Music Professor Pat Setzer to receive Hayward Award for Excellence in Education

EL CAJON – Cuyamaca College music instructor Pat Setzer, a key player in the planning and construction of a performing arts complex inside the campus’ sprawling $45 million communication arts center, is one of four community college faculty members statewide to win the 2010 Hayward Award for Excellence in Education.

By Miriam Raftery

March 10, 2010 (La Mesa) – Last week, we reported that Helix Charter High School’s board has filed a lawsuit against the Grossmont Union High School District after the GUHSD announcing its intent to consider revocation of the Helix charter.

Now GUHSD Superintendent Robert Collins has issued a public letter strongly defending the District’s actions and accusing Helix Charter Board of being “non-responsive” and engaging in “delaying tactics” regarding an administrator accused of contributing to delinquency of a minor.  In response, Helix Charter Board president Cathy Singer has fired back a blistering letter of her own, calling Collins “dead wrong” and accusing the District of mounting an “unjustified and expensive smear campaign of Helix.”

March 6, 2010 (San Diego) -- Congressman Bob Filner is among 111 cosponsors of the Community College Energy Training Act (H.R. 3731), legislation that will support community colleges as they train a new generation of technicians and other workers in America’s renewable energy industry.

 
 
March 2, 2010 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Spring Valley School Board's agenda this evening includes a public hearing on a tentative agreement between the LMSV Teachers Association and the Board of Education. The proposal includes early retirement incentives and pontentially, layoffs if 43 certified staffers opt for the early retirement.  Other agenda items include a financial report and budget updates, human resource recommendations, and a proposal to reduce programs and services by 98 positions in fields ranging from music to physical education to language services.

March 2, 2010 (SDSU) – Four reported sexual assaults have occurred in the San Diego State University area in the past two weeks, including one case where the suspect reportedly broke in to the victim’s home. In addition, a man was robbed at gunpoint and another was beaten during a robbery on campus.

 
 
March 1, 2010 (El Cajon)--Grossmont College Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds for educational programs benefiting students at Grossmont College in El Cajon, is seeking nominations for its 2010 Walk of Fame Alumni Award. The Walk of Fame, located on campus in the Main Quad area, is a display of several bronze plaques embedded in concrete that feature names of distinguished alumni.
 

February 24, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Grossmont Union High School District has rescheduled a closed/executive meeting for Thursday, February 25 at 3:30 p.m.  The meeting was rescheduled after East County Magazine obtained a legal opinion from Terry Francke, general counsel at Californians Aware, that the Brown Act had been violated, as we previously reported. ECM requested both 24 hours notice and a written description of the "threatened litigation" and "one matter" listed on the original agenda.   

The revised agenda for tomorrow's meeting reveals that a lawsuit has now been filed by Helix Charter High against the district.  

February 23, 2010 (El Cajon) – In response to a request by East County Magazine, the Grossmont Union High School District has announced cancellation of tonight’s special meeting. As noted in our story earlier today http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2818 , ECM notified the district that the meeting was in violation of Brown Act requirements because the district failed to provide 24 hours to media outlets that requested prior notice of special meetings, and because the public has not been provided any description of threatened litigation on a closed session agenda.

ECM NOTIFIES BOARD OF BROWN ACT VIOLATION; REQUESTS POSTPONEMENT & DOCUMENTATION OF LEGAL CHALLENGE

Closed session shrouded in secrecy, including vague description of threatened suit

February 22, 2010 (El Cajon) --Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s preliminary budget, released in January, will force more deep cuts for local schools. Tomorrow evening, Cajon Valley School Board will weigh how to cope with $3.5 million in new revenue reductions that the Governor’s budget would mean for the District---on top of a $6 million shortfall that the Board was already anticipating.

February 11, 2010 (La Mesa) – Tonight the Grossmont-Union High School District  voted 4-0 to send a notice of intent to revoke the charter from Helix Charter High School.  A public hearing will be held next month.  (for background, see our previous story.) Now Helix supporters are firing back—contending that the district’s motives may be financial, not altruistic.

By Steve Haiman, Academic League Coordinator

February 9, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Never mind about the Super Bowl last Sunday--the Grossmont Union High School District had its version of the the Super Bowl last week at West Hills High School.

 
February 5, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Cuyamaca College’s $28 million business and technology building has opened, just as students returned to campus for the start of the spring 2010 semester. Once relegated to temporary trailers, shared with a nest of skunks, the various disciplines in the business department are delighted to finally have a building to call their own.

February 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Faced with a budget crisis due to state funding cuts and declining revenues, Grossmont Union High School District’s governing board will consider seeking waivers from state requirements for hearing screenings and minimum attendance requirements for special education students in summer school programs.

