous other counties in California, this was a challenging year for our High School Mock Trial program,” said Superintendent Mackey. “Due to COVID-19, this was the first time in 40 years that we were not able to hold our trials in one of the Martinez courthouses, but instead held the competitions via Zoom Meetings. This year’s Mock Trial success was because of a group effort between our volunteer judges and attorneys and our staff, as well as the patient and dedicated team coaches and their determined students. Congratulations to all of you!”

Directed by their teaching coach, Brian Barr, California High will now represent Contra Costa County at the California State Mock Trial competition, March 18-22. The California state finalist team will then compete in the National Mock Trial Competition, held May 13-15.

Art Contest

In the Courtroom Art Contest, students participated as courtroom artists, a companion program to Mock Trials. As courtroom artists, students accompanied their Mock Trial teams and sketched courtroom scenes that were later judged by a team of art judges. The winner was Michelle Nguyen from California High School and will represent Contra Costa County at the state finals.

Journalism Contest

In the Courtroom Journalism Contest, participating students were given an opportunity to report on a Mock Trial from the perspective of a journalist. As courtroom reporters, students accompanied their school’s Mock Trial teams to the preliminary rounds of the competition. Courtroom reporters then wrote and submitted one 500-word news article on the trial they attended. Articles were judged by a panel of specialists. The winner, Nicholas Harvey, also from California High, will represent Contra Costa County at the state finals. Read  his winning article.

The honored guest speaker, Judge Hardie, told the audience, “Congratulations to all of the students, teachers, and coaches for a wonderful competition. I’m so pleased that we didn’t let COVID-19 get in the way of our historic and annual tradition. We are so proud of our longstanding partnership with the Mock Trial program. Here at the county’s Superior Court, Mock Trials is one of our favorite times of the year. And, I heard so many wonderful stories from this year’s volunteering judges. They all agreed about how seamless the trials went this year, especially adapting the competition from our physical courtrooms to virtual courtrooms. The students did not miss a beat!

Coordinated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) and sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Mock Trial is an academic event provided for high school students. The hands-on educational program was created to help students acquire a working knowledge of our judicial system, develop analytical abilities and communication skills, and gain an understanding of their obligations and responsibilities as participating members of our society.

This year’s case, People v. Croddy, is the trial of Lee Croddy who hosts a popular YouTube channel called The Right Choice of News (RCN). Croddy has been charged with two counts: (1) aiding and abetting in the commission of first-degree burglary by another, and (2) accessory after the fact. This case will also feature a pre-trial argument on the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and as set forth in Miranda v. Arizona.

Since the beginning of the school year, teams of high school students worked with teacher coaches and volunteer coaches to prepare their version of the criminal case, from both the prosecution and defense perspectives. Students assumed the roles of trial attorneys, pre-trial motion attorneys, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, artists, and court journalists. During the Zoom Meetings, Mock Trial judges and attorneys scored the students’ presentations and provided immediate feedback.

This year, there were 18 teams from the following 19 Contra Costa County high schools competed: Acalanes High (Lafayette), Alhambra High (Martinez), California High (San Ramon), Campolindo High (Moraga), Carondelet High (Concord), De La Salle (Concord), De Anza High (Richmond), De La Salle (Concord), Deer Valley Law Academy (Antioch), Dougherty Valley High (San Ramon), El Cerrito High (El Cerrito), Hercules High (Hercules), Heritage High (Brentwood), Kennedy High (Richmond), Las Lomas High (Walnut Creek), Miramonte High (Orinda), Monte Vista High (Danville), Richmond High (Richmond). *Richmond High and Kennedy High combine students for one team.

Approximately 60 Bay Area practicing and retired attorneys and sworn judges volunteered their time and expertise to serve as Mock Trial attorney scorers and judges. These volunteers represented judges from the Contra Costa County Superior Courts, and attorney scorers included attorneys from Bay Area county District Attorney and Public Defender offices, the State Attorney General’s Office, and the California Department of Justice. Also serving as attorney scorers, were non-profit, public, private, and corporate attorneys. Because this year’s competition was virtual, there were attorneys volunteering from their offices in Los Angeles; San Diego; Truckee; and Olympia, Washington. In addition, senior students from two Bay Area law schools also lent a hand in scoring.

