Michelle Obama. From her Twitter account

By Allen Payton

Rumors circulating through Antioch over the weekend have been confirmed, today that former First Lady Michelle Obama has been invited to speak at the Mary Allan Fellows Awards Dinner in Antioch on Sept. 19. The annual event hosted by the Antioch Schools Education Foundation will be held at the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center. Tickets are completely sold out.

In an email from Antioch School Board President Walter Ruehlig, he wrote that he had “heard from one other person that Michelle was invited by keynote guest speaker (National Counselor of the Year), who apparently knows her.”

The ad for the event states that it features “2017 National Counselor of the Year Terry Tchorzynski and Special Guest.” That special guest is presumed to be Mrs. Obama.

Ruehlig also wrote, “Incidentally, still unconfirmed that Michelle is actually coming; nothing yet in writing.”

Although the ad for the event has the Antioch Unified School District’s logo on it, they are not a sponsor of the event. They are a recipient of funds raised by the foundation, Ruehlig explained.

However, none of the board members of the foundation are allowed to speak about it, due to security concerns, according to someone else who did not want to be identified. That person said to call Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks.

It was also rumored that President Barack Obama was also invited, but that was not confirmed.

The four teachers who will be honored as Fellows the event are Tammy Ely-Kofford, 11th Grade Social Science teacher at Deer Valley High School; Jacey Renfroe, 5th Grade teacher at Marsh Elementary; Italo Rossi, 11th/12th Grade Human Anatomy & Physiology and AP Biology teacher at Antioch High School; and Frank Zrinski, Seventh Grade Science teacher at Antioch Middle School.

When reached for comment, Velma Wilson, chairman of the foundation board said about Tchorzynski’s connection to Obama, “She was awarded by Michelle as First Lady at her last speech.”

According to a Time Magazine article, “In 2015, Obama began a tradition of honoring the school counselor of the year as part of her Reach Higher initiative to encourage post-secondary education—an issue she has said she will continue to work on after leaving the White House.”

Regarding the tickets which sell out early every year, Wilson said, “The tickets have been sold out for two weeks. We give teachers first priority, every year.”

“We will be honoring all 35 counselors in the district for the first time ever,” she added as another reason the tickets sold out so quickly.

Attempts to reach Chief Brooks for this article were also unsuccessful.

Please check back later for any updates.

CEO Stacey Orozco (with scissors) celebrates the ribbon cutting of the new location of Contra Costa Medical Career College with Antioch Mayor Sean Wright (in white shirt), other community leaders, Chamber of Commerce leaders and members,, and college staff and students on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017.

By Allen Payton

On Friday, August 11 Antioch community and business leaders, and Chamber of Commerce members joined with Stacey Orozco, CEO of the Contra Costa Medical Career College and her staff and students to cut the ribbon to officially open their new location in Antioch.

The school relocated in town after trying to buy the former AAA building on Auto Center Drive in 2015. (See related article)

Richard Pagano, CEO of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce said, “We’re so happy for you guys with everything you’re doing and everything you’ve accomplished.”

Mayor Sean Wright was also on hand to share his and the City’s congratulations.

“Having taken a tour of this location and seeing how beautiful it is, I’m so excited to see where you are right now,” he stated. “The Lord knows better than we do. I’m glad Antioch got to keep you. So, on behalf of the City of Antioch we have a certificate of appreciation,” which he presented to Orozco.

She then shared her appreciation for the opening of the school in its new location.

“It wouldn’t be what it is without my staff or my family,” Orozco said. “Without my second family this business wouldn’t be in existence.”

A representative of Congressman Jerry McNerney presented certificates of recognition from McNerney and Assemblyman Jim Frazier. A representative of County Supervisor Diane Burgis presented a certificate of recognition, as well.

“We wish you nothing but the best and look forward to see what comes out of it,” Pagano added.

Then Orozco cut the ribbon to cheers from those in attendance.

Now located at 4051 Lone Tree Way at Blue Rock Drive in the Blue Rock Center, the Contra Costa Medical Career College “is a small, private vocational training institution that is fully approved to operate by the California state Bureau for Private Post-secondary Education” which opened in July, 2011 and became fully accredited in May, 2013, according to their website at www.ccmcc.edu. The school offers courses for those who want to become medical assistants, as well as in the areas of surgical technology, pharmacy technology, phlebotomy and more.

For more information call (925) 757-2900 Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit their website or Facebook page.

Supporters of Antioch School Board Vice President Debra Vinson spoke and brought signs to show their support for her at the board meeting on Wednesday, August 23, 2017.

By Allen Payton

On Wednesday night, the Antioch School Board voted 3-2 to discipline Board Vice President Debra Vinson over allegations by school employees of harassment, intimidation and bullying from earlier this year. Following a two-month investigation by an outside law firm, in which Vinson did not participate and offer her side of the story, Board President Walter Ruehlig, and Trustees Diane Gibson-Gray and Gary Hack voted in favor, while Vinson and Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White voted against the motion.

