The Chancellor’s Search Committee has announced the selection of three finalists for the position of Chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District (District). The finalists are: Eugene Huff, Dr. Kindred Murillo, and Dr. Fred Wood.

The 20 members of the Search Committee have been working since May 24th to recruit and interview candidates and narrow their choices down to the top three.

Public forums have been scheduled at each college and the District Office on Monday, October 31, 2016, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The three finalists will make statements and answer questions from attendees. The public forums will be 50 minutes each and are open to the community, students, faculty and staff. A detailed schedule of the public forums is available at www.4cd.edu.

If anyone is unable to attend the scheduled public forums, the public forums held at Contra Costa College will be streamed live, and links to these recorded public forums will be available on the District website. Online comments about the finalists will be accepted through November 1, 2016, 5:00 p.m.

The Governing Board will interview all three finalists on November 1, 2016, and conduct additional deliberations as needed. It is anticipated that a public meeting will be scheduled within a couple of weeks following the interviews at which time the Governing Board will take action on the Chancellor search.

The Chancellor serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the District and reports directly to the five-member elected Governing Board. The Chancellor, in collaboration with the three college presidents and other District leadership, is responsible for assessing, planning, organizing and evaluating the resources, programs and services of the District to meet the educational needs of the students and the community.

As the educational and administrative leader of the District, the Chancellor represents the District to community groups, business and industry, labor organizations, public school districts, the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges, the University of California, California State University, private colleges and universities, city and county agencies, and the California legislature.

Following are the three finalists for Contra Costa Community College District Chancellor

Gene Huff (top left) has been with the Contra Costa Community College District since 2001. He has served as Executive Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services, since 2013, overseeing the fiscal services, human resources, information technology, police services and risk management areas for the District. He first served as a contract administrator, Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, in 2004 and has been the District’s chief negotiator since that time. Prior to joining the District, Huff worked for Whirlpool Corporation in operations and human resources for eleven years. Huff serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the Contra Costa County Schools Insurance Group, and chairs the District’s Retirement Board of Authority. He is best known for training and presenting on collective bargaining, and interest-based bargaining in particular, to human resources and other groups for almost a decade. He graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in management.

Dr. Kindred Murillo is a passionate college educator serving for twenty years in the California Community College System. Serving for the past five years as the Superintendent/President of Lake Tahoe Community College, Kindred has worked with the campus and the local community to financially stabilize the college through Measure F, transparent and accountable budgets, and a focus on scheduling for “student access and success.” Before arriving in Tahoe, she served as the Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services for Contra Costa Community College District. Kindred also served as the Vice President of Administrative Services at Pasadena Area Community College District. She was promoted to Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services when Copper Mountain Community College became a separate district. Kindred was hired as an adjunct faculty at Desert Community College District in 1996, served as a full-time faculty member, and moved into college administration in 2000. She brings a unique background to community college with 13 years of business and six years of governmental relations experience. Kindred is a product of the community college system, graduating from Barstow College with a liberal arts degree.  She completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Redlands University and earned a Master of Science in Organizational Development and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Pepperdine University. Kindred enjoys spending time with her family riding bikes, hiking, and paddle boarding. She loves to read and is an avid seeker of knowledge.

Dr. Fred Wood presently serves as Chancellor at the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC). UMC, which was a two-year technical college beginning in 1966 and transitioned to a baccalaureate granting institution in 1993, is a work-force focused campus of the U of M system of which half of the degree seeking students are on-campus students and the other half are on-line. UMC offers an experiential learning based curriculum where on-campus students are required to complete an internship and currently offers 14 degrees fully on-line. Chancellor Wood joined UMC after a 26-year career at the University of California, Davis, where he served as vice chancellor of student affairs from 2007 to 2012, leading one of the largest student affairs portfolios in the nation. His career at UC Davis included other leadership positions, as well, such as interim vice provost for undergraduate studies and associate dean of the College of Letters and Science, while concurrently serving as a faculty member in chemistry. He began both his college education and professional career at the community college. Prior to UC Davis, Dr. Wood was a faculty member at North Idaho College and his first teaching assignment during graduate school was at Diablo Valley College. A first-generation college graduate, Chancellor Wood earned an A.A from Diablo Valley College, and B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from UC Davis. He is married and has three grown children. He enjoys hiking, biking and skiing with his family.

The Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. The CCCCD 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.

Following are the Members of the Chancellor Search Committee:

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), the only Bay Area member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, received a perfect grade on the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual report card for the first session of the 114th Congress. The NEA is made up of 3 million members who are teachers and staff that work in every level of education, from pre-school to university graduate programs. Their Legislative Report Card measures Members of Congress’ overall support for public education and educators, with each Member receiving a letter grade of A, B, C, D or F.

