Clovis college changes COVID vaccination requirements for summer school. What to know
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Hey everyone. I’m Lasherica. Are you enjoying your Tuesday so far? If not, I think I have what some may consider good news.
Fresno County is joining communities across the nation in lifting its COVID-19 restrictions, a step toward a return to normalcy.
While businesses will operate without social distancing, vaccination or pandemic-related capacity restrictions, colleges are also lifting restrictions.
For example, Clovis Community College changed its vaccination requirement ahead of its summer classes that start next week.
The change makes it easier for students to attend in-person classes and access in-person sessions because they have the choice of either:
Uploading proof of a COVID-19 vaccine or
Testing for COVID-19 twice a week, not consecutively, at the approved SCCCD testing sites through a saliva test.
In other news, here are stories the Ed Lab has been working on that are important to communities across the San Joaquin Valley.
THE LATEST FROM THE EDUCATION LAB
Sanger school board won’t stop school merger, but will it drop its charter status?
A merger between two Sanger Unified K-12 programs has divided the affected communities. And regardless of support, opposition or pleas to the board to do something about it, the merger is happening, district leadership is saying.
Fresno City College has lost thousands of students since 2020. Why it’s a ‘community issue’
Fresno-area community college leaders hope enrollment will rebound this fall even as a new report shows fewer students attended colleges across the U.S. in the last year.
35 Fresno teachers say FUSD failed to improve security after parent barged into class
Teachers at Pyle Elementary signed an open letter criticizing FUSD.
Fresno Unified defends decision not to order lockdown when parent stormed into classroom
FUSD officials responded to a long list of criticisms from Pyle Elementary teachers in connection with the May 17 incident.
Clovis Unified employees win big raises. Here’s why some teachers say it’s not enough
Clovis schools are among the highest achieving and lowest paying in the region.
NOT THE LATEST, BUT SOME OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL
While our latest are important for you guys to read, I think it’s just as necessary and imperative to reflect on powerful stories from the past.
Obviously I’m still kind of new as is Julianna, but veteran reporter Ashleigh shared some of her most memorable from the last six years.
“The stories that have stuck with me have definitely been those about mothers and children,” she said.
Some of those are:
With Fresno students struggling during COVID-19, this church got creative. Here’s how from Dec. 2020
“Last year after everything happened, I was at home by myself,” one boy said.
Students with kids are now teachers during coronavirus. How can California colleges help? from April 2020
“For the past two weeks, I’ve been having breakdowns where I feel like, you know what, I can’t do this anymore.”
Fresno City College student says professor told her not to breastfeed during online lecture from Oct. 2020
“Don’t let anybody tell you when and where you can feed your baby.”
California is keeping an eye on this education program in Merced County. Here’s why from April 2021
In Merced County, 45% of children ages 3 to 5 are not enrolled in preschool or kindergarten.
MORE FRESNO-AREA EDUCATION NEWS
Fresno Unified School District celebrated 50 of its educators at its Excellence in Education Awards in late May.
District-wide awards went to:
Since the Yosemite Unified School District started in 2005, board member Monika Moulin has served on the school board. Moulin will be retiring this December at the end of her term to continue working as a consultant and trainer for the California School Boards Association (CSBA), a role she’s juggled during most of her tenure as a board trustee.
In the role, she leads sessions and workshops for board members across the state on topics such as community relations, policy and judicial review.
“It has been such a privilege to have served the kids and families and schools in the Yosemite district,” she said about her time as a board member in a media release. “Of course, I’ll miss it, but it has enriched my life immensely, and I’m so proud to have been a part of such a wonderful organization,”
Though on a different level, continuing her role with the statewide school board association will allow Moulin to continue pursuing her passion for public education.
The nursing programs at Fresno State and Fresno City College are partnering to address the Central Valley’s nursing shortage through the Nurse Pipeline Extension Project.
Congressman Jim Costa recently secured more than $1 million in funding for community projects for the most pressing needs in Fresno, Madera and Merced Counties, a media release said. Of that, $475,000 will expand Fresno State’s and Fresno City College’s programs and create opportunities for nursing students, especially first generation college students of color, to get bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Through the project, students getting their associate degree at Fresno City College can get their bachelor’s in about three years at Fresno State through a dual enrollment style format and can attend the master’s program at the university.
“These projects support underserved areas and foster economic development, providing more opportunities for folks to get ahead,” Costa said.
The Nurse Pipeline Extension Project has a goal for 75 to graduate with a bachelor’s and at least five to graduate with a masters each year.
WANT MORE EDUCATION NEWS? HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Julianna’s list
Can arts education help kids heal from the trauma of the pandemic? “Once a classical value within a comprehensive education, the arts have long been scrubbed in favor of math and science. But the pandemic has shined a bright light on the need to help children cope with trauma and find ways to heal, experts say.” | EdSource
Texas Republicans want to arm more school employees, but few districts are opting in
Since the state created the school marshal program in 2013 to train and license educators to carry a gun on campus in the wake of Sandy Hook, just 84 school districts out of more than 1,200 across the state have opted in. “Of those districts, only 361 people have ever become a licensed school marshal across a state that has 9,000 campuses and more than 369,000 public school teachers,” the Texas Tribune reports. Advocates say this is because educators don’t want the responsibility to deter mass shootings to fall on them. | Texas Tribune
Lasherica’s list
Legislature disagrees with Newsom on how to spend additional billions for education
For school districts and charter schools to get billions more in the governor’s funding proposal, lawmakers would have to cut into Gov. Newsom’s early literacy proposal to train and hire elementary school literacy coaches and reading specialists and to create or expand multilingual school or classroom libraries. See how else the legislature and governor’s funding plans differ. | EdSource
New teaching residency at CSUB targets Black student success “The educational system — from the curriculum and the books students read to systems of practice — wasn’t created to support Black students, according to Shaylyn Marks, the director of teacher credentialing for CSUB teacher education. This leads to poor outcomes, which Marks calls the opportunity gap. The Black Educator Teacher Residency looks at ways to transform this system, Marks said.” | EdSource
New York Let Residences for Kids With Serious Mental Health Problems Vanish. Desperate Families Call the Cops Instead. “Many residential treatment facilities for children in New York are shutting down, leaving families frustrated and scrambling to find mental health services. Some kids age out of care as they wait.” | ProPublica
The Ed Lab has a busy week ahead of us, so follow us on social media for the the lastest news as it’s happening.
You can follow the Ed Lab’s Twitter, see if you can catch our editor Rob online or get engaging K-12 news directly from Julianna and me, Lasherica!
