Sanger Herald 12-20-18 E-edition

Finding his words in song
Looking for a home
Wrestlers develop strong program
page 8A
Lifestyles 3B
Sports 1B
Weekly Newspaper
Sanger (FresnoCounty) CA 93657 50¢ (tax included) Our school district profiled by
the new "simplified" Dashboard
Merry Christmas and
You can find out almost anything once you figure out how to use the state's not so simple Dashboard By Dick Sheppard
Feliz Navidad from your friends at the
Sanger Herald Have a Christmas heart for a shelter dog
There's still time to adopt!
See page 8A for details.
Council puts off another consideration
of marijuana dispensaries and a police
dispatch center until the new year
This is not the state's first attempt at presenting the in- formation and it probably is not going to be the final ver- sion of a digitalized "Dash- board" database that can be accessed and searched by anyone interested in dig- ging deep into a district's or school's racial, ethnic and socioeconomic demograph- ics and its success rate with each subgroup of students.
The new Dashboard can be accessed online at https:// www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/.
This version is better than the previous one. But it's still top heavy with acronyms and bureaucratic jargon.
Thank goodness, most of those acronyms and the
SUSD Demographics
jargon are accompanied by a link that will take you to an explanation.
Associate superintendent Tim Lopez demonstrated
the Dashboard's bells and whistles at the Dec. 11 school board meeting. Here are some of the more interest- ing statistics from the state's latest attempt to help us understand the progress or lack of it in our schools and and school districts:
Sanger Herald
The data are all there, the good, the bad and the ugly.
There's not much you can't find out about a school district and all the schools within its boundaries IF you can figure out how to access, organize and understand what appears on the multicol- ored viewing screen.
You'll be looking at the "California Schools Dash- board," which was recently unveiled by the California Department of Education (CDE).
The intent of the CDE is to help parents, pupils - and administrators - understand how good a job each district in the state is doing educat- ing all its students, the socio-
• Did you know that 78.3 percent of the district's stu- dent population is socioeco- nomically disadvantaged and that 148 of the students in the district are homeless?
• Did you know that His- panic students are by far the largest ethnic group in the district and there are almost the same number of Asian students as there are White students in the district?
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
economically disadvantaged, the English learners and the foster youth.
Student Group
Total
Percentage
English Learners
1,745
16.5%
Foster Youth
87
0.8%
Homeless
148
1.4%
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
8,264
78.3%
Students with Disabilities
744
7%
Race/Ethnicity
Total
Percentage
African American
132
1.3%
American Indian
26
0.2%
Asian
1,172
11.1%
Filipino
39
0.4%
Hispanic
7,571
71.7%
Two or More Races
230
2.2%
Pacific Islander
17
0.2%
White
1,179
11.2%
Melissa Hurtado's replacement will serve until December of 2020
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
You'll have to act quickly if youwantashotatthe District 1 council position vacated by Melissa Hurtado when she was elected to the state senate.
The deadline for applying is 5 p.m. on Dec. 27.
The council would like to appoint someone to avoid
a potential $22,000 bill for
a special election to fill the opening.
You're eligible to go through the application and interview process if: you will be 18 years old by the time of your appointment to the council, probably very early in the new year; you are a resident of District 1 in
northeast Sanger; and, if you are a citizen of the United States.
You don't have to have a degree or any board or com- mission related experience.
You can pick up an appli- cation form in the city clerk's office at city hall, 1700 7th Street or download one from the city's website at www. ci.sanger.ca.us.
You should be aware that your application will become a public document. That means it will be available to anyone who wants to take a look at it. The city can redact
your name, address and phone number. But every- thing else on it will become public.
Applicants will appear before the council during a public meeting and members of the council and the public will have an opportunity to ask questions.
The four-person council wants to make the selec- tion or decide it can't agree on one in time to meet a deadline to call the special election in June.
The last time there was a mid-term council vacancy the position was filled by an election.
The reporter can be con- tacted by email at sangerher- ald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
THURSDAY
DECEMBER 20, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 51
2 sections, 16 pages
CLASSIFIED 5B LEGALS 6,7B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 8B LIFE STYLES 3,4B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1,2B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A
See DASHBOARD, page 7A
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
City councilmembers will wait until the new year to talk again about the feasibility of approving marijuana dispensaries and a local police dispatch center.
They said at the Dec. 6 meeting they were willing to listen to updates on both hot topics. But, made it clear their willingness to hear updates didn't mean they were ready to move forward with either project.
Neither is on the agenda for today's 6 p.m. meeting at city hall, 1700 7th St.
The council has left no doubt that it would like to have a local police dispatch center instead of paying the sheriff's department more than $400,000 a year to handle its dis- patching chores. However, the most recent feasibility study showed it would be too expensivetobuildandstaffa localcenter.
The next feasibility study is not likely
to be any more encouraging in view of the more than $1 million payment the council will consider this evening to CalPERS for its unfunded pension liability.
CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) is going to substantially increasethesizeofannual paymentsfrom cities like Sanger which owes CalPERS more
than $20 million. The larger payments are necessary for CalPERS to keep up with pen- sion payments to retired public employees.
Those payments are going to make a dent in Sanger's general fund and will likely push projects like a police dispatch center farther down the road.
This evening's meeting will get started with a swearing in ceremony for the success- ful incumbents reelected in the November election: mayor Frank Gonzalez; District
2 councilmember Humberto Garza; and District 4 councilmember Eli Ontiveros. The council will then vote for a mayor pro tem.
Before the council gets down to its regular business it will hear about the city's new web- site which will be unveiled in January.
It may take longer than anticipated for that big 750,000 gallon water tank that is sup- posed to solve the city's water pressure prob- lems to be built. There have been problems stemming from the tank costing $1 million more than originally estimated and multiple irregularities with construction bids. The council will consider rejecting all the bids and starting the bid process over again.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Want an opportunity to be on the city council without the hassle and expense of campaigning? Now's your chance!
You're eligible if you're 18 years old, a citizen of the U.S. and a resident of District 1.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com