Monterey County Education Digest

North Monterey County Unified School District’s governing board appointed Angelo DiMarco to fill the vacant Trustee Area 3 seat. Five residents submitted applications for the open seat.

State law requires community colleges to spend at least half their general fund on instructors. But administrators say they want more flexibility to pay for the growing need for student services.

Looking at a dearth of accessible textbooks reflecting the diversity of Chicano/Latino/Mexican American/Latinx lives, two local professors set out to write one.

After two years of legal back-and-forth, the Monterey County Superior Court has ruled that Monterey Peninsula Unified’s environmental review of its high school stadium project is complete and legally compliant.
But opponents have filed an appeal.

Some advocates believe the state should expand the Cal Grant program for low-income students next year, even if that means pulling money from a financial aid program that benefits middle class students.

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to help student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

On the heels of a statewide report criticizing the handling of sexual harassment complaints at the California State University system, officials at California State University, Monterey Bay held a Title IX town hall to provide community members an insight into the restructuring of the office.

North Monterey County Unified School District appointed Sandra Ruiz to assume the vacant Trustee Area 5 seat formerly filled by board president Elizabeth Samuels.

Pacific Grove Unified School District’s board of trustees unanimously selected Dr. Linda Adamson to be the finalist for the position.

California State University, Monterey Bay is getting ready for a rebrand. Focus groups are being conducted to see how a new school logo is perceived among students, staff and community members.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

“Setting up our earliest learners for academic success is critical to their educational foundation and our preschool teachers set the stage for them to thrive,” said district superintendent PK Diffenbaugh.

With the growing use of AI, campus officials are trying to set clear guidelines for college application essays.

The Makerspace at CSUMB is packed with students eager to express their creativity. While it’s one of the most popular resources on campus, it struggles to keep up with demand due to a lack of funding.

The training will consist of five sessions through February 2024 to “provide legal and practical foundation for addressing and responding to bias incidents and creating a sustainable approach to system-wide practices based on a framework and internal accountability.”

Student workers at the 23-campus system say their pay is low, their hours are restricted and they get no sick pay. They are hoping to join the employees union to fix that.

To qualify for financial aid, students must maintain a certain grade-point-average, but many don’t. A bill on Gov. Newsom’s desk would make it easier for students to keep their aid and stay in college.

After a historic decline in community college enrollment during the pandemic, students are returning to school again, according to the state’s most recent data. But students between the ages of 20 and 30 are lagging behind.

The Carmel Unified School District board approved a motion to not conduct a superintendent search, and instead will consider appointing one at a future closed-session meeting.

The tuition increases were forecast earlier this year, when a Cal State task force concluded the system needs at least $1.5 billion annually in new revenue to afford student services and bolster its academic offerings.

Despite pushback from students, teachers and others, the California State University system will see tuition hikes.

“With the release of the report, California State University Monterey Bay continues to show improvement year over year,” said the university’s president, Vanya Quiñones.

Eight community colleges in California are testing out a new education model, one that defines success by the skills a student learns, not the time they spend in a classroom. But changing the traditional education system isn’t easy.

The plan, if approved, would begin at UCLA, with other campuses added later. But not everyone is on board with the latest version of this bill.

Marshall T. Fulbright III, Monterey Peninsula College’s 12th superintendent/president, has jumped head-first into his new responsibilities.

Nearly a third of K-12 students statewide were chronically absent in 2020-21, more than three times the pre-pandemic rate. Some school officials fear that pattern is becoming the new normal.

A June budget deal required community colleges to raise their own money to build affordable student housing. Some campuses said that plan prevented them from building the dorms, even with help from the state to pay the debt.

Homelessness is something Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has prioritized. Resources have evolved from one homeless youth liaison to seven full-time staff devoted to the district’s youth and families experiencing homelessness.

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks proposed legislation to help get around a court's rejection of a UC Berkeley housing plan. But even if the law is approved, its fate is in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

The federal student loan payment pause is coming to an end. Here’s how to get ready to make payments again.

At the first public forum, community members addressed desirable personal and professional qualities for the new hire, and the strengths and challenges of the district.

While the Carmel Unified School District searches for its next superintendent, Sharon Ofek will serve as the interim superintendent, the board announced last week.