“We know student success is highly dependent on early investment in their education. In my first year as a Member of Congress, I fought for a high quality and affordable education for every student in every classroom across the country. I am deeply honored to receive an A from the National Education Association and look forward to continuing to work with the NEA to improve our schools and prioritize student’s academic success,” said Congressman DeSaulnier.

“We commend Congressman DeSaulnier for listening to educators and getting the job done for students during the 114th Congress,” said Mary Kusler, NEA director of government relations. “The Congressional passage of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, which Rep. DeSaulnier supported, is a direct result of what is possible when legislators from both sides of the political aisle put students ahead of partisan politics especially in an era of gridlock in Washington. This result also is an unequivocal recognition that many lawmakers still believe educators – those who know the names of their students – are the most trusted professionals best equipped to make school and classroom decisions to ensure student success regardless of ZIP code. We hope that the bipartisanship displayed at times last year will lead to greater future collaboration. We will continue to work with all elected officials to ensure the success of every student in America.”

Congressman DeSaulnier’s measures to improve Head Start programs, protect student athletes from concussions, and strengthen students’ access to support and “wraparound” services like tutoring, counseling, and other extracurricular activities were successfully included in the Every Student Succeeds Act. Additionally, Congressman DeSaulnier recently completed his Education Listening Tour, during which he visited every school district and in California’s 11th Congressional District.

By Allen Payton

The latest court hearing in the Contra Costa District Attorney’s case against Contra Costa County School Board Member Jeff Belle, over a lie on his ballot his statement in 2014, was held on Monday, October 17th.  However, according to Deputy D.A. Steve Moawad, “it was put over” and “the next court date is December 15th.”

At that hearing, Belle will have to either change his plea from not guilty or the judge will set a date for trial, Moawad explained.

Belle was charged with lying on his candidate’s statement in his campaign for school board in 2014, for writing that he had a college degree, when he had not yet obtained one. That fact was revealed in an interview with this reporter for an article posted on the Herald website.

If convicted, the maximum penalty for lying on a ballot statement is a fine of $1,000. Belle represents Area 5 on the county school board, which includes most of Antioch.

Community organizations and hundreds of families support new, high-quality charter school

Rocketship Education annou​nced today that the nonprofit public charter school network filed a petition with the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) to open a public elementary charter school for grades TK through 5th for the 2018-2​019 school year.

​Rocketship Education is a non-profit network of public elementary charter schools serving over 6,000 students in Bay Area neighborhoods with limited access to excellent schools. Nearly nine out of ten Rocketship students in the Bay Area are socioeconomically disadvantaged, over half are English Learners and 83 percent are classified as ethnic minorities.

This proposed school is already seeing a groundswell of community support, with more than a dozen organizations and community leaders pledging to back the project. Furthermore, several hundred parents signed on to bring a Rocketship school to Antioch, demonstrating a strong demand for high-quality public school options in their city.

“The historic and prevalent impact of systematic oppression on school systems has produced racially disproportionate outcomes that are all too familiar. Education must continue to serve as a vehicle of social mobilization for at-risk communities. Under-served families must have access to high performing schools that are based on a model of equity, excellence and efficacy. Our community needs a school model that demonstrates coherent cultural responsiveness and authentic community engagement,” said Dr. Lamont A. Francies, Pastor Delta Bay Church of Christ.

Families in Antioch are helping to bring Rocketship to their city due to the lack of high-quality public schools in the area. For the 2015-16 school year, only 19% of all students in grades 3-5 in the AUSD met or exceeded state mathematics standards, leaving thousands of children behind grade level. Only 15% of both socioeconomically disadvantaged and Hispanic students met or exceeded these standards. In English Language Arts (ELA) just 30% of all AUSD students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded grade-level standards on the California state assessment, and less than one quarter of socioeconomically disadvantaged studentsmet or exceeded standards.

​Yet on this same 2015-16 California state assessment, Rocketship’s Bay Area network of 10 schools ranked in the top 10% in both math and ELA among all elementary school districts serving a similar student population across the state.

“As someone who has been working with and for children in and around Antioch for years, I’ve seen far too many who give up, and never go on to college. This is especially true for students of color,” said Angel Luevano, Executive Director of Todos Unidos. “Rocketship schools have a college-focused mindset beginning with the youngest students. Their goal to eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime is not just rhetoric, but is real, and seen every day at Rocketship schools. They bring with them hope for success, and they know how to get the job done.”

“I’m very excited that Rocketship Education is coming to Antioch,” said John Crowder, Director of the Math Intensive program in the district. “​I’ve personally visited two of their ten schools in San Jose, and have seen first-hand the positive impact they’ve had on student achievement. This is great news for our students, our parents, and our community.”

About Rocketship Education

Rocketship Education is a nonprofit public charter network of 16 elementary schools serving low-income communities with limited access to excellent schools. Founded in 2007 in San Jose, California, Rocketship has since expanded to Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C. By building a scalable and sustainable school model that propels student achievement in underserved communities, Rocketship is working to eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime. Visit www.rsed.org to learn more.

