Fourteen teachers have been chosen by the Antioch Schools Education Foundation (ASEF) as this year’s Mary Allan Fellows Award winners.

In its 11th year, the ASEF honors educators from the Antioch Unified School District.

These year’s Fellows recipients are Jennifer Carrigan, Sutter Elementary School; Stevi Grimm, Antioch High School; Mark Libbey, Dozier-Libbey Medical High School; and Michelle Stark, Deer Valley High School. Stark is also the AUSD Teacher of the Year.

The 2018 finalists are Samantha Helton, Park Middle School; Lisa Henley, Grant Elementary School; Debbie Karp, Park Middle School; Katy Kelley, Grant Elementary School; and Heather McGovern, Orchard Park K-8 School. And, semifinalists are Megan Cain, Fremont Elementary School; Steven Kestner, Sutter Elementary School; Darrin Neutz, Dallas Ranch Middle School; Alvin Sandford, Jack London Elementary School; and Kathe Saylor, Park Middle School.

Allan, a retired educator and 2001 California Teacher of the Year recipient, said ASEF’s primary purpose is to celebrate teachers.

“We want to place a focus on what excellent teachers do and how and where we can best support them. Teachers are generally nominated by a colleague, administrator, parent or student whose lives have been touched by their expertise.”

She added there was a “strong group of contenders proving a challenge for the selection team. It was a rigorous and daunting process. Each teacher who was nominated brought unique personal qualities, creative teaching methods to his or her classroom, and outreach into the community.

“The ASEF board members who visited the nominated teachers were very impressed with the quality of teaching they observed and the teachers’ commitment to their students and the profession,” said Allan. “We witnessed exceptional group work, teachers engaging students with higher-level thinking questions; students making connections between what they were doing and real-life; and students using the content language while articulating their ideas. All these teachers beautifully represented the fine quality of teaching that is happening throughout the AUSD.”

Hosted by the ASEF, these educators will be honored during the Mary Allan Fellows Award dinner on Sept. 18 at the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center.

This year’s guest speaker is Stan Murphy, the 2005 California Teacher of the Year and finalist for National Teacher of the Year. Murphy, a Cal grad, taught for 46 years.

For more info and tickets to the event, visit http://antiochschoolseducationfoundation.org/

 

Dear Editor:

At the Antioch Unified School Board of Education meeting held on May 9th, against the advice of staff and legal counsel, AUSD Board Members Crystal Sawyer-White, Debra Vinson, and Walter Ruehlig voted to approve East Bay Tech High School Charter (EBTHS) and East Bay Tech Middle School Charter (EBTMS) with the following conditions: “Delegate the Superintendent to negotiate the MOU that addresses the Findings of Facts included in Resolution No. 2017-18-9, including the revised budget, SPED and operations, by June 18th”.  Despite legal counsel concerns and Board Member Gibson-Gray pointing out that there was nothing in the motion to deny the charter if they did not meet the conditions the approval still stands. The motion was passed 3-2, with Hack and Gibson-Gray voting against it.

The EBTHS and EBTMS Charters are based on the Clayton Valley Charter High School (CVCHS) which has recently made headlines, “Contra Costa County Office of Education To Conduct Forensic Financial Audit of Clayton Charter High School After Sudden Departure of Administrators” (Claycord May 17, 2018).

One of the lead petitioners, Meagan Moilanen, is currently on staff of CVCHS and during the May 9th meeting spoke glowingly about the successes at CVCHS and they would be bringing that success model to the Antioch Charters.  This is very concerning and until the investigation is completed, Antioch Unified School District needs to put a stop to both charters.

Unfortunately, only AUSD Board Members who voted to approve the charters may request that the item be brought back to the board for discussion or a revote. For the sake of our students and community, I feel that action needs to be taken quickly.

Please contact the AUSD Board Members below to encourage them to reconsider their vote while the Contra Costa County Office of Education conducts a Forensic Financial Audit of CVCHS and the actions of their Administrators and Board Members.

crystalsawyerwhite@antioch.k12.ca.us
debravinson@gmail.com
walter.ruehlig@gmail.com

Thank you.