February 5, 2010 (El Cajon) – On February 11, Grossmont Union High School District’s board will consider whether Helix Charter High School’s charter should be revoked, citing “continuing concerns by the GUHSD Board regarding the safety of Helix students,” board president Robert Shields wrote in an e-mail to media.

February 4, 2010 (El Cajon)-- Martin Atkins could be the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavors spanning genres, borders and industries. For over three decades, the producer, drummer, and documentary filmmaker has been at the cutting edge of the entertainment industry, says Pat Seltzer, chair of the performing arts college at Cuyamaca College.

El Cajon Valley High is 1st of 8 East County campuses to get new science buildings through Prop H

January 29, 2010 (El Cajon) Say goodbye to portable buildings and science classrooms built during the Eisenhower administration. Grossmont Union High School District ushers in a new era for its East County high schools with opening of the first of eight new state-of-the-art science classroom buildings.

January 28, 2008 (El Cajon) – “Tonight is a most difficult meeting,” GUHSD Superintendent Bob Collins told those present this evening at a special governing board budget workshop. Citing funding cuts from the state plaguing school districts throughout the state, he warned of a growing budget gap.

“The current district surplus will be fully consumed in solving this crisis—and it will not be enough.” He predicted, “It will be gone by the end of the year—and things are going to get worse.”

A new report from Grossmont College says the number of Grossmont students applying to receive financial aid is increasing, along with the amount of dollars disbursed in tuition assistance.

Michael Copenhaver, Grossmont College director of financial aid, said the number of students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is 31 percent higher for a12-month time period from January to December 2009, compared to the same 12-month period in 2008.

By Steve Haiman
Academic League Co-Coordinator

January 24, 2010 (San Diego's East County)--Rain did not dampen the Academic League spirit or acumen last week. The brain power exhibited at the host schools gave off more than enough heat to fight off the winter cold outside!

 
January 24, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Grossmont Union High School District's board of trustees will hold a special meeting this Thursday, January 28th on budget issues. A closed session will be held at 5 pm, followed by a public session at 6 pm.

January 22, 2010 (San Diego's East County) --All schools in the  Julian School and District and Mountain Empire Unified School District will be closed today due to stormy weather and snow.  A severe winter weather alert remains in effect for mountain areas in East County due to drifting snow and poor visibility.

Sharpen your pencils, grab your manuscripts and laptops for the 26th annual San Diego State University Writer’s Conference January 29-31 at the SDSU campus.

The conference provides a rare opportunity for writers to have their works read by editors from some of the nation’s major publishing houses—and meet in person with editors and agents handling fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, children’s books and more.

January 14, 2010 (Rancho San Diego)—The Water Conservation Garden, located at Cuyamaca Collegei in El Cajon,  invites the public to enjoy its 2010 winter and spring events. Classes offered help residents save water and money by focusing on water smart landscaping techniques and plants. Classes are taught by experts and topics include lawn removal, water-smart landscape design, backyard composting, irrigation design and gardening for children.

January 15, 2010 3:10 p.m. (San Diego) -- Millennial Middle School was put on lockdown following a bomb scare, San Diego Police Department confirms. The  Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST) was dispatched and students were evacuated.  

January 15, 2010 (La Mesa) -- At 2:11 this afternoon, La Mesa Police officers responded to a call of a student at La Mesa Middle School, 4200 Parks Avenue, who had been shot at with an unknown weapon. The student was not injured. Reportedly, the student was on or near the athletic field when he believed he had been fired at from the rear of a house in the 7500 block of Orien Avenue.

January 12, 2009 (El Cajon)--The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) is conducting a practice exercise with local public safety agencies on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Cuyamaca College. The GCCCD Police, San Diego County Sheriffs’ Department, San Miguel Fire Department, El Cajon Police Department, El Cajon Fire Department, and other East County agencies will conduct a simulation of an incident involving an active shooter.

Court upholds district's right to assure that school construction jobs will employ local residents

January 5, 2010 (San Diego)--San Diego's Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) that sought to halt work performed under the project stabilization agreement (PSA) reached between San Diego Unified School District and construction unions.

 
January 1, 2010 (El Cajon) – Cuyamaca College will host a grand opening of its newest facility, the Business and Technology Building, on January 20th at 11 a.m.Guests are invited to view the "initial public offering" of this new facility on the "Cuyamaca Exchange."

State's schools, once top in nation, now rank at bottom as budget cuts ravage K-12 and higher education

By Miriam Raftery

December 23, 2009 (Sacramento) – The Obama administration has challenged states to compete for federal “Race to the Top” (RTT) education funds aimed at improving under-performing K-12 schools. California is eligible for $300-$700 million of those funds—provided the Legislature and Governor can agree on changing state laws by January 19, 2010 to qualify for the funding.