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PROFILES OF LOCAL PROFESSIONALS
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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021
YEAR 33
NO. 42
STARTS TOMORROW
INSIDE YOUR
Virtual Black Minds Matter 2021 Cohort
FORUM
LIVING
Get Crackin’
By Michael Singer
America’s top chefs share their favorite salads made with pistachios
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Page 4 NEWS
A PUSH TO BUILD
NICOLAS BOULLOSA - CREATIVE COMMONS
Spooky Tours
Nighttime tours return to historic homes just in time for spooky season
Page 6
SENIORS
Remarrying?
If so, you should also consider updating your Wills and Trusts
Page 10
INDEX Calendar .................. 14 Classified Ads .......... 12 Crosswords ............. 13 Homes ....................... 8 Horoscope ................. 2 Legal Notices ........... 14 Obituaries ................ 15 Opinions .................. 15 Seniors ..................... 10 Weather ....................... 2 PHONE: (510) 614-1560
COUNTY OFFERING FREE IN-LAW UNIT ASSISTANCE By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Thinking of building an in-law unit or “granny flat” in your backyard? Alameda County is piloting a free program to support homeowners in the county’s unincorporated neighborhoods as part of a push to build much-needed housing. The program, called “Bright in Your Own Backyard,” will provide 18 homeowners with up to 100 hours of free feasibility and project management support. Announced last week, the county is working with Hello Housing, a non-profit developer of affordable for-sale
homes and a designer-operator of a variety of homeownership programs such as Hello Bright, which encourages homeowners to develop more in-law units or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). These living spaces on the property of a single-family home are becoming popular. Some 25% of Bay Area’s 1.5 million homeowners like the idea of adding a second unit, according to a Hello Housing survey. “By supporting homeowners through every stage of the ADU development process, this critical partnership is changing the way we think about housing in our communities one unit at a see PUSH on page 6
The public is invited to join a free online class starting tomorrow (Thursday, October 21) that will focus on improving educational outcomes for African American students as well as schools and classes for all students. The free educational series entitled “Black Minds Matter” will run from this month to December and is sponsored by the Castro Valley Unified School District. Students, parents and the public are invited to attend. This is the fourth year the district has offered the course in the Castro Valley community. The difference this year is that noted author, educator, and activist Tyson Amir is bringing his fresh ideas, expertise, and current research to this year’s course. “This course is valuable if you are interested and open to challenging yourself to see the institution of education in a different way,” Amir told the Forum. “There will be people who show up who are committed to improving what we offer as education to students and that is a great and lofty goal to have. But another piece is that we must confront the history and present moments that we are in and allow people to grow.” The original curriculum, which was provided by Cal State University, Long Beach professor Luke Wood, provided a framework for a collective group of teachers, administrators, and parents to learn from text, videos, and open discussions. The strategies and perspectives taught are designed to be a starting point that the socalled cohort can then build on and implement into the community, according to CVUSD Assistant Superintendent Jason Reimann. see COHORT on page 5
Parents Fight Strobridge Elementary School Closing Strobridge’s parents and students staged a demonstration CASTRO VALLEY FORUM at the school last Friday, urging it to be kept open. An online Parents and students from Strobridge Elementary School petition protesting the closing of Strobridge, and several are protesting a September other schools have nearly 1,000 proposal by the Hayward Unified School District to close signatures at Change.org. that school and a number of Some 400 parents, students, others. The school is just over and community members the Hayward city line at 21400 turned out at a district-sponBedford Drive but serves sored online meeting Monday many students living in Castro night to urge that Strobridge Valley. and several other schools be By Mike McGuire
kept open. “It’s unfair,” said a parent to district officials at that meeting, beginning perhaps its most pointed comment. “You’ve made the children cry and the parents sad,” he continued. Strobridge is not the only school at risk. The Hayward Unified School District, struggling with a shortage of funds and declining enrollments, proposed closing a number of schools in older buildings that
might need expensive upgrades soon. Schools Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne said people should remember three sets of numbers after the meeting. One is that the district has lost 5,500 students over the last 10 years, along with the state funding that comes with that many students. Another is that the school district faces a $14 million deficit next year. The third is that schools need $900
million in upgrades to stay open. “We might have other options to deal with the $14 million,” Wayne said, referring to closing schools. “But our options to deal with the $900 million are much more limited.” Strobridge Elementary— whose origins date back to 1955—runs at less than 50 percent of its theoretical stusee STROBRIDGE on page 2