Mary Helen Rocha

Past AUSD Trustee, Antioch Mayor and City Council Member

The Antioch School Board will hold another special meeting for the annual evaluation process of Superintendent Stephanie Anello on Monday, May 21. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. with public comments followed by the closed session discussion, since it is a personnel matter.

The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the district offices at 510 G Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown. The public portion of the meeting can be viewed on the district’s YouTube Channel. To view the agenda for the meeting, click here.

By Allen Payton

At their regular meeting on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, after over five-and-a-half hours of public comments, discussion and debate, the Antioch School Board of Trustees approved the charter petitions for both the East Bay Tech Middle School Academy and High School Academy on 3-2 votes. Board Vice President Crystal Sawyer-White and Trustee Walter Ruehlig were joined by Trustee Debra Vinson in approving the schools, while Board President Gary Hack and Trustee Diane Gibson-Grey voted no, as expected. Vinson was the swing vote, having opposed the Rocketship Charter Elementary School in November 2016. This time she voted in favor, forming a new pro-charter school majority on the Antioch board. Ruehlig voted in favor of Rocketship, his wife had previously served on the board of a charter school, and during her 2016 campaign Sawyer-White expressed her support for charter schools, so their votes came as no surprise.

The East Bay Tech Academies are sponsored by the Clayton Valley Charter High School, which was converted from a regular, public high school in the Mt. Diablo School District. The petitions were presented to the board at their meeting on March 14. (See related article.)

The meeting was held in the Lone Tree Elementary School multi-purpose room for an expected overflow audience, as occurred during the hearings on the Rocketship Charter School. On the Day of the Teacher – as honored by Superintendent Stephanie Anello – the meeting featured mainly teachers speaking against the charter petitions, and Hispanic and African American parents in favor, the same split as occurred during the Rocketship hearings.

At the request of Gibson-Grey, the hearings on the charter school petitions were moved up to the beginning of the meeting, to accommodate most of those in the audience who were there specifically for those agenda items. But, that didn’t prevent the meeting to last past midnight.

District Staff Recommends Board Denies Petitions

According to the staff report, the district staff recommended the board take action denying the petition establishing the charter school. Resolution Exhibit A Findings of Fact (EBT MS)

“The District’s staff, with assistance from legal counsel, reviewed and analyzed the petition and supporting documents for legal sufficiency, and analyze public information regarding the petitioners’ history of involvement with charter schools.  Based on that analysis we have identified numerous deficiencies in, and concerns related to, the petition and the proposed Charter School’s operations and determined that more than one of the legal grounds for denial exist.  Specifically, the petition does not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of several essential charter elements and the petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the proposed education program.”

Public Comments – Lead Petitioners Respond

Those speakers in favor formed one line and those against formed a separate line of speakers, with Hack alternating between the two sides to hear from the speakers.

The lead petitioner for the academies, Meagan Moilalen said “There is a matter of urgency. 79% of AA students and 77% of Hispanic students at Antioch High did not meet the English standards for last year’s CAP tests. We need urgent change, now.”

Co-petitioner and former Antioch Associate Superintendent Bill Morones said of the charter petition, “It’s exceptionally strong. It has been thoroughly supported and endorsed by the California Charter Schools Association.”

“The report is full of inaccuracies,” he continued. “You have our rebuttal…and it disputes all the information you have from your attorney. Parents and students in Antioch deserve a choice. Our petition is exceptionally strong.”

Board Members Debate, Discuss, Ask Questions of Petitioners

The district’s attorney gave reasons why the petition was inadequate, which was included in the staff report.

Gibson-Grey made a motion to deny the petition and Hack seconded it.

Ruehlig requested that the petition representatives be available to answer questions. “Yes, please”

Attorney for the district, the petition must be complete upon submission, then. Whatever they’ve submitted, today cannot be considered.”

Vinson, “what did you submit today?”

Moilalen said, “We submitted, today a response to the…inaccuracies in the charter petition.”

