School Board

The election was seven days ago, but the final ballots cast in El Dorado County have yet to be tabulated, and it might not be until Friday for the results of over 20,000 ballots are released. Another 3,000 provisional ballots should be counted by Monday.

As of 5:00 p.m. November 15, the 20,000 ballots were about to be scanned.

Many are ready for this election to be over the national level with the negativity surrounding the campaigns. On a local level there are several choices before voters.

If you have not already submitted your ballots, find your polling place here:

California
Nevada

If you live in the South Lake Tahoe City limits, you are able to vote for two of ten candidates for City Council (in alphabetical order):

Brooke Laine
Dan McLaughlin
Jason Collin
JoAnn Conner

To the South Lake Tahoe Community,
Thank you for considering me for Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board member. With your support, I will serve the residents of Trustee Area #1. My husband Matt Lucksinger, a South Tahoe native, and I decided to move to the LTUSD in 2014, excited to have our daughters enter school and to be able to participate in this community. School Board service is an extension of that decision.

This is a critical School Board election. It is important that our future Board continue the great work our present Board has completed over the last decade. So, it is imperative that Larry Reilly be elected as LTUSD School Board Trustee for Area #1. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done in our district. There are important decisions that need to be made. Our schools and our community need practical, tough, experienced leadership to support Dr. Tarwater in his continuing efforts to make LTUSD a great district for our children.

Having served under many different school boards in my forty-two years of teaching in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, I know the importance of a dedicated, well-informed group of individuals who work cooperatively for the betterment of all the students and employees of the district.

I support Larry Reilly because he is dedicated to education as evidenced by his thirty-nine years as an outstanding teacher. He is well-informed as to the changing laws and regulations governing education. His years as an athletic coach attest to the fact that he knows the importance of team work.

Larry Reilly is the most qualified candidate for the LTUSD School Board. He has dedicated his life to education in the Lake Tahoe basin, holding the same teaching position at George Whittell High School for over 30 years. As one of his colleagues at Whittell and a concerned LTUSD parent, I can vouch for Larry Reilly's clear understanding of educational policy and his ability to communicate and work with both school administration and the community.

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.

I am a resident and registered voter in Nevada, but I work in Meyers, attended Meyers Elementary, grew up in Christmas Valley, and graduated from South Tahoe High School (STHS). The state line is a blur to me because I view the South Shore as one community. I have two children currently in high school, one at Whittell and one at STHS; I also have another child who graduated from Whittell and is now a college freshman. I believe that a good public education system is the great equalizer in America, and that every child has a right to the best education possible.

Annie Davidson should be the next LTUSD School Board member from Trustee Area #1.

My name is Brooke Martone- Ballachey. I was born and raised in Christmas Valley and attended elementary school through high school in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. I am now raising two children in our community and am the owner of a small business.

This letter is for anyone interested in seeing students in Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) get the best opportunities possible.

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.

As of Tuesday's Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) Board meeting, no applications for the open seat on the board had been completed and filed, though two are expected according to Shannon Chandler, Dr. Jim Tarwater's Executive Assistant.

The seat opened up when Ginger Nicolay-Davis, the Board Member from Trustee Area 2, had to leave the board when she was hired by LTUSD as a speech pathologist.

The doors opened at all seven schools in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Monday, welcoming students back after their summer vacations.

At Tahoe Valley Elementary, not only were the doors opened, but the red carpet was rolled out, literally. Staff and members of the California Highway Patrol greeted students as they entered the school with fanfare and balloon in celebration of their return.

Not only did the students enjoy the processional, but parents, staff and officers did as well.

For reasons unknown, Lake Tahoe Unified School District Trustee Ginger Nicolay-Davis has resigned from the board position she has held since December, 2014.

During their monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 23, the LTUSD board will officially announce the opening on the board and their intent to appoint a new trustee who must reside in Trustee Area #2.

Nicolay-Davis resigned effective August 9.

Dr. Annie Davidson filed Thursday to run for school board member of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District serving Trustee Area 1.

The City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Unified School District, Lake Tahoe Community College and South Tahoe Public Utility District have all released advertisements, press releases and emails to the public, looking for candidates for their open seats this election season.

There will be two open seats for City Council, three seats for LTUSD School Board of Trustees, two for LTCC Board of Trustees, and two for the STPUD Board of Directors. All will be voted on during the next election, November 8, 2016.

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.

During their April 19 meeting, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s Safe Routes to School Master Plan. With this approval, the Supervisors support plans to improve pedestrian and bicycle access and safety around Lake Tahoe schools through infrastructure upgrades, education and encouragement programs, and better enforcement of traffic laws.

The very popular Sports Medicine program at South Tahoe High School just got a new counterpart, a Strength and Conditioning program and center. While Sports Med teaches students how to help athletes after injuries occur, the strength and conditioning program will teach students how to train in a way to prevent injuries.

At Tuesday's Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board meeting, the board voted 4-1 to add the Strength & Conditioning center with accompanying classes at STHS.

The agenda for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday, March 8 is a full one. Board members will be addressing the new state law concerning immunizations, new lights for the soccer field at South Tahoe Middle School, a conditioning room and new flooring at South Tahoe High, student privacy, finances, a 4.5% raise for employees, and discuss a tuition agreement with Douglas County Schools. The meeting begins at the District Office at 5:00 p.m. with closed session, with the public portion beginning about 6:00 p.m.

Immunizations

Dr. James Tarwater, Superintendent of Lake Tahoe Unified Schools, will provide an overview of student data at the next LTUSD School Board meeting on Tuesday, February 9.

El Dorado County schools superintendent Jeremy Meyers submitted his resignation to the school board Monday, and it was accepted after Meyers was arrested for two DUIs this year.

Meyers was arrested about 2 p.m. on Nov. 4 after crashing his pickup truck into a utility box on Green Valley Road and had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Last spring, Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) students in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 11th grades took a new style of state testing. The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) was an on-line assessment that measured their problem solving and critical thinking skills.

LTUSD Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater will present the results to the School Board Trustees during Tuesday's board meeting.

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.