Taplin defeated incumbent Cheryl Davila to take the West Berkeley seat.
Karen Hemphill
Posted inSchools
Watch: Outgoing School Board members say passionate goodbyes
Karen Hemphill gave a forceful speech and Josh Daniels reflected on his tenure through a data-driven presentation.
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Berkeley Unified introduces fees for residential and commercial developers
Residential developers will soon be required pay the district $3.48 per square foot, and commercial developers 56 cents. Most nearby districts already have a similar policy.
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REALM Charter School will stay at West Campus next year
After much back-and-forth, REALM will continue leasing a small space at the site from the Berkeley Unified School District.
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Budget woes threaten REALM Charter Schools
Berkeley’s largest charter school is suffering financial woes and space constraints that pose serious challenges to its continuing viability.
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School Board considers name change at LeConte
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 also, however, a slave owner and staunch supporter of the Confederacy who held views that, […]
Posted inCity
City Council seeks to move meetings to West Berkeley
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 there is going to be construction or something that will have an impact on the surrounding area. We […]
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BUSD poised to adopt tougher school enrollment policy
Berkeley school board officials are considering tougher enrollment requirements to curb illegal enrollment in the district, following the initial success of new registration requirements this year. Stricter enforcement in recent months led the Berkeley Unified School District admissions office to reject 11% of applicants from private middle schools to Berkeley High School for 2015-16 after it was determined […]
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Mrs. Dalloway’s to give Berkeley teachers $100 in books
Every kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District will soon have the opportunity to buy $100 worth of books, thanks to an offer made by Mrs. Dalloway’s bookstore and the best-selling author James Patterson. The bookstore at 2904 College Ave. applied for a grant from Patterson to distribute gift certificates to teachers. […]
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School board reviews recess restriction as punishment
Two years ago, Berkeley parent Sinead O’Sullivan got tired of hearing from her kindergartener that he was missing recess for misbehaving. She knew he wasn’t a saint, but she didn’t think taking exercise away was going to improve his behavior. “It’s not effective,” O’Sullivan said. “ The kids who get (recess taken away) are the […]
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School Board considers options for tackling student surge
With an extra 250 students projected to crowd into Berkeley schools in the coming three years, the school board considered a long list of options for creating space at its Nov. 5 meeting. The board will narrow down the choices at its Dec. 10 meeting, and decide on a plan of action in January. After hearing […]
Posted inCity, Schools
Berkeley elections: Kriss Worthington retains District 7; nail-biting race continues in District 8
Election day may be nearly a week behind us, but votes are still being counted and the results of some Berkeley races are still being determined, including District 8 where Lori Droste is currently very narrowly ahead for that council seat. Absentee ballots are still being processed and will likely continue through the week. The latest counts are posted to the Alameda County […]