Page 7 - Dinuba Sentinel 6-21-18 E-edition

The Dinuba Sentinel
DUSD Continued from Page A1
Community Thursday, June 21, 2018 | A7
other high schools have, but we also travel pretty far.”
In other DUSD Board items:
• A public hearing was held for the district’s 2018-19 budget. The full LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) passed by the state earlier this decade is currently two years ahead of its eight-year implementation timeline. The DUSD budget for 2018-19 will reach 100 percent of the target, but purchasing power will not be restored.
The full projected budget for the 2018-19 school year is $70.2 million, up from $65.2 million the previous year.
The biggest concerns for the school district at this time are funding for special education, the adequacy of the LCFF base funding, and sale of Prop 51 Bonds - which will determine how soon the new high school will have funds to break ground.
No comments on the budget were made during the public hearing. The budget will be up for adoption at today's board
meeting.
• Several students, family
of students, and one veteran voiced their concerns about the future of Dinuba High School’s NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps) during the public comments portion of themeeting.Theyexplainedthe first-hand benefits they have gained through the program. The students were concerned that the two instructors for the program from 2017-18 were not currently being retained for the following year, casting doubt on the future of NJROTC and their necessary summer planning.
DUSD Superintendent Joe Hernandez responded to the concerned audience members, “It is an important program and we have a commitment to the program. Our goal, certainly this summer, is to find the right leadership for this program. That’s what we’ll be doing.”
• The board is reviewing a proposed agreement to expand its drug testing services to Washington Intermediate
School. The program is mandatory for athletes and voluntary for all students.
• Washington Intermediate School will be adding five new elective options in 2018-19, including medical discovery, agricultural discovery, industrial technology essentials, keyboard and life skills, and study skills.
When the middle school is later moved to the current Dinuba High School campus, these new programs will be able to take advantage of the expanded facilities currently in place for high school students.
• The Board approved an architect agreement with SIM PBK for its Career Technical Education projects at the new high school. DUSD will be awarded grant funds for its Building and Construction CTE and Transportation CTE facilities at the new high school. The funding is in addition to the state money that will be used to build the new high school. SIM PBK is also the architect for the rest of the high school.
has undergone and continues to see construction throughout the campus.
This year the school unveiled its brand new science wing and is currently in the process of building an all-new stadium, complete with synthetic track and an upgraded aluminum bleacher stands that will seat more than 1,500 more people than the previous bleachers.
As for the progress of the stadium, district Head of Maintenance and Operations Raffi Saghomonian had a good report for the board.
“As it looks now, we are about a week ahead of schedule,” said Saghomonian. “We may even start laying sod down within the next week or two.” It was also brought to the board’s attention that the district is also looking into replacing the old score board with a new larger one, complete with a large digital screen that will help when the school begins
Flag Day recognized
COJUSDContinued from Page A1
Moses Ibarra lays an unserviceable flag to rest. All unserviceable flags are burned at dusk on Flag Day annually. The burning of the Flags Ceremony was held June 14 by Alta Post 19 in front of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
Jackson Moore | The Sentinel
Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School Board President Eddie Valero, right, congratulates a preschooler, Nathan Madrigal.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
to host track events.
The current scoreboard,
according to Saghomonian, has a glitch in the motherboard that periodically needs servicing. He told the board that it would be better for the district to replace the board rather than trying to retrofit the old one with new technology.
One board member, however, was not completely on board with spending the extra money on an already expensive project.
“I just think the money could be better used elsewhere,” said board trustee Mary Helen Espino.
News of the new display board came only as an informational item, prior to the board moving into their consent items, and required no action on their part. However, they were advised that the district is looking into the matter.
Should the district decide to move forward with the project, according to the district’s
assistant superintendent Craig Drennan, the new scoreboard will cost the district about $380,000.
In other school board news, the board was also pleased to hear that academically the district continues to make improvements. Most notably, when it came to English learners and math.
While last year’s ELA students only had a 2 percent rate in English proficiency, this year they improved that number to 11 percent. And in math, the district doubled their percentage of students exceeding the state standards, with 34 percent exceeding compared to last year’s 17 percent.
Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District Superintendent Yolanda Valdez credits the success in math to a strong program that incorporates math coaches.
“The first time I saw the
coaches at work in the math classrooms I just knew our numbers were going up in math,” said Valdez.
In her Superintendent’s report, Valdez took the time to recognize the youngest learners in the district, preschoolers.
The board recognized four students for having made big strides this past school year. Nathan Madrigal and Saul Maturana were honored from Golden Valley Elementary School and Jesse Gutierrez and Carlos Cardenas were honored from Palm Elementary School.
Preschool teacher Gabriela Garcia was also recognized by the district for the work she did this past school year.
Also, board President Eddie Valero announced at the end of the open session that he will be assuming the position of Tulare County Supervisor for District 4 in January and will continue to serve on the school board until the end of December.
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