Although investigators have not released the name of the teen believed to have been shot to death by her ex-boyfriend before turning the gun on himself Friday, multiple outside sources have identified the girl as Amanda Caravantes and the suspect as Erik Petersen, both 17.

Both teens attended Newark Memorial High at some point, and Petersen still is enrolled there, according to sources.

Community members have called a candlelight vigil at 7 tonight near Newark Junior High (at Lafayette Ave./Newark Blvd.).

The text in blue is a statement from the Newark school district:

The Newark Unified School District and the Newark Memorial High School community are saddened by the tragic loss and injury of two young people on Friday night in Fremont. 

In order to provide support to students and staff who may know these families, the District will have counselors and psychologists on call this week.  Parents and students are encouraged to contact school staff if they need, or know of anyone who needs support regarding this incident.

Please join us in keeping these young people and their families in your thoughts.

Today, the state Department of Ed released its report about the number of sophomores who passed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) this year. Students who did not pass have several more opportunities to retake the test their junior and senior years.

The exam tests students in their English and math skills. Students must pass the test to receive a high school diploma, although some special ed students may be exempt.

Click here for a chart showing the passage rate of first-time test-takers (i.e., sophomores) in each Tri-City school over the past three years.

Big thanks to a caller who pointed out that the Newark Unified School District has posted a job listing for an Interim principal position at Newark Memorial High School. The district had been seeking a principal since June when then-principal Connie Spinnato left her post after just one year. The district held a special board meeting last week — to presumably present a candidate for the position — but nothing of significance took place. The next day, the aforementioned job listing was posted.

Both Superintendent Kevin Harrigan and Human Resources Director Tim Erwin are on vacation this week, so we’ll have to wait until Monday at the earliest to find out why the district is now searching for an interim principal. Officials have said in the past that starting a job search in June for such an important position is not ideal. In other words, they would have preferred to solicit applications earlier in the school year because most people have their plans for the next year pretty well mapped out by June.

Tonight, teacher Jaime Richards spoke before Fremont school board members, asking them to change a district policy that prohibits educators from using YouTube in the classroom. Richards said teachers should be trusted to use their judgment as to what materials are appropriate for students. I haven’t had a chance to confirm that this is the district’s policy or to get the district’s position, but Jaime raises an interesting point if it’s true:

Should teachers be allowed to show YouTube videos as part of their curriculum? Anyone know what the policy is in other districts?

The state ed department released 2007-08 high school dropout rates today. To compare how things look among Tri-City schools, click here.

If you want to check out the ed department’s database yourself, click here.

We’ll have a story  in tomorrow’s paper about how local school districts are reacting to the Swine flu, but here is a bit of info for those who live in Newark. Superintendent Kevin Harrigan sent notes to district employee and parents this week addressing the issue. 

In a nut shell, the note to employees states that school activities will continue as normal unless a confirmed case comes from the area. If that happens, then the district will work with county health officials to determine if school closures are needed. (View note to staff HERE) (.doc)

The note to parents also addresses the issue, but urges parents to to keep their children at home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms. (View note to parents HERE) (.pdf)  (Spanish/Espanol version is HERE) (.pdf)

Newark Unified is also going to use it’s Web site to distribute information.

I spoke to Tim Erwin, director of human resources at Newark Unified, this morning and it appears that 131 teachers and administrators received layoff warning notices today. This number is noticeably higher than the 90 slips that had been anticipated. Erwin said the number is higher only because some candidates for layoffs share the same higher date, and additional information needs to be collected to determine who would be laid off if such measures become necessary. In one extreme case, there were 25 people with the same teaching credential and hire date, he said. In cases such as these, a tie-breaker system will be applied to determine whose jobs are more vulnerable if layoffs are required.

The school board will not begin making cuts until early April. At that time the district may begin rescinding notices. “We’re not going to make people wait,” he said.

Washington High School teacher Matt Ballin performed a song he wrote about the negative impacts of budget cuts at tonight’s school board meeting. The song, “California Children,” was made into a video. Click here to check it out. For the lyrics (as submitted by the California Teachers Association), click here.

On a related note, this Friday — dubbed “Pink Friday” because some 20,000 California teachers will receive pink slips – educators and parents will “Stand Up for Schools” with local rallies.

In Fremont, community members will meet between 3 and 3:30 p.m. at La Pinata (39136 Paseo Padre Parkway) and march down the street to Assemblyman Alberto Torrico’s office (39510 Paseo Padre Parkway).

I understand a similar rally will take place on the corner of Mowry Avenue and Cedar Boulevard in Newark.

The Fremont and New Haven school districts don’t plan to issue teacher layoff notices, but the Newark district will be handing out pink slips.

I attended the Newark Unified School District’s budget workshop meeting last night — a session that drew more than 50 people, most of whom were members of the teacher’s and district employee unions — and Chief Business Official Steven Shields told the board of directors that they may need to cut as much as $6 million from the district’s existing and future budgets. The district’s finance team is still interpreting the budget that was passed last week by the governor, so it is unclear exactly how much Newark Unified will need to trim. But Shields projected that it could be as little as $4.5 million and as much as $6 million to be safe.

Shields also spent 90 minutes discussing areas where cuts could be made within the district. This information was almost identical to that which was released during a special session last week. But what was made clear is that the information he was discussing was not a recommendation of what items or programs should be cut, rather options available to the board. Among the hot button items are the class size reduction program, salary reductions and teacher layoffs.

The meeting on Tuesday was informational in nature, so no decisions were made about where to trim the budget. However, decisions are expected to begin to be made at the next board meeting, scheduled to be held March 3. At that time, the district may have an idea if it will need to layoff teachers. If that avenue becomes a possibility for the board, the district will have to notify by March 15 the teachers whose jobs may be changed or cut. Those notices can be rescinded.

Several members of the audience were given a chance to address the board before the workshop. One teacher said that if class sizes significantly increase he may consider quitting his job.

“This isn’t what I signed up for,” he said. “I would consider leaving teaching.”

Additional information about the district’s budget can be found on Newark Unified’s NEW Web site (link). From the home page click the “Budget Crisis” icon near the top. There also are a few avenues in which parents, teachers or community members can voice their concerns or make suggestions about how to solve the impending issues. Those options are available on the Web site.

A story in today’s paper mentions that the state may run out of funds for its school breakfast/lunch program before the end of the fiscal year unless the Legislature will appropriate more money.

By law, low-income public school children must be fed. With the sputtering economy, more families are signing up for the free and low-cost meals, which are subsidized by state and federal dollars. However, as our story reported, money is running out, and some districts are feeling the pinch.

What the article failed to mention is that neither the Fremont nor New Haven school district has seen a significant spike in new applicants. For some unknown reason, the stuff I wrote about Tri-City school districts was left out of the story, which was put together by our team of ed reporters. So here are a few highlights from my report: Read the rest of this entry »