“It is an 18-page rebuttal,” Morones added.

Their then attorney said, “What is submitted to you, tonight is clarification of the elements of the charter petition. How those are interpreted are in the eyes of the beholder.”

Morones said, “we received the denial recommendation on Sunday.

Gibson-Grey then said, “and you handed them to us, tonight. But, you didn’t email them to us prior. Some board members have them, some don’t.”

Anello responded, “the agenda was sent out last Friday.”

Ruehlig then said, “The petition was submitted on Feb. 6. I want to know if there was any correspondence from the school district.”

“No, there was no correspondence from the school district,” Moilalen said.

Vinson asked, “did you make any attempts to reach out to the district?”

“No, I did not,” Moilalen responded.

Ruehlig, “When a charter petition is deemed this flawed it makes me wonder how much experience they have in submitting charter petitions.”

“This is a thoroughly vetted petition,” Moilalen responded. “We’re very confident it meets all the legal requirements to go forward. So, we were very surprised to receive the denial.”

Gibson-Grey was first to offer her reason for denying the petition, mainly reading her prepared remarks.

“School choice is not going away. It’s my obligation to protect and serve public school education, not charter schools,” she said. “Approving charter schools at the local level impacts local schools.”

She argued that the district staff time costs will exceed the 1% revenue from the charter schools. “I am imploring that we not get into that, again.”

“It can be approved anywhere along the line,” she continued. “It will not impact our remaining students if it’s approved anywhere along the line.”

“Charter schools in my single opinion should be approved at the county or state level,” Gibson-Grey concluded.

“I disagree,” said Sawyer-White. “I have an example. I’ve lived in four different states. I haven’t lived in Antioch all my life. I’ve attended private schools and public schools. I was not supported by Rocketship. I was supported by the Charter Schools Association” during the 2016 election.”

“My apologies,” said Gibson-Grey, who had brought it up in her comments.

“Rocketship is a full-on campus,” Sawyer-White said. “We want this school to have a full-on campus. I toured Clayton Valley campus. Before you consider, ‘no’ you should have toured the campus, first.”

“It’s not just about choice. Teachers are great. I’m a teacher. I’ve been a teacher since 2009,” she continued. “I’ve been in the trenches. I want our kids to be able to explore other options. I just think Antioch needs to move up to the 21st Century. Antioch Charter I voted for that. This isn’t Rocketship. It’s a whole other ballgame. So, I move to approve the charter petition.”

Vinson then said, “California, as a state has 1,184 charter schools educating 9% of public school students. She spoke of accountability. I too want more money per student. The issue isn’t only about money. It’s about school climate, relationship with parents.”

Vinson referred to the NAACP report referred to earlier, against charter schools.

“The bulk of this report is on the public schools,” she said. “African American students have the distinct experience of falling below on all aspects. We’ve made gains in Latino students in the district. But we’ve fallen behind with African American students.”

“Charter schools are public schools,” Vinson continued. “Are charter schools the answer? Not always. Rocketship in each city that they’re in they’ve taken eight to nine awards.”

“If you have only one parent out of 17,000 students championing the successes of the district, then we have a problem,” she said referring to one parent who spoke against the petition and who regularly attends school board meetings.

“I do know parents want choice,” Vinson stated. “We are a suburb. We are not going to be able to accommodate the number of charter schools as in Oakland or Richmond.”

“If the charter is denied here and is approved at the county, they can do whatever they want in our district,” she explained. “Is this the best petition before us? Probably not. But parents want a choice. Do we have excellent teachers? Yes, we do. We have to figure out a system that will benefit our children.”

“This Board approved RAAMP Charter. RAAMP Charter didn’t perform. They were able to revoke the charter,” Vinson pointed out.

The district’s attorney responded, “there can be approval with conditions. The state approves charters with conditions.”

“With all of my research and with all I’ve heard from the community, I’m going to approve this charter,” Vinson stated.

Hack said, “that is not on the table at this time.”

