Report Card Notes: Roy Segura Retiring, By Scott J. Turnbull, Superin

FEATURED COLUMNIST

Report Card Notes: Roy Segura Retiring

By Scott J. Turnbull, Superintendent, Soquel Union Elementary School District

Ihave 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 members for just a short while after Trustee Jennifer Izant Gonzales resigned last month. First, please allow me to say what an incredibly positive influence Ms. Izant Gonzales had in her tenure. She brought her wealth of knowledge and expertise as an educator herself to the board. She always put students and families first in her role as a board member and she sincerely cares about this community. She will now have more time to spend with her beautiful family. Thank you for your service to the board and district, Jennifer. You are a class act. For anyone who might be interested in filling that vacant seat, please look at our board webpage for more information.

On the COVID-19 mitigation front, our amazing school district community continues to pull through it together. We continue to provide free onsite COVID-19 PCR testing to all families who want their children to participate during the school day. I really want to express my appreciation to our County Office of Education for their support with that testing program. As I’m sure you’ve heard, masking in schools went from “required” to “strongly recommended” by the California Department of Public Health. Many of our students and staff still wear masks and we have focused on “no bullying” for anyone’s personal choice regardless of their masking decision.

There are lots of great infrastructure projects that are beginning or in the works

Roy Segura

for our campuses. We will be replacing all the windows on the older buildings at New Brighton Middle School, which is sure to provide a big facelift for the campus. Air conditioning units are being added in older classrooms including those at Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School, where things get a bit warmer sometimes. Other projects include power resiliency for our kitchen, Solar Photovoltaic shade structures to reduce utility costs, and installing electric vehicle charging stations. Many of these projects will make our district greener in addition to improving our facilities in general. We are in the process of updating our district’s mission statement. The existing one is beautifully written and a district committee is seeking to capture the best of our existing statement combined with some new ideas with special emphasis on equity. I can’t wait to We are in the process of share the new mission updating our district’s mission statement with you in statement. The existing one the near future. is beautifully written and a Beginning in district committee is seeking to November, our board capture the best of our existing statement combined with some new ideas with special elections will now be under the “By-Trustee Area” approach as opposed to a general emphasis on equity. election. Over several months, our board studied this possible transition, hired a demographer to draw up different map scenarios, and heard input from the public before making a decision on a final map. On February 17, the Santa Cruz County Committee on School District Organization approved SUESD’s transition to 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.