The school board meeting is at 7:00 p.m. in the School Services Building at 510 G Street in downtown Antioch. To view the complete meeting agenda, click here.

John T. Nejedly

By Allen Payton

In an effort to learn the cause of death of Contra Costa Community College District Trustee John T. Nejedly over the weekend, while he was in New Orleans following a conference, inquiries were made to both the New Orleans Police Department and New Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office, today.

“The New Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office releases the names of victims,” said Dawn Massey, Senior Public Information Officer of the New Orleans Police Public Affairs Division. “We’ve had a couple of unclassified deaths that came in over the weekend.”

Unclassified means there was no obvious signs of death, she explained.

When asked for information about Nejedly’s death, Gayell Johnson of the Coroner’s Office said, “Once the person is autopsied it takes awhile to determine the cause of death. That is not something we know at this time.”

The Nejedly case “came in as a UI which is ‘under investigation’,” she added.

When asked how many days that will take, Johnson replied, “You mean how many weeks. The usual time is eight to sixteen weeks” for the results of the autopsy to be released.

However, his body can be released once the autopsy is completed, which is within 24 to48 hours, so a memorial service can be held, she added.

John T. Nejedly

The Contra Costa Community College District (District) sadly announces the passing of Governing Board (Board) member John T. Nejedly this past weekend.  Mr. Nejedly represented Ward 4 which includes Blackhawk, Byron, Danville, Diablo, Discovery Bay, San Ramon, and parts of Alamo, Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, and Concord.

“Our prayers and sympathies are with the Nejedly family and friends,” says Board President Vicki Gordon.  “Mr. Nejedly’s long tenure on the Board demonstrated his support of the community college mission.  He will be missed.”

Mr. Nejedly was first elected to the Board in 1994, and was serving his sixth consecutive term of office.  He is only the fourth member to represent this area since the District was created in 1948.

“We are saddened and shocked by his passing and will miss his consistent, rational approach to issues facing the District.  The success of our students was his top priority,” Chancellor Helen Benjamin said.

After graduating from Cal-Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a degree in Construction Management, Mr. Nejedly completed his education at John F. Kennedy University School of Law, where he received his law degree.  In addition to being a member of the California State Bar, he was a California licensed Real Estate Broker and licensed General Engineering Contractor.

The oldest son of the late State Senator John A. Nejedly, he was the brother of County Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho and Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Board Member James Nejedly.

He first ran for public office in 1992, but unsuccessfully for the Danville Town Council. He also ran for County Assessor in 2010, losing to incumbent Gus Kramer.

“Trustee Nejedly was the only Board member who worked on the passage of all three District bond campaigns, Measures A 2002 and 2006, and Measure E 2014,” said Board member John Márquez who has served on the Board with Mr. Nejedly for six years.  “His construction knowledge and experience provided a sound and critical voice as we modernized our campus facilities to improve the learning environment for students.”

A resident of San Ramon, Mr. Nejedly and his wife have three children and enjoyed spending time in the mountains and playing golf.

Along with so many national politicians these days, special education teacher (and non-politician) Jordan Rice is looking for many votes. But, as all political parties will agree, Rice’s campaign is certainly worthy of everyone’s votes, because her “platform” will empower the special-needs students at her Turner Elementary Special Education School, in Antioch.

Due to her creative vision and impressive application, Rice is now a finalist of the 2016 Farmer Insurance’s Dream Big Challenge, under the $100,000 grant category. Out of hundreds of applicants, her Safety Town project is now a finalist, along with 14 other nation-wide submissions. When all of the national votes are tabulated at the end of this month, six of the fifteen $100,000 projects will be funded.

About Safety Town:

“Safety Town is a different and creative way to motivate and engage students who have significant learning needs,” says Rice. Housed on the school’s campus, Safety Town will be a miniature town that will feature about eight small playhouses that the students and adults can enter inside. Each playhouse will be designed as a miniature bank, police station, fire station, school, grocery store, etc.  Safety Town reinforces concepts that begin in the classroom, by bringing them to life in a new relatable environment.  This setting closely resembles one that they will encounter in the real word and allows for easier generalization, or transition, of the skills learned in class. “For example, the grocery store will include learning objectives such as money concepts, answering wh- questions, sorting, colors, matching, and collaborative learning.”

For additional information about Rice’s project, please view this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn7ppxWNYDc

About the Election:

As of October 1, 2016, those who would like to vote for Safety Town coming to Turner School can now do so. Everyone who is 18-years or older can cast their vote once a day, from the same email address. The online votes can be made, through October 31, at https://www.farmers.com/thank-americas-teachers/vote-for-a-teacher/vote-100k-proposal.

Remember, there are no district precincts in this national vote.

“Please vote for our Safety Town proposal, it will give our students the resources and skills they need to become meaningful and engaged active participants in our community,” Rice added.