Ruehlig was next to speak saying, “One of the hardest decisions a trustee has to make…I was struggling with this, this afternoon. It’s a complex situation. Kind of the good, the bad, the ugly. About 41% of charter schools perform the same as the public schools in the area. 29% perform better. 30% perform worse. But, when charter schools succeed they succeed well.”

“How do I feel about charters, myself? Again, it’s a mixed bag. I’ve voted for two of them over my 10 years. I voted against two of them. I voted against the renewal of RAAMP,” Ruehlig. “But, I don’t feel I have the right to obstruct the wishes of hundreds, perhaps thousands of families. It’s not me and my personal decision or personal feeling. I do say I feel the law is flawed. I personally feel the law should be rewritten so a school district is compensated when a charter school moves into an area. I also agree…it would be fair to have the state reimburse. Sure, enough whether we approve it or don’t approve it. If we vote against it we’re spitting in the eye of the charter movement. But it won’t do a whit of good. In the history of charter schools there’s been one that’s been denied at the state.”

“I’ve been a supporter for 50 years of public schools. But, I’m not an obstructionist,” Ruehlig said. “To tell you the God’s honest truth, it was not a happy day in my life when I heard about this charter petition. I thought, ‘here we go again, so soon on the heels of Rocketship.’”

He read a quote from former President Barack Obama in support of charter schools from 2016.

“With a heavy heart, because of the impacts of the school district, I will be voting for this charter,” he stated.

Gibson-Grey then shared additional thoughts, saying “I will never have the eloquence of Debra or Walter. I want you to know I don’t have any problem with Rocketship. I’m only against the cost to the district for oversight. I’m not against parent choice. But, I’m elected as a public school trustee. That’s why I’ll be voting they way I am, tonight.”

Hack was last to speak saying, “I spent my entire life in public schools. I went to public schools. I’ve taught in public schools. I was the teachers’ union president…I’ve been on the board of public schools. I’m a purist, I know that parents, students and teachers make a difference in students’ lives. Will I approve a charter school by definition? No. I believe charter schools, for whatever reason harm public schools.”

Motion To Deny Petition Fails, New Motion Made.  RESO 2017-18-29 East Bay Tech Academy Antioch Middle School BOE 5.9.18

The motion to deny the charter petition failed 2-3 with Hack and Gibson-Grey voting yes.

The attorney then said “the board has to take action tonight, to be within the 60 days, unless the charter petitioner is willing to extend it.”

The staff only provided the board with a resolution for denying the petition, so a lengthy discussion ensued over what to include in a motion to approve it.

“If this is going to be approved then I recommend it be with conditions, with an MOU (memorandum of understanding),” the attorney continued.

He further advised that the board members of how to make a motion that addresses the deficiencies in the charter, “which may have already been corrected.”

“I would recommend a timeline,” he said. “Maybe something reasonable in summer.”

Anello suggested the early fall, perhaps the end of September to finalize an MOU.

Vinson then made a motion to approve the charter petition, with certain conditions for the petitioners to meet, and that they address certain finding of facts, and that the superintendent or designee negotiate the MOU by September 28.

The attorney kept pushing the district staff’s findings of fact for denial to be included in the motion and Gibson-Grey repeatedly attempted to get the board to postpone their decision for 30 days.

Vinson wasn’t having it.

“What I’m saying is…I’m a detailed person. I want to look at this. I may not have any questions at all. Then we will finish up with the budget. Then we will get it all organized and completed. So, I don’t see what the problem is,” she stated.

“The attorney works for us and we will be able to respond to him if there are any concerns,” Vinson continued. “But, they have said they’ve already addressed them. We’ve approved charters and the MOU comes later. They’re agreeing to have the MOU worked out.”

The petitioners wanted the MOU done in 30 days but Anello said that wouldn’t work with the graduations, school closings and reopenings about to occur.

Ruehlig asked, “Can you live with 45 days?”

Moilalen responded, “It didn’t take me very long to go through the points. The urgency is high. We’re trying to open two schools.”

The district’s attorney said, “I’m sure we can work it out. So, the 18th of June.”

Vinson then remade her motion to get the MOU done by June 18th.

