Page 6 - Reedley Exponent 4-11-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A6 Thursday, April 11, 2019
RMCHS Continued from page A1
ity. The school takes ninth graders and provides them a high school education along with college instruc- tion. A typical student can earn enough units for an associate’s degree by the time they finish high school.
Paul Parnell, chancel- lor for the SCCCD, told students that they have been given an opportunity for a unique education, and should take advantage of that opportunity.
“The heart of this school is not the building, it’s the students that we see out here,” he said. “The reason we all are here is for their success.”
Junior Gloria Becerra and freshman Riley Ham- mond spoke as RMCHS representatives at the cer- emony.
“What first began as a single class of 12 students in a run-down portable
has now grown to 205 stu- dents,” Becerra said. “Our school has grown, because the community has recog- nized the fruitfulness of our program.”
Hammond said “this new building will provide students with many op- portunities. We will be in a place that we feel extremely safe and com- fortable.”
Other speakers were Sara Rola, KCUSD board president, and Donna Berry, Reedley College’s interim president. Roberto Gutierrez, Kings Canyon Unified’s deputy superin- tendent, served as master of ceremonies.
It didn’t take long for RMCHS students, faculty and staff to make the move into their new home. By April 4, classes were being held and business conduct- ed in the new facility.
The school’s graduat- ing classes have grown from 19 in 2016 to an an- ticipated 33 this spring.
TOP: Students at Reedley Middle College High School enjoyed the out- door facilities on April 9. Students, faculty and staff moved into the new campus on April 4.
ABOVE: Paul Parnell, chancellor for the State Center Community College District, spoke during the April 3 dedication ceremony.
Photos by Jon Earnest / The Exponent
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that this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Detectives now believe the series of shootings on April 6, the Sunset and Duff location as well as the Springfield location, were not directly connected.
“We are confident this is an isolated incident, and it is not a retaliatory type of inci- dent,” said Aleman.
Just one week prior, on the afternoon of March 29, police were dispatched to the 900 block of East Spring- field where a man sitting in his parked vehicle was shot.
“Officers arrived on scene and found an adult male with a single gunshot wound,” said Aleman the af- ternoon of the shooting.
The man, whose iden- tity was not released, was transported to Community
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being enforced in Boise, Idaho was unconstitutional. The appeals court said the ban was in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohi- bition of cruel and unusual punishment.
Because of the 9th Cir- cuit Court’s ruling, Reedley police were forced to back off from enforcing their
Regional Medical Center in Fresno. He also survived his injuries.
A few weeks prior to that, on the evening of March 8, another shooting was reported in the 1600 block of East Springfield. No one was injured during that incident.
“We understand that re- taliation is always a fear of neighbors,” said Aleman. “We will go out of our way to contact these residents, we will meet them outside of the police department, at their homes, at their job sites, we understand the fear and the concerns, but we are more than happy to talk to anybody who has any infor- mation on these incidents that we’ve been experienc- ing lately.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Reedley Police Department at (559) 637-4250.
newly-instituted camping ban. Police Chief Joe Garza said the ruling put the city in a “holding pattern” from telling homeless people in encampments on public land that they were prohib- ited from camping.
Less than a week be- fore the court ruling, a six- person contingent of police and city officials cleaned up public land next to the river from trash and other items.
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
A car had a tire shot out during the April 6 shooting in the Spring- field neighborhood. Two men were wounded in the incident, but they weren’t life-threatening injuries.
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