BUSD held a town hall in December about how to address racism on campus. Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD The Berkeley schools Board of Education meets tonight, Jan. 13. On the agenda: The superintendent will share his plan to address racism on campus, the board may vote to call off plans for portables at Thousand Oaks, and there will be […]
Berkeley School Board
Posted inCrime & Safety, Schools
Berkeley School Board gets annual bullying report
BHS Stop Harassing has been working to raise awareness about discrimination at Berkeley High over the past year (file photo). Photo: BHS Stop Harassing There were 165 complaints of bullying, sexual harassment and other types of harassment were reported in Berkeley schools in the 2014-15 school year, according to a report set to go before the School Board […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School Board to get student residency update
There are about 300 students at Berkeley High who live outside the city but have received permits to attend BHS. Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD After approving a new admissions and enrollment policy in June aimed to curtail the illegal enrollment of out-of-district students, the Berkeley School Board is set to receive a report at tonight’s meeting that […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School Board primer: Impact fees, class sizes, intervention efforts and the achievement gap
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education. Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD The Berkeley schools Board of Education meets tonight, Oct. 28. On the action calendar is a proposal to look at how to collect mitigation fees from developers. The discussion items will focus on an intervention program focused on K-8 students who experience learning and behavioral challenges, and the district’s […]
Posted inSchools
School Board considers name change at LeConte
Le Conte Elementary School could one day have a new name. Photo: Nancy Rubin Berkeley school officials are considering changing the name of Le Conte Elementary after community members raised concerns about its namesake, Joseph Le Conte, a deeply respected UC Berkeley faculty member and a passionate conservationist who helped found the Sierra Club. Le Conte was […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: School board — Take action now on developer fees
State law allows school districts to collect fees from new residential and commercial development projects to mitigate their impact on school facilities. New construction and new residents mean new students and new classroom space requirements. Most school districts in the state collect these fees. Berkeley does not. Berkeley is losing out on money that is […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School Board primer: Restorative justice for BHS, news on new BSEP tax, LCAP goals, council move
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education. Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD The Berkeley schools Board of Education meets tonight, Sept. 30. On the consent calendar: a contract to hire a restorative justice consultant to work with Berkeley High’s most at-risk students. Two discussion items will focus on the local tax known as the Berkeley Schools Excellence Program, which is set […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Schools
Berkeley Technology Academy starts semester with record low enrollment
BTA Principal Sheila Quintana. Image: BUSD Berkeley Technology Academy, the city’s alternative high school, was set to begin the year with record low enrollment, Principal Sheila Quintana told the School Board in late August. Quintana gave the board an update on the school’s efforts at its Aug. 26 meeting, detailing recent successes and challenges since she […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School Board Primer: Projects over budget at King and Willard, district priorities and finances
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education (file photo). Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD The Berkeley schools Board of Education meets tonight, Sept. 9, beginning in closed session at 5:30 p.m. The regular meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. See the full agenda packet here. The regular meeting is set to begin by 7:30 p.m. Public comment is limited […]
Posted inCity
City Council seeks to move meetings to West Berkeley
The Berkeley City Council wants to move its meetings to the BUSD headquarters on Bonar. Photo: Kaia Diringer Update, Sept. 15 The neighborhood meeting has been moved to Sept. 24 because of a scheduling conflict, district spokesman Mark Coplan told Berkeleyside today. Coplan explained by email that “It is a neighborhood meeting like we conduct when […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School Board primer: Berkeley Technology Academy review, council asks to move to Bonar, more
The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education. Photo: Mark Coplan/BUSD The Berkeley schools Board of Education meets tonight, Aug. 26, beginning at 6 p.m. See the agenda packet here. There are two back-to-back board meetings Wednesday night. The first, at 6 p.m., is a training to go over the district’s new online agenda packet system. The regular meeting […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: BTA teacher asks, how can we support our kids?
The lengthy piece published Wednesday on Berkeleyside about Berkeley Technology Academy has certainly caused a wide array of reactions and emotions throughout our school, district and community. Rather than cast blame, point fingers and re-count unfortunate anecdotes of past and current students in crisis situations, I’d like to take this opportunity to provide additional context […]
