Photos by Stephen Harvey/Grossmont College photographer

January 25, 2013 (El Cajon)--Spring semester begins January 28 at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges in a restorative vein, with hundreds of classes added back as the result of California voters’ approval of Proposition 30, the governor’s sales and income tax measure.

The November victory at the polls allowed the colleges to restore 235 course offerings for the new semester that had been cut when the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District approved its budget .The action was taken to prepare for the worst-case scenario of the district losing $5.6 million in funding had voters rejected Prop. 30.

Peg Marcus, Grossmont College’s student body president, shares a laugh with the campus mascot, Gizmo, this week as the campus prepares for the start of the new semester Monday, Jan. 28. 

January 22, 2012  (San Diego)--After finding recent studies showing that one in four freshmen in the U.S. do not complete their first year of college, despite giving college a try, a team at CollegeAtHome.com decided to create an infographic that would show some of the reasons why.

Is it possible that high school students simply do not have a realistic idea of what college is actually like? Also, it may be possible that many of these students simply don’t see the point of staying in college due to the slow job market.

January 17, 2013 (La Mesa) – La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board trustee Penny Halgren announced her immediate resignation at Tuesday’s meeting.  Halgren said she is moving to Aracadia Los Angeles County to be with her boyfriend.  Halgren has served on the board since 2002 and was reelected in 2010. 

Asked whether the opening will be filled by appointment or by special election, Barbara Martinez, executive assistant to Superintendent Brian Marshall, told ECM, “That will be up to the Board to decide at the February 5 meeting.”

By Miriam Raftery

January 15, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – Visitors to websites for several high schools in the Grossmont Union High School District on Saturday morning found material posted by a hacker.

“One of the District's web servers was compromised,” district spokesperson Catherine Martin told East County Magazine.  Several school home pages were “replaced with photos of Osama Bin Laden and some commentary,” she added.

December 27, 2012 (San Diego) -- People of all ages are struggling to comprehend the shootings that took place in Newtown, Conn. In particular, children and teens are likely struggling to make sense of the things they are seeing and hearing regarding the tragedy on television, at school, and among their peers. Many children will have questions and be in need of additional comfort in the coming days and weeks. San Diego County Library has put together a list of resources that parents can use to help answer questions and reassure children of their safety and comfort.

Education News and Notes

By Anat Tour, math teacher and children’s author/illustrator

December 19, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--December is a busy time for the holidays, but if you are a high school senior this is the season to get your college checklist in order.

In addition, here are my picks for this month’s top stories of interest to local students, teachers, and parents:

December 4, 2012 (La Mesa)--Helix Charter High School is a nominee in The Clorox Company's Power a Bright Future grant program and is in the running to win up to $50,000. If we win, the school will use this grant to fund community-based, student-run Senior Projects. All Helix students are required to complete a Senior Project to graduate.

"Currently, many students choose to do projects that benefit the surrounding communities; however, due to the costs associated with a large-scale project, many are done on a small scale. If Helix were to win this grant, the projects would not face those funding limitations and students could affect our community in a much bigger way," says Jenn Osborn, Helix community relations.

November 30, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – Julian Union School District and Lemon Grove School District are among six California school districts and a community organization that have collectively won nearly $336,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School Grants.

The funding is designed to help students understand the food they eat in school cafeterias often comes from local farms.  

By Bree Hernandez

November 27, 2012 (San Diego) -- There are many ways of encouraging young people to go to college, and community events like the popular “college for kids” day are good starting places. Once students enroll, our obligations to them do not end, as today’s post discusses.

Education writer Bree Hernandez takes a look at important new data suggesting that more college-age kids than ever before are suffering from mental illness.

By Bill Weaver

November 9, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – With all precincts counted but 375,000 absentee ballots remaining to be tallied, several local school bond measures appear to have passed, while others failed to win the required 55% majority.

Bond measures that appear to have won passage include San Diego Unified, Cajon Valley, Chula Vista, South Bay, and Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College districts.

Those that appear headed to failure include Dehesa, Mountain Empire, and Ramona.

Below are the results as of last night, per San Diego County Registrar of Voters:

November 9, 2012 (Alpine) -- Last Friday, November 2, Marie Curie, John Muir, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Henry Ford, Orville Wright and Amelia Earhart were spotted at Boulder Oaks Elementary School in Alpine!  Fourth and fifth grade students from Mrs. Newcomb, Mrs. Morales and Mrs. Golden's classes brought famous figures back to life at the school's annual Dead Scientists and Explorers Wax Museum. 

By Bill Weaver

November 8, 2012 (San Diego) –Tuition at 23 California State University campuses—including San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos locally, will rescind a $249-per-semestser tuition fee hike that had taken effect in the fall term. Fees will now revert back to $5,472, the same rate as last year.

“We are hopeful that the passage of Proposition 30 will be the beginning of the state’s reinvestment in higher education,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a statement issued yesterday.

By Bill Weaver

November 7, 2012 (San Diego)—Governor Jerry Brown has announced victory for Proposition 30. The ballot measure will raise income taxes on the wealthiest citizens in the state and temporarily increase the state sales tax by a quarter of a cent to fund K-12 schools, community colleges and state universities. Prop 30 is expected to raise more than $6 billion in revenue. If it had not passed, schools and colleges would have suffered significant trigger cuts in state appropriations.

Update: February 13, 2013:  Councilman Wells indicates that three months after this story ran, he has not been contacted by a Grand Jury and believes that he is not a target of the investigation. 

By Miriam Raftery

November 5, 2012 (El Cajon ) – Updated November 6, 2012 -- Three people, including two members of the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) board, have confirmed that a Grand Jury is investigating why money from Prop H and Prop U was not used to fund a new high school in Alpine as mandated by the bond language.  

El Cajon Councilman Bill Wells chaired the Prop H Citizens Bond Oversight Committee  (CBOC) and according to multiple witnesses, played a lead role in killing plans to build the district’s 12th high school in Alpine.

October 30, 2012 (El Cajon )--On Thursday, Oct. 25, El Cajon Valley High School celebrated the completion of its 700 North and 700 South classroom buildings with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and program showcase. The two 9,000-square-foot buildings were renovated to improve safety and quality and now provide well-equipped learning spaces for career technical training and art classes as well as outdoor spaces for displays, meetings and comfortable student access. Modernization of the building also featured video production studios and computer labs for students.