Here’s what’s going on this week, according to the Review calendar and government listings. On Saturday, there’s going to be a ribbon-cutting dedication of Suzanne Gayle’s latest mural work at Winton Middle School. Press release, calendar after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Quick heads up: Lots of HUSD fiscal recovery/getting to positive certification talk next week. So much that there’s a special board meeting set up for Monday night. Find the blurb below that’s going in the paper’s government listings, but you might want to check the agendas/materials on the district site for more information.

Also, notice the item in Wednesday’s meeting (at over 300 pages, this is one of the larger packets I’ve seen in a while) about setting up the community  interview panel for superintendent candidates… it’s an idea that was put forth by Trustee Jesus Armas, and they plan to discuss it and make a recommendation. See exerpt from report at right. Thought some of you might be interested in that. Here’s the final brochure for the search.

HAYWARD
SCHOOL BOARD
A special meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the district office board room, 24411 Amador St.
Topics include a presentation on staying in qualified budget status and reaching positive certification, and child development budget and programs.
A regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the City Council chamber at City Hall, 777 B St.
The meeting will be broadcast live on Hayward cable Channel 15.
Topics include more on the budget and fiscal recovery, and the formation of a community interview panel for superintendent candidates. View the complete agendas at http://husd.k12.ca.us/

We had a story about the base API scores being released this week. The scores aren’t new — they are rejiggered from the growth API scores that were released in the fall. There are variables that change in the formula for calculating the scores each year, so once those variables are figured out, the previous year’s score is put through the calculations to come up with a base for comparison in the fall.

If you need a recap, here’s a guide to the state’s Accountability Progress Reporting system.

There are links in the story, but click here if you’d like to jump directly to scores for Alameda County’s schools. As you can read in the story, none of Hayward Unified’s schools make it into the statewide top 50 percent. But some fare better when compared with schools similar in terms of student’s socioeconomic status, number of English language learners and other factors, which the district pointed out in a press release you can find after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night’s special, untelevised meeting was a busy one. Final revisions were being made to the district’s pamphlet that will be used in the search for a new superintendent.

The draft can be seen at right — it will blow up if you click on it, but sorry about the fuzziness. My phone cam doesn’t make the best document scanner. Pamphlet is being changed a bit, Trustee Heredia was supposed to meet with the consultant this morning for the final tweaks. One thing that was brought up was the mission statement, prominently displayed at the top. Trustee Armas said he’d never seen it before, and pointed out that no one currently seated had anything to do with drafting that statement, so it will be dropped from the final version. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s what’s going on this week. Also, check out the slideshow on the Castro Valley artist who carves fish out of wood. They’re pretty impressive pieces, and you can see them at The Book Shop on B Street.

Community Calendar items can be faxed to 510-293-2490, mailed to 22533 Foothill Blvd., Hayward, CA 94541, or e-mailed to jketchum@bayareanewsgroup.com. Questions? Call 510-293-2464. Read the rest of this entry »

Had a story over the weekend about Chabot-Las Positas Community College District being the sole party still fighting the approved 600-megawatt Calpine powerplant at the Hayward shoreline, about a mile and a half away from the campus.

I just received a letter of support from the Chabot-Las Positas Faculty Association, which was sent to the district’s trustees. Find the full text after the jump, and here’s the district’s web page dedicated to the subject. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s that report from the city manager that was requested by Mayor Mike Sweeney following some incidents at Hayward nightclubs the last weekend in February. And to kill more topics in one post (been busy this week and haven’t had much of a chance to blog), we had a story on the noise ordinance moving forward and another on Caltrans’ preliminary finding regarding the Bunker Hill property it owns. Going back further, had some stuff on HUSD moving toward a qualified status, and here’s a related Katy Murphy overview of what schools are facing.

Back on the topic of nightclubs and downtown, I was talking to Councilman Mark Salinas the other day on unrelated matters, and he mentioned that restaurants down there have been booming on weekends. Said he tried to go to the Kokyo Sushi Buffet, found it packed, went to Buon Appetito, same story, and ended up waiting in a sizable line over at Chef’s Experience. Anyone else been out to eat on a prime night lately and seen an uptick?

Oh, and a final bite on the topic of Hayward eats, the Merc had a nice piece recently on the glorious milkshakes served by Val’s Burgers.

Without further adieu, find the nightclub info after the jump… The Discussion section cuts to the chase about what’s going on. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m working on a bunch of stuff today but wanted to provide a spot for comments on last night’s meeting.

Faith Ringgold supporters turned out in force after learning that their school is one of the things that is being looked at as a possible cut. It wasn’t on the agenda, but apparently the FITAG financial panel discussed it the night before.

Budget update: Positive variance of nearly $2.8 million that was found since the first interim report means that as long as the state passes tax extensions that provide school funding, HUSD will have a qualified certification. It’s not positive because a structural deficit still exists that will whittle the district back into the red by the end of FY13.

There was an odd reconvening of the closed session on personnel matters when Trustee Heredia wanted clarification on a reelection of certain teachers. Closed sessions can’t be just called on a whim — they need to be noticed just like any meeting. But I spoke with the board president and she said it was a continuance of an item that had been noticed, so technically wasn’t a violation of the Brown Act, just kind of weird.

I understand that Trustee Armas did not recuse himself from the item involving administrative staff furloughs/workday reductions, a concern that was bubbling in the comment section. There was an explanation of why it wasn’t a conflict of interest by Donna Becnel, but I had left the meeting by then. I have a request out for a recap of said explanation, will let you know.

UPDATE: Becnel said “If the spouse is part of a larger group that is affected by a decision, then it is fine for him to vote. It is the difference between of a group of positions vs. an individual employee.” She said that if Armas’ spouse was in line for an individual promotion, he would “absolutely be conflicted out.”

Ok, I gotta run, hope this is enough to chew on for now!

In addition to a budget revision and report, various items related to employee reduction and a public hearing on HUSD’s contract proposal to the teacher’s union, there will be an update on the progress of school construction related to Measure I funds at Wednesday’s meeting. Still on schedule and under budget, as it was in the January update story. But the packet included some interesting aerial shots of the current state of the sites, here they are. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the calendar for the coming week. At right is a photo from “Private Lives,” at the Douglas Morrison Theater.

Feb. 23
Job lab — 12:30-2:30 p.m. Wednesdays. The Castro Valley Library, 3600 Norbridge Ave., offers assistance for community members seeking employment by providing a quiet space for job seekers to use the library’s laptops to update or create a resume, search for jobs online, or other employment-related activities. Computers and assistance available on a walk-in basis. For more information, call Lyn at 510-667-7903.

Read the rest of this entry »