lake tahoe unified school board

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The three member visiting accreditation committee from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) finished up their review at South Tahoe High School (STHS) today, parting with very positive comments about their experience.

"It is amazing what I've seen in two years," said Cheryl Townsend, Director of The Reach School in Sebastapol, Calif., and the only member of the accreditation team that originally reviewed the school in 2016. "There is a great level of intensity and quality at this school, give yourselves a hand."

They say it's always hard to say goodbye, and that was evident Tuesday evening during the final board meeting for three of the five Lake Tahoe Unified School Board members.

After nine years on the board, Dr. Larry Green chose to not seek a third term, and Dr. Michael Doyle lost in his re-election bid. Adam Jones filled the seat of Sue Novasel for the past two years after she became a county supervisor. He chose not to run this November.

School physical education at one time was full of jumping jacks, sit ups, pull ups and push ups. Today's physical education at schools has taken on a whole new focus, and Sierra House Elementary in South Lake Tahoe is being honored for what they do on a daily basis.

The school received recognition for their outstanding efforts in creating an active school environment under First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, Her plan is dedicated to ensuring 60 minutes of physical activity a day is the norm in K-12 schools.

Angela Swanson, who was a Lake Tahoe Unified School Board member from 2005-2009 is back on the board, this time to replace Ginger Nicolay-Davis who left in June to accept a job with the school district. She was interviewed and voted in Tuesday night during the LTUSD board meeting. Her term will last until December, 2018.

The school district accepted applications for the open seat, and Swanson was the lone candidate so Tuesday's interview and vote was just a formality.

Swanson also served on the South Lake Tahoe City Council for a term from 2010-2014.

Sarah Smith, Student Representative to the Lake Tahoe Unified School Board of Education, was recognized during their meeting Tuesday night.

The South Tahoe High Junior spent the year attending the board meetings twice a month, sharing the activities happening at the school.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School Board student representative is now junior Sarah Smith. She was sworn in by Board President Barbara Bannar at the last meeting.

South Lake Tahoe's Cork & More is not going to close at the end of the month as previously announced. The media coverage of their closing brought potential buyers out of the woodwork. Stay tuned to see if a sale is successful.

As promised during a recent Lake Tahoe Unified School Board meeting, the bleachers at South Tahoe High started to be dismantled the day after graduation.

Its been a four year project getting the design, bids and approval to build new bleachers to replace the 49 year old ones.

The new bleachers will have 917 seats, 12 wheelchair areas and a three-room coach/press box area.

The planned completion date is August 8.

The 3rd annual Dancing With the Tahoe Stars is quickly becoming a community favorite. A capacity crowd filled MontBleu Casino Resort to watch ten local celebrities paired with professional dancers vie for the mirror ball trophy.

South Lake Tahoe teacher Lisa McDaniel and Lake Tahoe Unified School Board Member Ginger Nicolay-Davis each ended up with the top honors in the first ever tie. The tiebreaker combined judge's scores, ticket donations and crowd noise.

It's been four years since the plans were first started but the end is now in sight for the installation of new bleachers at South Tahoe High.

A bid was awarded during Tuesday's Lake Tahoe Unified School Board meeting to the Southern Bleacher Company of Texas to remove the 49-year old home side stands and install new ones that are ADA compliant and satisfy the snow loads and safety features required by the state.

With the filing deadline now passed, the list of candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council and City Clerk, South Tahoe Public Utility Board and the Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees is now known. These positions, along with the El Dorado County Supervisor for Area 5 will all be voted by local voters on during the November 4.

The filing period opened on Monday for candidates wishing to run for one of the two open Lake Tahoe Unified School Board positions. The full term of the position will be until 11/30/18.

All interested persons must be a registered voter and reside within the boundaries of Trustee Area #5 or #2. Area 5 covers a wide region from Cascade Lake to Meyers and Area 2 is part of the Al Tahoe and Bijou neighborhoods (see attached maps for exact boundaries).

The November 4th elections will be part of the El Dorado County wide ballot.