For all the team and individual results, visit the Contra Costa County Office of Education’s Mock Trial results web page. #cocomocktrial

In 1977, the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) introduced the concept of mock trials to the Los Angeles schools. In 1980, the program expanded to the state level. The California Mock Trial Program currently involves more than 36 counties and over 8,000 student participants from more than 400 teams. Approximately 1,500 attorney volunteers serve as team coaches and scorers, and 500 Municipal, Superior, and Appellate Court judges preside over the trials.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Denise Rundall

I am asking businesses in Antioch to support the Class of 2021. All I am asking is if you can support our senior class of 2021 by putting up the school colors on the third Friday of each month until graduation week. If you decorate your business in the school colors and let me know I will add your business name and a picture (if I get one) on the Adopt a 2021 Senior Antioch High Facebook. I will also provide the picture and business name to the other schools to see if they can add your picture/name to their Facebook page.

Participating businesses will also be featured on a special page on the Antioch Herald website: Color Our Town 2021 | Antioch Herald

Just by supporting our Antioch senior class(es) of 2021 your business will get free advertising!

Here is a list of the dates and school colors for decorating.

Decorate on:

Friday, February 19

Friday, March 19

Friday, April 16

Friday, May 21

Graduation week is Monday, June 14 through Friday June 18, 2021

Schools, Colors and Mascots

Antioch High School – Black and Gold, mascot is Panther

Bidwell High School – Purple, White, and Black, mascot is Bulldogs

Deer Valley High School – Teal and Black, mascot is Wolverines

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School – Light Blue, Yellow, and Lime Green, mascot is Diamond Backs

Live Oak High School – Maroon and Silver, mascot is Pegasus

Prospects High School – Teal and White, mascot is Hawks

Cornerstone Christian School – Navy Blue and Yellow, mascot is the Cougars

P.S. If you are planning on doing anything special for the seniors let me know so we can advertise it to the students! Let’s help make our Antioch Seniors’ year special!

Rundall is a parent of a 2021 High School Senior in Antioch. She can be reached at (925) 305-9993 or drundall6@gmail.com.

By Timothy Leung, Public Information Officer, 4CD

In a report to the Contra Costa Community College District (District), the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (Commission) has announced continued full accreditation of the District’s three colleges, but has also issued a warning to the District. The warning is the lightest sanction level that can be issued; however, District leadership has already started working on serious solutions. Five concerns have been raised by the Commission, four of them connected to Governing Board behavior that was widely reported by local media throughout 2020.

“I applaud our colleges who are doing tremendous work to increase the success of our students,” says Chancellor Bryan Reece. “To be clear, the Commission’s findings have nothing to do with teaching or our ability to provide the support our students need. Nevertheless, we accept the findings and are ready to roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work in addressing the areas of improvement around District governance.”

The five areas of improvement are:

• Standard III.A.5 (District Requirement 1): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires that the District develop a process by which all classified employees are regularly and systematically evaluated.
• Standard IV.C.3 (District Requirement 2): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board should follow its Board policy related to the Chancellor’s evaluation process.
• Standard IV.C.7 (District Requirement 3): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board act consistently with its adopted policies and bylaws, and regularly assesses these policies and bylaws.
• Standard IV.C.11 (District Requirement 4): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board uphold and adhere to their adopted code of ethics policy-BP 1010.
• Standard IV.C.12 (District Requirement 5): In order to meet the standard, the Commission requires the Governing Board delegate full responsibility and authority to the Chancellor to implement and administer board policies without board interference and hold the Chancellor accountable for the operation of the District and colleges.

“The Governing Board and our community members have been frustrated with these issues for a while and we take these findings seriously,” says Board President Andy Li. “We have already begun working together to address these issues, and I am confident the trustees will continue making progress toward addressing the Commission’s areas of improvement.”

With four of the five areas for improvement attached to the Governing Board, and one to the District Office, the Commission did not find areas of concern in the three colleges. In fact, Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College were officially commended for best practices.

Diablo Valley College received a Commendation for exceeding the following accreditation standard:

• Standards I.B.5, II.A.2, II.C.1 (College Commendation 1): The Commission commends the College for its use of data to assess the accomplishment of its mission through its program review process in order to continuously improve courses, programs, and student services.

Los Medanos College received a Commendation for exceeding the following accreditation standard:

• Standard III.A.14 (College Commendation 1): The Commission commends the College for its robust offering of professional development opportunities in support of its mission, vision, values, and strategic initiatives based on the use of data throughout College processes, including equity-centered practices.