Sawyer-White seconded the motion, again.

At 11:55 P.M. the motion passed 3-2 with Ruehlig joining the two ladies to approve the charter petition.

High School Academy Charter Petition Approved

Many people were still in attendance and some chose to speak, again repeating much of the same arguments on both sides during public comments.

Vinson then made a similar motion for the East Bay Tech Academy High School charter petition. Sawyer-White provided the second and it passed on another 3-2 vote at 12:40 A.M.

Antioch High School will host the vital Every 15 Minutes program on Thursday and Friday, April 26 and 27. The program challenges students to think about drinking, driving, personal safety and the responsibility of making mature decisions when lives are involved. There are 40 students participating in the event – angels, living dead and pall bearers.

About 900 juniors and seniors will see the presentation, which includes car crash victims, a variety of actual first-responders, including the Antioch Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Contra Costa Fire, paramedics and EMTs and even the county coroner.

National statistics show there is a fatality every 15 minutes due to driving under the influence; thus, the name of the national program.

Principal Louie Rocha feels strongly about what is offered in this program, which is timed to coincide right before prom and graduation are held.

The two-day event starts with “the crash” at 10 a.m. Thursday the 26th at the Contra Costa County fairgrounds. The student participants who play the “living dead” actually stay the night in Beede Auditorium with no contact with anyone outside the area. They’re reunited with their families at the assembly at 10 a.m. Friday the 27th in the AHS auditorium.

During this emotionally charged “memorial,” AHS grad Marcella Gomez will share her experience as a survivor of a major crash, which took the lives of her parents when she was just nine-years-old.

Los Medanos College (LMC) will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Brentwood Center on Wednesday, April 18, at 1:00 p.m. at the site of the future facility.  The new site is located at Pioneer Square and Miwok Place in Brentwood (near the intersection of Vineyards Parkway and Marsh Creek Road, just off of Highway 4).  The public is welcome to attend and the event is free; RSVPs are not required, and complimentary parking will be available.

This groundbreaking ceremony celebrates upcoming construction of a permanent Brentwood Center, which will expand and enhance learning opportunities for LMC students and Contra Costa County residents in the easternmost part of the College’s service area.  The new one-story Center, designed by Ratcliff Architects, will be approximately 55,000 square feet.  The project will be constructed on a 17.5 parcel purchased by Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) in 2011.  It will feature instructional classrooms, science labs, student support services, library resources, tutorial labs, bookstore and food service areas, “linger and learn” space, faculty/staff offices, and more than 700 parking stalls.  The current Brentwood Center, located in a leased facility at 101A Sand Creek Road in Brentwood, first opened in 2001.  The existing space consists of 22,000 square feet and serves approximately 2,800 students – accounting for about one-third of LMC’s enrollment.

The permanent $65 million facility is made possible through funding from CCCCD Bond Measures A (2006) and E (2014), thanks to support from voters in Contra Costa County.  Construction is expected to be completed in 18-24 months, with the new Brentwood Center projected to open in Spring 2020.

For more information, please contact Jennifer Adams, jadams@losmedanos.edu or (925) 473-7302.

From the DVHS Facebook page

On March 17-18, Deer Valley High School’s Virtual Enterprise team participated in its final competition of the year where it took home prizes in three categories.

In total, there were 79-Virtual Enterprise firms and 1,112 students in attendance from not only California, but across the United States, including one team from Germany.

• Elijah Minyard – 1st place for the One Minute Elevator pitch
• Marc Bates, Pedro Molina, Saafir Farrell, and Dominic Smith – 3rd place for company branding and logo
• Connor Landrum – Honorable mention (a top 10 finalists) for his video commercial

According to Kristofer Freeman, Business Technology Academy Lead at Deer Valley High School, it was their highest scoring year thus far.

Minyard, who serves as the class CEO, explained that they came up with the idea of Claws and Paws Paradise, a luxury resort for dogs and cats, after a fellow student shared their passion about animals with them.

