Monterey County Education Digest

Jake Odello and Annette Yee Steck will go head-to-head June 7 for an open seat on the Monterey County Board of Education. The winner will serve until November, when the position will be open for a four-year term. The open seat is for Trustee Area 1, which includes New Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Big Sur.

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District will be the first district in California to provide short-term emergency housing for students experiencing homelessness through a partnership with Motel 6.

While schools across the state have reported decreases, enrollment is up about 25% at San Antonio Union School District compared to last school year, the highest in about five years.

The University of California system this fall will begin to pay the tuition for California residents who are Native American. The decision could affect more than 600 students. UC President Michael Drake said the move would “advance critical efforts to expand student diversity and make the University of California more affordable.”

California is delaying a coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren until at least the summer of 2023. The state was the first to announce a mandate, but it will not take effect until federal regulators give final approval to the vaccine for children.

There are approximately 6 million items in the inventory of the California State Library. Four million of those are books, and nearly 2,000 of those are law books.

A new science and engineering building slated for CSU Monterey Bay’s campus will honor a local family long devoted to California agriculture recognizes the role technology could play in the future of the industry,

Hartnell College has received a nearly $500,000 state grant to further early childhood education training and opportunities for students.

After community college enrollment collapsed in late 2020, California lawmakers came up with $120 million to help stem the tide of departing students. So far, progress has been uneven.

Flanked by local officials and civil rights leaders, retired Central Coast state Sen. Bill Monning unveiled a collection of his legislative papers that will be housed at the CSU Monterey Bay library.

State legislation taking effect in the fall requires all school districts to add free programs for children who turn 5 between Sept. 2, 2022, and Feb. 2, 2023. Known as transitional kindergarten, this pre-K year teaches students important life skills.

Earlier this month, CSU Monterey Bay released a draft environmental impact report reviewing its master plan . The report marks progress in the university’s latest push to improve.

Alameda Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman capped UC Berkeley enrollment at 2020-21 levels, after Berkeley citizens sued over the toll that enrollment growth would take on the city. A Court of Appeals rejected UC Berkeley’s request Feb. 10 to undo that cap. Now UCB is looking to the state’s highest court.

As school districts all across Monterey County finalize and submit new district maps, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is not just rearranging boundaries but also creating completely new trustee areas.

California schools currently only receive money for students who are present in class. A new bill might change this policy.

When students returned to some semblance of a normal school year this fall, officials warned there would be increased incidents of pandemic-related stress and threats of violence. These warnings have come to fruition in Monterey County.

State Senator Anna Caballero presented a $5 million check to the City of Gonzales last month and the center is expected to open in 2024.

Cal State University Monterey Bay took a step toward divesting from fossil fuels, with support for the idea affirmed at a Nov. 8 committee. Though no action was taken, participants agreed to analyze what divestment would mean for the school, both financially and logistically.

California State University, Monterey Bay was awarded a $975,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to incentivize students to pursue a degree in agricultural plant and soil services.

With hundreds of people in attendance, the Soledad Educational Center held its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 23.

Hartnell College Foundation invited donors to its King City Education Center expansion for a luncheon and ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the project, which doubled the size of the downtown center.

As an educator studying education and pedagogy, Lora Bartlett is well versed in the “grammar of schooling,” which describes the structure students expect from their schools. But over the past 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everything.

Almost exactly one year ago, on Oct. 23, Monterey Peninsula College welcomed David Martin as the permanent superintendent of the community college district and president of the college. After a short tenure, he’s moving on.

Hartnell College in Salinas is requiring all students and employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. When and how the mandate goes into effect is still up in the air. Unvaccinated students will be allowed to finish fall 2021 classes.

CSU Monterey Bay, Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College received a combined total of $26 million in assistance during the pandemic, while Monterey County students saw $9.5 million in aid. This aid included funding for with distance learning, tuition reimbursements and more.

Everett Alvarez High School’s “Puente Project” is an educational booster that helps under-served children understand and better prepare for college. Thanks to the program, dozens of students have gone on to prestigious universities.

DigitalNEST, a nonprofit from Watsonville, has opened a standing location in an old Salinas firehouse to help support tech education locally. The center offers free WIFI, tech classes, and educational support for local students.

Hartnell College in Salinas has formed an ad hoc committee to search for a permanent superintendent/president. Raúl Rodríguez has served as interim in the position but he is coming up on the two-year limit in that role.

On Sept. 7, the Hartnell Community College District Board took the first steps toward choosing a permanent superintendent/president to replace Raúl Rodriguez, who has served on an interim basis since June 2020.

With 10,000 students in the district, there have been just six cases of school-acquired COVID-19 in this school year, while 120 students reported community-acquired COVID infections.

With in-person class attendance exceeding expectations, Hartnell’s new Soledad Education Center has 185 students in both face-to-face and online offerings in 10 total classes. A grand-opening celebration will be held Oct. 23.

The investigation at Salinas Union High School District into student involvement in a racist incident involving a Black doll has concluded. SUHSD Superintendent Dan Burns apologized in a video released Sept. 1, in which he also apologized to the Black community.