A summary report highlighting the District’s progress in addressing the five areas is due to the Commission by October 2021, followed by a site visit from a peer review team to ensure continued progress is being made.

The Commission conducts accreditation for all community colleges in California (and other areas as well). Colleges are evaluated on a six-year cycle, and will soon transition to a seven-year cycle. During these comprehensive evaluations, the Commission also includes a review of the District Office and Governing Board, but their accreditation decision is applied to the colleges themselves.

About the College District

The Contra Costa Community College District (District) is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The District serves a population of 1,019,640 people, and its boundaries encompass all but 48 of the 734-square-mile land area of Contra Costa County. The District is home to Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, as well as educational centers in Brentwood and San Ramon.  The District headquarters is located in downtown Martinez.

Outpouring of support for Anello, criticism of Board President Householder

By Allen Payton

Before going into closed session, which was supposed to begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13, to discuss the process and details for Superintendent Stephanie Anello’s evaluation, which isn’t going to occur until June, the Antioch School Board first heard about three hours of public comments about the issue. And the speakers were not happy, mainly with Board President Ellie Householder for bringing the matter up prematurely, when she placed it on the agenda of a special meeting on Monday, Dec. 21. (Listen to 1/13/21 board meeting, here)

During that meeting, which was kept to just one hour, from noon to 1:00 p.m., due to work schedules of Householder and other trustees, she explained that there was a misunderstanding and that the matter wasn’t for evaluating Anello. Instead, she claimed it was merely for discussing the process to educate the two new board members, Dr. Clyde Lewis and Antonio Hernandez. Householder and only allowed three of the over 200 comments submitted to be read.

That sparked an accusation by former Board President Diane Gibson Gray that Householder and the board violated the state’s Brown Act open meeting law and called for them to correct it or she would file a formal complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission. (See related article)

Most of the comments during the Jan. 13 meeting were in support of Anello, including members of the public and district staff, and harshly critical of Householder. Speakers didn’t accept her explanation that it was merely for informing the new board members of the evaluation process.

However, several speakers were misinformed that Householder had called the special meeting. It was actually scheduled by school district staff to deal with another closed session item. Householder added the item regarding Anello’s evaluation, which she confirmed at the conclusion of the public comments.

“I just wanted to make a quick note that I actually did not call the special meeting in December,” Householder said. “So, just for the record, I just wanted to throw that out there because that seemed to be something that came up a bunch.”

The board then voted to complete the remainder of the regular meeting agenda before ending with the closed session.

The next board meeting will be held Wednesday, Jan. 27th and will begin at 7:00 p.m. See the agenda, here.

 

By Allen Payton

The Antioch School Board will hold a special Work Study Session, labeled a “Governance Workshop” next Wednesday, Jan. 20.

The board members will have a discussion and obtain information on the following topics:

Roles and Responsibilities

• Board of Education and Board Members
• Board’s work: vision/direction, superintendent, accountability, policy, and advocacy/community voice
• Process for setting direction
• Accountability calendar
• Process for studying and setting policy
• Community Voice – being accessible; building confidence in process

Working Together/Communication Protocols

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and can be viewed on the district’s YouTube Channel.

The following Antioch Unified School District 2021 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art & Essay Award recipients presented their works during the online event, held Monday afternoon.

Elementary – Art

1st Place: Calli West, 5th Grade Belshaw Elementary

2nd Place: Bryce West, 3rd Grade Belshaw Elementary

Middle School – Art

1st Place: A’nyja Morton, 8th Grade Orchard Park School

2nd Place: Blake West, 7th Grade Park Middle School

3rd Place Tie: Kylie Wisely, 8th Grade Holy Rosary

Natalia Cortez, 7th Grade Orchard Park School

Middle School – Essay

1st Place: A’nyja Morton, 8th Grade   Orchard Park School

2nd Place: Ke’Ona Jones, 8th Grade   Black Diamond Middle School

3rd Place: Lily Bastedo, 8th Grade   Black Diamond Middle School

High School -Art

1st Place: Daxibel Oliveras, 10th Grade Deer Valley High School

2nd Place: Juliana Medina, 9th Grade Deer Valley High School

3rd Place: Eduardo Artiga Sanchez, 9th Grade Dozier Libby Medical High School

High School – Essay

1st Place: Olumese Oaiya, 12th Grade Deer Valley High School

2nd Place: Dennis Gavrilenko, 12th Grade Deer Valley High School

3rd Place: Ieshia Perez,  12th Grade Dozier Libby Medical High School

Reggie Moore Memorial Family Community Service Award

1st Place: A’nyja Morton, Orchard Park School

2nd Place: Olumese Oaiya, Deer Valley High School

3rd Place: Ke’Ona Jones, Black Diamond Middle School

4th Place Tie: Ieshia Perez, Dozier Libby Medical High School

Dennis Gavrilenko, Deer Valley High School

Honorable Mention:

