FEATURED COLUMNIST
Report Card Notes: Roy Segura Retiring
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By Scott J. Turnbull, Superintendent, Soquel Union Elementary School District
have traditionally used this space to focus on one particular area of our school district to write in-depth about. This time, I’m taking a different approach. Growing up and being a sports fan, I followed a sportswriter named Allan Malamud who wrote for the now-extinct Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He wrote an article called “Notes on a Scorecard,” and it was made up of many different, brief, somewhat random, reflections on the sports world as a whole. By adopting this format this month, my hope is to give interested readers highlights of what’s happening in our district. You can always delve deeper into particular subjects by checking out our website or calling the district office. What follows are my “Notes on a Report Card,” with a tip of the hat to Mr. Malamud. Our district is down to four board Roy Segura members for just a short while after Trustee Jennifer Izant Gonzales resigned last for our campuses. We will be replacing all month. First, please allow me to say what the windows on the older buildings at New an incredibly positive influence Ms. Izant Brighton Middle School, which is sure to Gonzales had in her tenure. She brought provide a big facelift for the campus. Air her wealth of knowledge and expertise conditioning units are being added in older as an educator herself to the board. She classrooms including those at Santa Cruz always put students and families first in her Gardens Elementary School, where things role as a board member and she sincerely get a bit warmer sometimes. Other projects cares about this community. She will now include power resiliency for our kitchen, have more time to spend with her beautiful Solar Photovoltaic shade structures to reduce family. Thank you for your service to the utility costs, and installing electric vehicle board and district, Jennifer. You are a class charging stations. Many of these projects act. For anyone who might be interested in will make our district greener in addition to filling that vacant seat, please look at our improving our facilities in general. board webpage for more information. We are in the process of updating our On the COVID-19 mitigation front, district’s mission statement. The existing our amazing school district community one is beautifully written and a district continues to pull through it together. We committee is seeking to capture the best continue to provide free onsite COVID-19 of our existing statement combined with PCR testing to all families who want their some new ideas with special emphasis on equity. I can’t wait to children to participate share the new mission during the school We are in the process of statement with you in day. I really want to updating our district’s mission the near future. express my apprestatement. The existing one Beginning in ciation to our County is beautifully written and a November, our board Office of Education for district committee is seeking to elections will now be their support with that capture the best of our existing under the “By-Trustee testing program. As statement combined with Area” approach as I’m sure you’ve heard, some new ideas with special opposed to a general masking in schools emphasis on equity. election. Over several went from “required” months, our board to “strongly recommended” by the California Department of studied this possible transition, hired a Public Health. Many of our students and demographer to draw up different map staff still wear masks and we have focused scenarios, and heard input from the public on “no bullying” for anyone’s personal before making a decision on a final map. choice regardless of their masking decision. On February 17, the Santa Cruz County There are lots of great infrastructure Committee on School District Organiprojects that are beginning or in the works zation approved SUESD’s transition to 24 / April 2022 / Capitola Soquel Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
a “by-trustee area” election, specifically Map Scenario 1, which you can find on our website. All of this was done with the California Voting Rights Act, and equity, in mind. It’s LCAP season! The LCAP, or Local Control and Accountability Plan, is the most important plan in our district. It identifies key goals and actions for the district and the allocation of certain fiscal resources connected to those goals and actions. We seek as much stakeholder input on the plan as humanly possible including staff, students, and parents. At our Board Meetings in June, the LCAP will be brought to our Board for review and, ultimately, consideration for approval. New student registration is now open! Registration information & procedures may be obtained from your neighborhood school. Your child must turn 5 on or before Sept. 1, 2022, to be eligible for kindergarten. If you have a child who turns 5 between Sept. 2, 2022 and Feb. 2, 2023, they are eligible for our Transitional Kindergarten program. The registration process for all grades, including TK, takes place at your neighborhood school (school of residence). Just call the district office if you have any questions. Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary has a Science and Gardening Emphasis, or SAGE, program that is growing every year. The program does not displace any other core subject but rather seeks to add reallife learning and nature to every subject. Learning does not have to happen within four walls. It can happen in nature, it can happen in a garden, and it often happens better in these settings. SAGE builds on children’s natural curiosity to learn about science where it really happens, outdoors. I wish we could pay our teachers and support staff a higher salary. SUESD is the lowest funded district in our county. In 2018 and 2020 we attempted to pass parcel taxes to help augment our salary schedules. It’s no secret the cost of living in our area continues to skyrocket. The funding we currently receive just doesn’t keep up. We will keep trying to find ways to pay our employees a salary more in line with the area’s cost of living but it is very challenging. New Brighton Middle School athletic teams have been back in business! It is such a joy to see our student-athletes competing in a more normalized environment. Volleyball, Track, Basketball, Golf, Flag Football, Wrestling, and more have all been in action. A big shout out to all our coaches
and to Athletic Director Enrique Dolmo for putting in the time and effort to make these opportunities for our students a reality. Go Vikings! We are starting our district’s first Dual Language Immersion program at Soquel Elementary School in 2022-23 with one kindergarten class. The program will roll up one class and grade level at a time for the next six years at the school. The target language is Spanish. Dual Language Immersion programs have proven to be one of the best ways to support English Megan McElroy learners, improve overall learning for all participants, and produce bilingual students. We are so excited to add this offering to our district programs. New Brighton Middle School Enriquue Dolmo is losing another teaching legend to retirement. Last year, longtime woodshop teacher David Brodkey retired. Now his longtime teaching neighbor, art teacher Roy Segura will be retiring at the end of this school year. Both of these gentlemen provided students with hands-on opportunities which are an incredibly important component of a well-rounded education. Mr. Segura’s gift was pulling the best art possible from each individual student. You will see lots of his students’ beautiful work around the school and in the community. To wrap things up, I invite you to visit the Heart of Soquel out behind Soquel Elementary School, by Soquel Creek, if you haven’t had a chance to do so. That whole area has undergone such a transformation. Our county did a beautiful job on the Heart of Soquel. The newer building at Soquel Elementary is so much more aesthetically pleasing than those old portables. Teacher Megan McElroy and other staff have been working hard on the new student garden adjacent to the field, which has been dedicated to long-time grounds specialist Don Meyers who passed away in 2021. You’ll see a plaque honoring Don near the gate between the Heart of Soquel and the school. n ••• Scott J. Turnbull is superintendent of Soquel Union Elementary School District.
