Sacramento County Education Digest

Zima Creason, Tanya Kravchuk, Ben Avey and Steve Miller were sworn in as members of the San Juan Unified School District Board of Education. Creason was elected board president, while Pam Costa will serve as vice president and Miller as clerk.

Dr. Art Pimentel has been appointed the fourth president of Folsom Lake College by the Los Rios Community College District Board of Trustees.

The Elk Grove school district faces issues including students losing relationships with staff members who supported them, overwhelmed teachers, and a lack of trust in district leadership, according to a district staff report.

UC Santa Cruz’s new cryo-electron microscopy facility has a unique structure that makes the technique accessible for local researchers and is attracting international business.

Three pro-union candidates won the Sacramento City Unified school board election. The newly elected members suggest that last spring's strike wasn’t the most important matter on parents’ minds.

Black Americans are more likely to have higher student loan payments and interest rates, which can hinder their ability to buy a home and trap them in a cycle of inequity.

Assemblymembers Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) and Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) presented American River College Veterans Resource Center with a $2.5 million check from state budget. The funds will be used for structural improvements and HVAC upgrades.

Energized by activism against COVID-19 education mandates, conservative parents all over California took aim at seats on local school boards. Some saw the makings of a GOP wave in a blue state. It didn’t happen.

Prompted by school shootings across the U.S., the city is studying the feasibility of putting a police officer on every public school campus in the city.

Mike Vargas wins the race for Elk Grove Unified School District’s Trustee Area 2. The McGeorge Law School professor is also the first openly gay man elected to the board.

Just 67 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds and and 38 percent of 5- to 11-year-olds have had the primary two-shot COVID-19 vaccine series.

Overall undergraduate enrollment for the Cal State system fell once again, to 404,820 students this fall—about 17,500 fewer students than the previous year.

A discussion on the possible outcomes of the SCOTUS decision in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. the online event delved into the impact of banning the consideration of race as a factor during the college admission process.

Attorney and law professor Michael Vargas will make history as the Elk Grove Unified School District’s first openly gay trustee. Vargas won the Nov. 8 election with 3,855 votes to parent Stephanie Spurlin’s 3,271. Current board members Gina Jamerson and Beth Albiani had no challengers.

A report from the College Futures Foundation says racial bias plays a role in hiring for executive-level posts at the UCs, CSUs and community colleges.

Stanford launches the nation’s first study of an antiviral strategy for long COVID.

Folsom Lake College invites students, faculty and staff and members of the community to a groundbreaking event for the new science building on Nov. 30.

The San Juan Unified School District is seeking to fill dozens of job vacancies, according to postings at a popular education job listing website. Available positions include everything from substitute instructional assistants to database administrators.

The top vote getters on Election Day continue to hold the lead in the races for seats on the Sacramento City Council and the Natomas Unified school board, according to an updated count.

The Westlake Charter School board of directors has approved the site for a future high school campus in Natomas. Board members voted unanimously 6-0 for a $6.2 million purchase and sale agreement.

President Robert S. Nelsen, who for the past seven years has overseen Sacramento State and shepherded the university through unprecedented challenges, will retire in July, he announced on Nov. 2.

Elk Grove Unified’s 62,000 students show a slight rise in test scores after quarantine years. English scores rising, math scores flatlined; scores still lag from pre-pandemic times.

The Galt Joint Union Elementary School District is applying to stock the anti-opioid overdose medicine for students and staff.

A look back on the Bakke decision—the 1978 Supreme Court decision that ruled affirmative action was constitutional—as the Court gets ready to reexamine the matter.

Parents are paying closer attention to district decisions and are participating in California’s school board elections at a higher frequency post pandemic. According to Troy Flint, the California School Board Association’s chief information officer, the state has seen “an increase in parent engagement after [parents] got a peek into their school’s curriculum and attended online school board meetings.”

Malcolm X Academy, a full-time community homeschool in Oak Park, is modeled after the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School. The academy is part of the Neighbor Program, a pan-Afrikan socialist organization.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control decided to list COVID-19 among the vaccines it recommends for children, but each state decides whether to adopt those guidelines. It's unclear what California will do.

The Natomas Buzz invited the four candidates running for Natomas Unified school board to answer a series of questions submitted by readers.

Sacramento School Board candidate Monique Hokman, endorsed by the Sacramento Police Officers Association, publicly claimed that ultraviolet light eliminates need for the polio vaccine and also cited anti-vax conspiracy theories.

The Greater Sacramento NAACP hosted a meeting Monday to further investigate the prank slave auction at River Valley High School in Yuba City.

A special event to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the famous Sacramento-born author will be held at the Golden 1 Center on Nov. 10.

More than 3,200 student fellows during the 2022-2023 academic year will receive up to $10,000 for completing a year of community service. The College Corps program helps students graduate on time with less debt while benefiting the community.