Marc Bates highlighted that just by doing a lot of the work associated with this business, it opened his eyes to what its like to run a business and what options are available to him.

“The biggest thing I learned is you need to be informed about a lot of things such as the human mind because you have to know how people perceive things. Like with graphics and IT, we had to learn colors and certain positions of items on layouts because it would change people’s opinions,” explained Bates.

“For example, the blue we chose was calm and a refreshing vibe so when people leave their pets here it gives off a calm and relaxed feeling.”

Minyard added that he believed the great thing about Virtual Enterprise was how accommodating it was for everyone; it allowed people to use all their skill sets to help the business. “People have different styles and ideas of how to pursue things, because we have different interest in things, there are different departments that cater to student’s interests and skill set,” explained Minyard. “The great thing is you get to develop your communication skills as well as social skills, so you learn to have clear communication with other departments with all the other employees. It also helps you learn how to promote yourself when you go into business because your communication skills are that much better.”

In total, six AUSD students completed in the competition at the Oakland Convention Center on behalf of the roughly 30-student class.

“We got to go into the competition and represent our classroom and share how much work the class did and hopefully do well,” said Maynard. “It was thrilling.”

Freeman explained that the students scored in the top 10% of the United States for Virtual Enterprises which is an international organization. The students’ business plan also scored in the top 42 for California.

On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Antioch Unified School District Associate Superintendent of Educational Services, Christine Ibarra, Deer Valley High School Administration, and members of the AUSD Educational Services Team congratulated Michelle Stark, the Deer Valley Academy of Performing Arts Lead Teacher, on winning AUSD’s Teacher of the Year.

According to the DVHS website, “Mrs. Stark is in her 10th year at DV and this is the third year she serves as the Lead Teacher for the DVAPA She has four children that graduated from Deer Valley.”

From the DVHS Facebook page:

Mrs. Michelle Stark has been a teacher at Deer Valley High School for over ten years. During her tenure, Mrs. Stark has taught Show Choir, Divine Voices, and Production Practicum. During the 2015-16 school year, Mrs. Stark was named DVAPA (Deer Valley Academy of Performing Arts) Lead. Since that time, Mrs. Stark has taken DVAPA from good to great! During her time at DVHS, Mrs. Stark has involved DVHS to engage with both the school and city community. Mrs. Stark arranges student led performances both at DVHS as well as private events where her students are requested.

Mrs. Stark teaches a wide range of students- some come with great experience, while others have no experience singing whatsoever. Mrs. Stark teaches each and every student who enters her classroom and all her students love her for the time, patience, creativity, and passion that she brings each and every day to her classroom. Mrs. Stark positively engages and effectively manages all her students through positive relationships. Walking into Mrs. Stark’s class, you can feel the comradely between the students and themselves, as well as the respect and love they have for Mrs. Stark. Mrs. Stark takes the time to know each of her students in order to know and understand her students’ strengths and weaknesses. Mrs. Stark is able to reach all levels of students and help them build the confidence in themselves, as all her students showcase their talents multiple times throughout the school year.

Since the 2015-16 school year, Mrs. Stark has taught the DVAPA Capstone, Production Practicum. During this time, Mrs. Stark inherited a class that the majority of the students chose to drop midyear, which negatively impacted the number of students completing the requirements of the academy. Mrs. Stark wanted to improve the class and amount of students who completed the academy’s requirements. Mrs. Stark has worked tirelessly, improving DVAPA’s system of organization, as well as student completion (DVAPA has seen a 400% growth in the amount of students completing the academy since 2015). Through Mrs. Stark’s shared vision of work-based learning, she has created on campus internships, while teaming students to work together in a collaborative environment. Students are now responsible for marketing, decorating, advertising, as well as the hours it takes behind the scenes to run a show. Rather than students dropping at the second semester, we have students who are on the waiting list to be added to the class. Mrs. Stark found a way to build a community within the DVAPA academy that has positively impacted students, while giving them the necessary skills they need when seeking employment (team work, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, etc.).

Please join us in congratulating Mrs. Stark for her positive impact and contributions to her academy, our school, and community.