The following is the Aug. 23 edition of the Abridged by PBS KVIE Homeroom email newsletter, by reporter Savannah Kuchar. Want it sent directly to your inbox? Sign up here.
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A weekly email with news and insights into Sacramento area schools and how it impacts your students.
Welcome back to Homeroom!
This month officially marks one year for me in Sacramento.
One year being part of the team at Abridged by PBS KVIE and one year getting to know all of you and this amazing Sacramento area community.
Have any feedback about this past year of education coverage, or ideas for what I should cover in the next year? I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message at skuchar@kvie.org.
(I also welcome any recommendations for coffee shops, bookstores or hiking trails. I’ve found some good ones so far, but I just know this region has a lot of gems to offer!)
READY FOR THE WEEK AHEAD?
Education, parenting and other relevant stories from the Sacramento region you may have missed this week.
👨🏫 Schools in the Sacramento region have been on a teacher hiring spree, data journalist Phillip Reese reports. Within the story, you can search for the change in ratio at your local school between now and 2020.
💲To make it through the school year, Sacramento City Unified officials have a hefty goal of finding more than $150 million in savings. Some of that could come from cutting funds to programs, including a beloved sixth grade field trip.
What else is in today’s newsletter?
Despite some hope for a fresh start, strike-related tensions linger in Twin Rivers.
The start of school means many districts are swearing in new student board members. Hear from the pair of representatives at Folsom Cordova Unified about how the return to campus has gone so far.
HOMEROOM HIGHLIGHT
Twin Rivers teachers move to oust trustee as strike tensions linger
Any recall vote would likely come after the November election.
BY SAVANNAH KUCHAR | skuchar@kvie.org
In short: The teachers union in Twin Rivers Unified launched an effort to remove school board vice president Sascha Vogt from office, citing claims that she has not lived up to promises of transparency and collaboration. Complaints against Vogt largely centered around her interactions ahead of and during a 12-day teacher strike in the district in March. Some parents and community leaders have expressed support for Vogt online.
A bit more: Recall proponents will need to create a petition and gather enough signatures to trigger a recall vote.
It’s a routine question on the car ride home or sitting around the dinner table. I want to hear more than “fine” from students across the region: How was school? What did you learn? Did something interesting happen?
Jeanene Wallace, Cordova High School senior, and Sam Davies, Folsom High School junior, gave their first reports as freshly sworn-in student members of the Folsom Cordova Unified school board.
| “This week is our spirit week. We’re finishing that up, and it was pretty fun,” Wallace said.
| “We are kicking off sports. We had our blue-and-white scrimmage for football … And we have, it’s audition week for the school musical,” Davies said.
Parents, feel free to share any tidbits from your student about their day by sending me a message at skuchar@kvie.org.
FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
Things to do with (or without!) the kids this week.
🎸 The last summer concert of the year at Drakes: The Barn is Thursday, Aug. 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m., enjoy tunes from The Yacht Rockers, The Seedy Burners and The Gen X’ers. Food and drinks are available for purchase, and free activities for children can be found in the Family Fun Zone. More information here.
😎 Before summer draws to a complete close, take a dip and catch a flick at the Woodland Aquatics Center Friday, Aug. 28. Super Mario Galaxy will be playing. Admission is free, the pool opens at 6 p.m. and the movie starts at sundown. More information here.
🎵 Join the jam with the Sacramento Community Music Circle on Saturday, Aug. 29. Hosted at The Atelier, a contemporary art studio and gallery in Midtown Sacramento, this free monthly event runs 10 a.m. to noon. All ages and abilities are welcome. Find more information here.
Want an event to be featured in our next newsletter? Submit it to our community events calendar here.
A STORY TO SHARE
News isn’t just for the adults — each week, I’ll highlight a piece from myself or one of my colleagues that you can share with the student in your life. Hopefully they can find interest or insight in the hyperlocal, community-focused stories. To fuel conversation, check the discussion prompt below.
Contributor and science reporter Eli Ramos introduces us to Tahoe draba, a rare plant from the mustard family that only grows in the Tahoe area. Warming temperatures and foot traffic threaten the draba. But, there’s a reason for hope: an El Niño weather pattern is expected to bring more snow this winter, conditions the draba relies on to grow.
📝 Discussion prompt: What did you learn about this rare plant, and what additional information would you want to find out from ongoing research on the draba?
Thanks for being here. Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated.
Questions, thoughts, or ideas? Email me!