The investigation was requested by Ruehlig, who as President is the only member who can communicate with the board’s attorney. The process could have remained confidential, but Vinson requested the matter be taken out of closed session and into a public meeting for discussion.

Vinson offered her side of the story in the following prepared statement, which she read at the meeting, in addition to other comments:

I regret the untimely coordination of a meeting with my legal counsel which came too late for the investigator. My attorney and I attempted to contact Ms. Maddux to set up a time to talk. It is unfortunate that we were not able to coordinate an agreed upon time with the Investigator based on availability and work schedules.

I do not agree with the findings, accusations and the conclusion of the investigation. I would never intentionally intimidate, bully, demand, or disrespect anyone. I strongly believe that we should provide excellent customer service as a district to our community of parents. I find it perplexing that I am accused of coming across as intimidating. I also need to say plainly that I do not believe that any Board policies were violated knowingly and with intention and find the definitive conclusions to be strongly injurious, subjective, opinionated and biased.

Since the district paid more than $20,000 for this investigation, and I am the accused, the district and its investigators have a duty and obligation to disclose the names of the accusers. The investigators report redacted all names, except mine, and the Investigators findings are based on statements of district employees who may have been coerced into giving a statement.

I have always tried to have a positive working relationship with district staff and recognize that I was elected to serve the people that voted for me. On this particular situation, I forwarded the parents email to the Superintendent and was directed by her to speak to the employee to whom she delegated the work/intradistrict transfer request to. Though I felt hesitant in following the Superintendent’s direction, I reached out and had a brief chat with two employees; both immediately expressed their opinion. My short conversations with the employees centered on questions around “how they could help the family and asking if anything could be done”. At no time did I demand with any forceful communication that they “had to follow” through on a request for any specific school.

I continued to communicate with the Superintendent and the Board President to ascertain if it was going to become an agenda item. No suggestions were made. I shared my concern to our District Superintendent about the safety issues that the parent expressed. To this date, I do not know how the matter ended; was the student placed at the school site that the parent requested? The Superintendent ultimately informed me that the matter was resolved “per standard procedure.” Therefore, I had no direct involvement in finalizing the process followed by our superintendent. My only involvement was to address the parent’s concerns with the Board President and Superintendent and I followed the directive given by our Superintendent. Ultimately, the district process and final decisions rest on our Superintendent and AUSD policy she followed. All I was doing was my duty in the role of serving people as an elected official.

It is true, that I put parent’s needs and concerns over any partisan issue and have not crossed over any boundaries in my role as a Trustee. My passion and strong belief for an inclusive and equitable school community as a Board Trustee. All I was doing was my duty in the role of serving the people as an elected official.

The discipline includes a possible censure by the board, as well as possible revocation of Vinson’s position as Board Vice President. The points Ruehlig made to support the action are as follows:

• In February, 2017 the Antioch Unified School District received a complaint from employees alleging that they were directed by District Trustee Debra Vinson to transfer a student from one school to another in the District contrary to District Board Policy 9200/9005.
• On receipt of the complaint, the District retained an outside, neutral investigator, Deborah Maddux of the Van Dermyden Maddux Investigations Law Firm.
• During spring 2017, Ms. Maddux conducted an investigation of the complaint, which included interviewing witnesses and reviewing documents.
• Ms. Maddux completed the investigation and submitted her investigative findings to the District in June 2017.

The District issued copies of the investigative findings to the complaints and Trustee Vinson.

The motion made by Gibson-Gray and seconded by Hack was as follows:  Directing Board President Ruehlig to send a letter to Trustee Vinson directing her to communicate inquires or requests for information or documents solely to the Superintendent, and not to communicate directly with other District office staff and site administrators unless authorized by the Board to do so for a time period of six months; Directing Board President Ruehlig to send a letter to the Complainants and other administrative employees letting them know that they are not required to respond to direct inquiries or requests from Trustee Vinson, but instead may refer her inquiries or requests to the Superintendent for handling; Board President Ruehlig to work with legal counsel to prepare a censure resolution against Trustee Vinson which would be presented to the Board for action at a future Board meeting.

Please check back later for more details, including comments from the public, Vinson and other board members.

Debra Vinson. From a 2014 Herald file photo.

By Allen Payton

A two-month investigation by an outside consultant into accusations by two Antioch Unified School District employees against Board Vice President Debra Vinson of bullying, intimidation and unethical conduct, concluded that they were valid.

According to the Executive Summary by Deborah Maddux of the Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation, the accusations were made in a letter dated February 21, 2017 regarding an incident involving Vinson and two unnamed staff members over an intra-district transfer, which was witnessed and corroborated by other staff members.

The investigator made multiple attempts between March 28 and June 1 to contact Vinson but was unsuccessful in getting a face to face interview with her, which delayed the completion of the report. Vinson responded by phone and email a few times.

“Despite extensive efforts to provide her with an opportunity to provide her perspective, by her actions, she declined to do so,” Maddux wrote regarding Vinson.

