Letters
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Last year brought change to the Lakeport Unified School District as we began to align our schools to the recommendations of the California Department of Education to improve academics, implement positive social emotional behavior systems and provide equity for all children.
Bond funds have provided updated facilities and technology that meets the majority of the students.
The district prioritized the central kitchen/high school cafeteria and library/media center. Students now have a place to eat and socialize during inclement weather, and they can now be served and eat during the 30-minute lunch period. Healthier food choices are served due to the facilities upgrades.
The new culinary program will provide our students with future career opportunities. Our food services director and new culinary teacher from Fresh & Bangin will combine their efforts to improve both our food menus and student experience. The culinary program allows the district to apply for a grant to reimburse some of our costs of the new facility.
Despite soaring costs due to the economy and local fires, the district is actively seeking funding to build the pool, tennis courts, and fitness center. Grants are being actively sought and the application for Prop 51 funding has been submitted. State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry are working with our school board to facilitate that funding.
Safety continues to be a priority of the district. The District Safety Committee consists of Lakeport Police, Lakeport Fire Department personnel, the school resource officer, administrators, teachers, classified staff, directors, maintenance staff, the school nurse, and parents and meets monthly to deal with current issues.
The Aeries communication system allows parents to choose the method of delivery they prefer during emergencies including text, email and voice mail.
Training has been provided by the FBI for active shooters response and our school resource officer is trained in the DARE program which will be delivered to students during class.
The district is supporting systems to improve school climate as required by the California Department of Education to reduce suspensions/exclusion. We believe in teaching positive behavior and social justice as opposed to harsh punishment and exclusion.
Positive Behavior Intervention System, or PBIS, is being implemented at a higher level including more training for teachers, classified staff, bus drivers and parents.
A full-time PBIS teacher coach supports positive discipline options and restorative social justice to teach students how to repair relationships and the damage caused by negative behavior.
Lakeport Elementary School now has a sensory room for students to de-escalate when they are angry and disruptive.
Clear Lake High School has instituted an advisory period to build relationships, provide academic planning and discuss social emotional issues such as bullying.
Training will be provided for all staff on PBIS, trauma-informed care, adverse childhood effects, and de-escalation techniques to help staff deal with students who have social challenges.
Staffing changes have occurred at both the elementary and middle school. The majority of the staff changes were due to teachers moving out of the area, changing positions within the district, retirement, and credential issues.
The new teachers have a high level of support. Lake County Office of Education provided a summer institute, LUSD provides an instructional teacher coach at each school and a PBIS behavior teacher coach for the district. A wide variety of training and coaching is provided throughout the year tailored to the individual needs of the new teachers.
Our Local Control Accountability Plan is currently being implemented and we have many new and exciting programs at our schools including:
● A full-time K-12 music teacher providing chorus at all grade levels.
● Instructional teacher coaches at all schools and a PBIS behavior coach districtwide.
● Community partnership coordinator to assist parents and connect with our community.
● Dashboard teams of teachers, administration, and classified staff looking at our data and making action plans in the areas of English/language arts, math, suspension, and chronic absenteeism.
● Native American AmeriCorps social/emotional support tutor located at Terrace campus.
Dennis Darling and Tom Powers are members of the Lakeport Unified School District Board and both are seeking reelection Nov. 6.
Bond funds have provided updated facilities and technology that meets the majority of the students.
The district prioritized the central kitchen/high school cafeteria and library/media center. Students now have a place to eat and socialize during inclement weather, and they can now be served and eat during the 30-minute lunch period. Healthier food choices are served due to the facilities upgrades.
The new culinary program will provide our students with future career opportunities. Our food services director and new culinary teacher from Fresh & Bangin will combine their efforts to improve both our food menus and student experience. The culinary program allows the district to apply for a grant to reimburse some of our costs of the new facility.
Despite soaring costs due to the economy and local fires, the district is actively seeking funding to build the pool, tennis courts, and fitness center. Grants are being actively sought and the application for Prop 51 funding has been submitted. State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry are working with our school board to facilitate that funding.
Safety continues to be a priority of the district. The District Safety Committee consists of Lakeport Police, Lakeport Fire Department personnel, the school resource officer, administrators, teachers, classified staff, directors, maintenance staff, the school nurse, and parents and meets monthly to deal with current issues.
