Nearly 200 union workers from the Berkeley schools shut down the school board meeting temporarily Wednesday night. The group declined to stop their impassioned chanting, forcing the board members to go into closed session for about 15 minutes. (The video, above, by Mary Flaherty, shows members leaving their posts.) District spokesman Mark Coplan said he’d never seen a Berkeley school […]
Berkeley School Board
Posted inSchools
Berkeley School District seeks feedback on how to spend $2.4 million for low-income students
BUSD Superintendent Donald Evans speaks with participants at the first of several LCAP forums for the community, this one in December 2013. Photo: Mark Coplan Berkeley schools are getting an extra $2.4 million this year to help low-income students and English learners under a new state funding system. To decide how best to spend the […]
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Berkeley School Board set to vote on slashed budget for cooking and gardening program
Supporters of the BUSD cooking and gardening program speak out at the March 12 BUSD Board meeting. Photo: Mary Flaherty UPDATE, March 27: As expected, the Berkeley Unified School Board last night voted to commit $485,000 for the coming year to its gardening program, under the terms outlined it the proposal that called for gardening classes for […]
Posted inSchools
2020 Vision: Skills improve, absences down, gap remains
The Berkeley Unified School District showed improvements in student reading proficiency by third grade between spring 2012 and 2013. (Click to see the full report.) Image: 2020 Vision A citywide initiative proponents hope will close the achievement gap in Berkeley public schools appears to be working, though significant disparities remain, according to data presented Tuesday night […]
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Berkeley School Board members to hold office hours
Berkeley School Board. Photo: Mark Coplan Members of the Board of Education will hold office hours in an attempt to make themselves more available to the community, the Berkeley Unified School District announced recently. Scroll down to see an interactive map of the locations and schedule. Karen Hemphill, board president, will be at Café Leila, 1724 […]
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King Middle School to get new field, all-weather track
The new track at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School is set to be finished by September. Photo: Camille Baptista By Camille Baptista Those who have tried to use the track or field at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School recently know that bulldozers have taken over the area, gates are locked, and temporary fencing is […]
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Years of leaky pipes at Emerson School could see fix soon
Emerson students wrote letters to BUSD maintenance chief Lew Jones asking for help. This drawing, by Oliver, shows a leaking pipe. By Camille Baptista Citing a failure to address significant plumbing problems at Emerson Elementary that date back years, community members pleaded with the Berkeley Unified School Board last Wednesday to ask the district to change […]
Posted inNosh
Berkeley works to save schools’ edible programs
The Berkeley School Board looks likely to back a new plan aimed at sustaining the district’s highly regarded cooking and gardening program.
Posted inSchools
10 people apply for vacant school board post
The Berkeley School Board has been looking for a new member since Leah Wilson resigned in March. Photo: Kaia Diringer Ten Berkeley residents — including a former aide to Mayor Tom Bates, the former top administrator for the city of Oakland, a UC Berkeley law professor, a nuclear scientist, a Berkeley High math teacher, and a longtime […]
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Hayward chief is finalist for BUSD superintendent spot
Donald Evans. Photo: Hayward Unified School District A national search for a new Berkeley schools superintendent has ended practically right next door in Hayward with the announcement Friday morning that Donald Evans has been chosen by the School Board as its preferred finalist for the position. Evans has been superintendent of the Hayward Unified School District […]
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School budget ‘cautiously positive’ despite challenges
The Bonar Street headquarters of the Berkeley Unified School District. Photo: Kaia Diringer “Prudent budgeting” has allowed Berkeley’s school district finances to weather obstacles such as rising employee health care costs and insufficient revenue from the state, officials said earlier this week. “We have heard about the pain in other school districts from furlough days, significant […]
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School board race: Candidates vie for two open seats
Leyva-Cutler: “The community gave us great feedback” about the Edmond Heatley controversy Leyva-Cutler: “The community gave us great feedback” about the Edmond Heatley controversy In most years, an incumbent running for school board in a well-regarded school district would be considered a shoo-in. But the storm over the unfilled Berkeley Unified superintendent post jeopardizes Beatriz Leyva-Cutler‘s […]