Vinson finally scheduled an interview for May 25 but according to Maddux, when she called in Vinson for the first time informed Maddux that she had retained legal counsel and wanted her attorney to participate in the interview. That interview with Vinson and her attorney never happened.

Finally, Maddux completed her investigation, without Vinson providing her side of the story. D. Vinson Investigation Exec Summary

The Findings Summary by the investigator is as follows:

“First, the versions of the interactions provided by the witnesses were consistent, credible and corroborating.

Second, despite every opportunity to do so, Trustee Vinson did not provide any information to the contrary.

Third, Trustee Vinson’s conduct in this investigation tended to support the overall allegation that she considers herself not bound by policies and processes. This is troubling for someone serving as a Trustee. Trustee Vinson was asked to participate in this process, which is required by policy, but she did not do so.”

The conclusions of the investigation are as follows:

“Trustee Vinson engaged in intimidating conduct toward two District employees.

Trustee Vinson improperly attempted to exercise administrative responsibility and commanded the services of two school employees.

Trustee Vinson used her position to pressure two District employees into making a decision that was contrary to Board policy.” (See pages 7 and 8 of the Executive Summary for the complete Findings Summary).

The accusations against Vinson are in addition to those that are the basis for a third recall effort against her. The first two efforts began, last year.

“This is the first time this information was public,” said Board President Walter Ruehlig who was the first to receive the Executive Summary from the investigator, according to District staff.

When reached for comment and asked to respond to both the allegations in the investigation, as well as the accusation of not participating in the investigative process, Vinson said “I have not yet read the Executive Summary. But, I received in the Board packet a copy of the Findings on the 11th. I have not had the chance to review the Findings. I will definitely give a response as soon as I do.”

Vinson is up for re-election in November 2018

The Executive Summary is dated June 13, but was just released this week as part of the agenda packet for the next Antioch School Board meeting on Wednesday, August 23. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Offices at 510 G Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown.

600 Cities Could Participate in the Largest, Organized Back-to-School Effort in U.S. History

(Antioch, CA) – “Education has become a matter of national security.  Because we cannot control our schools, we cannot control our economy.  And because we cannot control our economy, we cannot control and protect our quality of life in America,” says Phillip Jackson, Executive Director of The Black Star Project, U.S.A.  The Black Star Project is organizing the Million Father March 2017 on the first day of school in nearly 600 cities across America.  The Million Father March has become a special day that fathers and men use to make a commitment to their children, their families, their communities and their country with their dynamic presence at a school.  This is the real Father’s Day.

The March in Antioch will take place on August 16th in front of Marsh Elementary School at 2304 G Street Antioch, CA 94509.

Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, score higher on tests, enjoy school more and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college.  Additionally, children have fewer behavior problems when fathers listen to and talk with them regularly and are active in their lives.  A good father is part of a good parent team and is critical to creating a strong family structure.  Strong family structures produce children who are more academically proficient, socially developed, and self-assured.  Such children become adults who are valuable assets to their communities.  “Better parents produce better communities, better schools, and better students with higher academic achievements,” says Jackson.

Participants in the event include fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers, mentors and family friends.   Although this event is created by Black men, people of any gender and ethnic identification are also encouraged to take their children to school on the first school day.  Businesses are asked to give fathers and men two hours off that morning, with pay, to take their children to school.  Participating men will also be encouraged to volunteer at schools throughout the year.

The 2017 Million Father March is sponsored in part by G.R.I.O.T in association with P.O.W.E.R.  For more information about The March in Antioch, please email power_1906@yahoo.com or call Dr. Lawrence A. Rasheed (925) 726-6162.

The deadline for purchasing a ticket to the 40th reunion off the Antioch High Class of 1977 has been extended to September 1. So, for the classmates who were always late to class and have waited to purchase their tickets, don’t worry. There’s still time and you won’t be sent to detention.

The reunion will be held at the Antioch Community Center.  All information can be found at https://www.ahs77reunion.com/.  Classmates are also welcome to join the reunion Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AHS77reunion40/.

School supplies are a necessity not a want

Antioch High 16-year-old, Claryssa Wilson will host her annual Back 2 School Stuff The Bus School Supply Give-A-Way on Saturday, August 5, 2017. This event will enable students in the area an opportunity to shop for free school supplies at Somersville Towne Center at 2550 Somersville Road in Antioch from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on this Saturday, August 5th. The first 200 students will receive a signature Warriors backpack, donated by the 2017 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, in addition to some other Warrior fan favorites including additional mall-wide, back to school discounts.

“No student should not be successful due to a lack of needed school supplies,” said Claryssa, creator and host of the annual effort. “Schools supplies are a necessity, not a want.”

Many students have already benefited from the free school supplies. They attend school better prepared and ready to learn with free pencils, pens, calculators, notebooks and paper. The annual event enables students to have no excuses for not having school supplies.

Claryssa created her program the annual giveaway and School Supply Retention Program because she had peers who were disruptive in class since they did not have the basics, like a pen, paper or notebook. Some of the students she noted came from low-income homes like herself, and she just had to do something to help.