The Aeries communication system allows parents to choose the method of delivery they prefer during emergencies including text, email and voice mail.
Training has been provided by the FBI for active shooters response and our school resource officer is trained in the DARE program which will be delivered to students during class.
The district is supporting systems to improve school climate as required by the California Department of Education to reduce suspensions/exclusion. We believe in teaching positive behavior and social justice as opposed to harsh punishment and exclusion.
Positive Behavior Intervention System, or PBIS, is being implemented at a higher level including more training for teachers, classified staff, bus drivers and parents.
A full-time PBIS teacher coach supports positive discipline options and restorative social justice to teach students how to repair relationships and the damage caused by negative behavior.
Lakeport Elementary School now has a sensory room for students to de-escalate when they are angry and disruptive.
Clear Lake High School has instituted an advisory period to build relationships, provide academic planning and discuss social emotional issues such as bullying.
Training will be provided for all staff on PBIS, trauma-informed care, adverse childhood effects, and de-escalation techniques to help staff deal with students who have social challenges.
Staffing changes have occurred at both the elementary and middle school. The majority of the staff changes were due to teachers moving out of the area, changing positions within the district, retirement, and credential issues.
The new teachers have a high level of support. Lake County Office of Education provided a summer institute, LUSD provides an instructional teacher coach at each school and a PBIS behavior teacher coach for the district. A wide variety of training and coaching is provided throughout the year tailored to the individual needs of the new teachers.
Our Local Control Accountability Plan is currently being implemented and we have many new and exciting programs at our schools including:
● A full-time K-12 music teacher providing chorus at all grade levels.
● Instructional teacher coaches at all schools and a PBIS behavior coach districtwide.
● Community partnership coordinator to assist parents and connect with our community.
● Dashboard teams of teachers, administration, and classified staff looking at our data and making action plans in the areas of English/language arts, math, suspension, and chronic absenteeism.
● Native American AmeriCorps social/emotional support tutor located at Terrace campus.
Dennis Darling and Tom Powers are members of the Lakeport Unified School District Board and both are seeking reelection Nov. 6.
- Details
- Written by: Dennis Darling and Tom Powers
As I sit here, just a few days away from the Lakeport Unified School Board election, I am extremely concerned with the divide in our community that is being caused and at times seemingly promoted by the candidates running as a “three-member team” in this election.
This “team” approach sounds favorable in theory, but do we really want decisions that directly impact our schools and students to be made as a “team”?
It is obvious to me that this three-member team has a set agenda that does not take into account any of the services or actions that our existing board members are currently addressing. I know that I want members of a board that weigh the facts and aren’t afraid to independently do what they feel is best for the district and our students.
This three-member team has not only made their action plan public by Web site, social media, newspaper and campaign propaganda, but they have even resorted to delivering numerous evening robo calls. The one thing that is surprisingly missing from the basic three-point action plan is OUR STUDENTS!
In all of the articles, phone calls and propaganda distributed, they have failed to make any mention of our students and what they are going to do to directly help them.
This same three-member team also states that they have talked to teachers, staff, volunteers and parents, but what about talking to the administrators at each site and the superintendent?
I have made it a point to attend several board meetings, PTO meetings and both Lakeport Elementary School “Conversations with the Principal” events, and most recently a Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee meeting. What I have found to be consistent with our current leadership is the transparency of information and the willingness to openly discuss difficult topics, and opening up conversations on how they can improve. The one thing that is clear in every meeting that I have attended, is that the students best interests are at the forefront of decisions.
In addition, this three-member team who openly blames the new superintendent for the downfall of this district has obviously had blinders on for the past several years and isn’t aware of the problematic indicators that the California Department of Education notified LUSD about from data prior to the 2016-17 school year.
It surprises me to read or hear statements made from individuals who have never been on campus, have not taken the initiative to research the real facts or to physically show up to these events to ask questions. It appears from recent articles that the desire of this three-member team and their supporters is to go back to the system that was in place 20 years ago that is no longer legal and is not best for the diversity of our current students.
I attended the latest Conversations with the Principal event at Lakeport Elementary, where the topic was the discipline policy and the discipline matrix that were both developed by the PBIS Team and the teaching staff over the last three years.