Jeremiah Shirden-Bean, Antioch High School

Cristina Craven, Dozier Libby Medical High School

Nicole Orozco, Deer Valley High School

Robyn Page, Deer Valley High School

 

Former school board president also threatens complaint with Fair Political Practices Commission

The following public comment was submitted to the Antioch School Board for the meeting on Jan. 13, 2021 and shared with the Herald:

Public Comment – Item # 2, Closed Session, #A. Superintendent Evaluation

This public comment also serves as a notice that unless the president of the board corrects the Brown Act Violation that occurred at the December 21, 2020 meeting regarding the same item, I will be filing a Fair Political Practices Complaint. I encourage anyone who did not have their comment read or are as outraged as I am that this has occurred, the complaint form is online at https://www.fppc.ca.gov/content/fppc-v2/fppc-www/enforcement/electronic-complaint-system.html.

Only three of over 200+ submitted comments regarding the superintendent evaluation were read and nearly 2,000 Change.org comments were not acknowledged. The situation was summarized in a Weekly Update (available on line at AntiochSchools.net) and I hope that the president follows advice of the attorney and the urging of the employees to “cure and correct” the Brown Act Violation.

Friday Weekly Update, January 8, 2021,

It appears that a Brown Act violation occurred that must be corrected. While the Board can limit public comment from time-to time, it is problematic to limit public comment as drastically as occurred at the December 21, 2020 meeting. Additionally, according to legal counsel, limiting public comment prior to closed session is especially problematic as the public’s only way to meaningfully participate in a closed session item is to make public comment unlike an open session item wherein the public can meaningfully participate via public comment and observing the Board’s deliberation. In an attempt to cure and correct the violation, all comments will be read at the next Board Meeting, January 13, 2021. AEA, AMA, CSBA Petition At the request of Trustee Hack, attached is a copy of the signatures from the online petition posted by AEA, AMA, and CSBA regarding the evaluation of the Superintendent

This was the first meeting with a new president, let’s hope she acknowledges and corrects this basic understanding of how the Brown Act applies and how important it is to listen to constituents. I also hope that union leaders, staff members and community pay attention to the actions of the new board president.

Diane Gibson-Gray

Antioch

 

Over 260 public comments, 1,400 signers of petition to support Superintendent Anello; misperception due to “issue of language”

By Anthony Dorado

The Antioch School Board convened for a Special Meeting on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 for a closed session discussion of a settlement agreement regarding a local mediation agreement, the superintendent evaluation process taking place in June 2021 and for the first reading of Board Bylaw 9150-B: Student Board Members. After much disagreement and misperception amongst the board members, both items were postponed to a regularly scheduled meeting in January. The Board voted 5-0 to approve the settlement agreement. (Listen to the board meeting, here)

Superintendent Evaluation

Board President Ellie Householder said she didn’t call for the special meeting. It was already scheduled for the urgent closed session legal matter.  But she wanted to discuss and consider the evaluation process of Superintendent Stephanie Anello to take place mid-2021, not for the actual evaluation. Householder expressed concern over establishing metrics for the evaluation amidst a pandemic with constantly changing circumstances as it pertains to the education of children in the district. She also said she wanted to involve new Trustees Antonio Hernandez and Dr. Clyde Lewis in the process.

Due to what the Board deemed to be an “issue of language,” the special meeting garnered great controversy and public outrage. Many citizens misinterpreted the intention of the meeting, taking it to be a preemptive evaluation of the superintendent, strategically planned for when many would be away on vacation. That misunderstanding resulted in over 260 comments submitted on the matter, but only a few were read, and a change.org petition with over 1,400 signatories in support of Anello.

In response to the influx of comments, the urging of Trustee Gary Hack and a crunch for time, since both Householder and Lewis had a “hard stop at 1:00 p.m.,” the Board decided to postpone both agenda items for the regularly scheduled meeting in January. They ensured the issue would be thoroughly discussed and that all comments would be heard at that time.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.