I was surprised by the level of detail and the focus of teaching to the whole child (academics, behavior and social-emotional). It also dispelled the comments that I have been hearing in regards to this school not suspending students and having no real consequences for poor behavior. It starts in the classroom where teachers have a clear expectation of the desired behaviors and level of consequences that are expected within the classroom environment.
It seems logical that as the behaviors increased on the matrix, the students would be referred to the office by the classroom teacher for further consequences.
If you are really questioning how things are handled, you should call and ask questions and not just assume that because changes have been made in recent years that they are negatively impacting student learning. Like anything that is new, it takes time and acceptance to make it fully functionable.
The effort and energy that was evident from the last Lakeport Elementary PTO meeting and the Conversations with the Principal that I attended, it became apparent that the staff and leadership are working together to continue to refine a system that supports all students.
I would encourage you to ask questions, do some of your own research and not fall into the trap of basing your viewpoints from hearsay that is being angled towards an already predetermined agenda endorsed by the three-member team.
Remember that our school district board should be driving their decisions around what is best for all kids and not always what is easy for the adults.
Kathy Gonzales lives in Lakeport, Calif.
This “team” approach sounds favorable in theory, but do we really want decisions that directly impact our schools and students to be made as a “team”?
It is obvious to me that this three-member team has a set agenda that does not take into account any of the services or actions that our existing board members are currently addressing. I know that I want members of a board that weigh the facts and aren’t afraid to independently do what they feel is best for the district and our students.
This three-member team has not only made their action plan public by Web site, social media, newspaper and campaign propaganda, but they have even resorted to delivering numerous evening robo calls. The one thing that is surprisingly missing from the basic three-point action plan is OUR STUDENTS!
In all of the articles, phone calls and propaganda distributed, they have failed to make any mention of our students and what they are going to do to directly help them.
This same three-member team also states that they have talked to teachers, staff, volunteers and parents, but what about talking to the administrators at each site and the superintendent?
I have made it a point to attend several board meetings, PTO meetings and both Lakeport Elementary School “Conversations with the Principal” events, and most recently a Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee meeting. What I have found to be consistent with our current leadership is the transparency of information and the willingness to openly discuss difficult topics, and opening up conversations on how they can improve. The one thing that is clear in every meeting that I have attended, is that the students best interests are at the forefront of decisions.
In addition, this three-member team who openly blames the new superintendent for the downfall of this district has obviously had blinders on for the past several years and isn’t aware of the problematic indicators that the California Department of Education notified LUSD about from data prior to the 2016-17 school year.
It surprises me to read or hear statements made from individuals who have never been on campus, have not taken the initiative to research the real facts or to physically show up to these events to ask questions. It appears from recent articles that the desire of this three-member team and their supporters is to go back to the system that was in place 20 years ago that is no longer legal and is not best for the diversity of our current students.
I attended the latest Conversations with the Principal event at Lakeport Elementary, where the topic was the discipline policy and the discipline matrix that were both developed by the PBIS Team and the teaching staff over the last three years.
I was surprised by the level of detail and the focus of teaching to the whole child (academics, behavior and social-emotional). It also dispelled the comments that I have been hearing in regards to this school not suspending students and having no real consequences for poor behavior. It starts in the classroom where teachers have a clear expectation of the desired behaviors and level of consequences that are expected within the classroom environment.
It seems logical that as the behaviors increased on the matrix, the students would be referred to the office by the classroom teacher for further consequences.
If you are really questioning how things are handled, you should call and ask questions and not just assume that because changes have been made in recent years that they are negatively impacting student learning. Like anything that is new, it takes time and acceptance to make it fully functionable.
The effort and energy that was evident from the last Lakeport Elementary PTO meeting and the Conversations with the Principal that I attended, it became apparent that the staff and leadership are working together to continue to refine a system that supports all students.
I would encourage you to ask questions, do some of your own research and not fall into the trap of basing your viewpoints from hearsay that is being angled towards an already predetermined agenda endorsed by the three-member team.
Remember that our school district board should be driving their decisions around what is best for all kids and not always what is easy for the adults.
Kathy Gonzales lives in Lakeport, Calif.
- Details
- Written by: Kathy Gonzales
How to resolve AdBlock issue?