lake tahoe unified

High winds kept emergency personnel busy throughout the day on Thursday. Downed power lines and trees wrecked havoc on the South Shore where many residents were without power for much of the day and evening.

A 200 ft tall tree fell at St. Theresa's Catholic Church just before noon. A photo of the tree barely missing the statue of St. Theresa in front of the church made it to the national news via Associated Press according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Marshall Eric Guevin. Most of the damage was to the tree.

The 20th Annual MontBleu Holiday Extravaganza will highlight the talents of South Lake Tahoe children, teachers, parents and alumni.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, aka the Woz, will be in South Lake Tahoe to help raise funds for Lake Tahoe Unified School District. In partnership with the local Hard Rock Cafe, Wozniak will autograph any laptops, iPhones, t-shirts or other personal items brought in for a suggested donation to LTUSD.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was awarded over $150,000 to look into providing safer, more walkable and bikeable off highway routes around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS), Bijou Park and Lake Tahoe Community College. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) awarded the grant as part of their $500,000 "On Our Way" program grants.

Another public workshop to get feedback from the community will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the STMS Multi-purpose room.

Back in April, the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) was awarded over $150,000 to look into providing safer, off highway opportunities around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS). The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) awarded the grant as part of their $500,000 "On Our Way" program grants.

This letter was given to South Tahoe Now for publication.
September 26, 2014

Governor Jerry Brown
c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, California 95814

Re: Support for SB 850 State Senator Block – Pilot Baccalaureate Program for
California Community Colleges

Dear Governor Brown:

I am writing to you to urge your signature into law of SB 850 (“The Bill”) by State Senator Block. The Bill as is valuable to our State’s future to increase the education and training of residents of our State.

Two agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be in South Lake Tahoe next week to provide parents with information they need to know about social media and their children.

FBI Special Agents Scott Scoffed, Sacramento Cyber Crime Squad and FBI Special Agent Glenn Norling, South Lake Tahoe Resident Agent, will present a one hour presentation that will cover socializing on line, how to correctly use mobile devices, making a computer safe and protecting kid's privacy and how to talk to kids about their use of social media.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District is renewing their focus on raising the attendance rates of students in the district's seven schools. Not only is being at school essential to a good education, it's also essential to the District's budget.

On Tuesday, the LTUSD Board will vote on a proclamation to declare September as "Attendance Awareness Month." They want parents, students, teachers, staff, administrators and the community to focus on "Every School Day Matters" and help keep kids in school.

During the 2013/14 school year, the attendance rates were:

Bijou - 92.3%

The first week of school in South Lake Tahoe is in the books, and the early numbers show that enrollment is up for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District's seven schools.

Many students had to miss the first day of school since they didn't have their paperwork and immunizations completed, which are both required to attend local schools.

Angie Keil, the Public Information Officer for LTUSD, said that it was a hectic first week of school but so far the enrollment numbers show that there are 3,877 students in school. This is up by 156 from the end of school figures from June.

Zawadisha, a Tahoe-based global women’s empowerment organization, announced today that South Lake resident and Lean In partner Rayona Sharpnack will be the keynote speaker at its inaugural “Women as Change Makers: Leading and Thriving in the 21st Century,” conference, to be held October 3rd at the North Tahoe Event Center. Sharpnack, the CEO of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, has facilitated women’s leadership trainings for such Fortune 500 companies as Microsoft, Charles Schwab, and Hewlett Packard.

Location

A large scale disaster is about to hit South Lake Tahoe. Sirens are blaring, emergency personnel are responding to the airport, screaming people are seriously injured while others cannot be saved, a triage is set up and an incident command center has been set up in the City Council chambers. A large airplane has just crashed with hazardous cargo on board at the Tahoe Valley airport.

Premonition? No. It's a planned emergency drill that will take place on Monday, August 25.

There are a few buzz words that are evidently going to be used during the El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor race this summer and fall.

Economic Vitality - An economy with sufficient jobs, products and services to support the community. A sufficient tax base provides citizens with police and fire, parks and recreation and public services needed by the population.

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.

The South Tahoe Drug Free Coalition (STDFC) was formed in 2012 by Tahoe Youth and Family Services in collaboration with key community partners. Some of these community partners include the South Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Public Health, and Lake Tahoe Unified School District.

A special Lake Tahoe Unified School Board meeting will be held on June 20 in order for them to present their Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP)and Proposed 2014/15 Budget and receive public comment. Per Education Code guidelines, these items can only be approved once the public has time to comment.

At the last school board meeting on June 10 there were no comments.

South Tahoe Now sent a questionnaire out to all of the candidates for El Dorado County Supervisor and Douglas County Sheriff. This is the last of the submitted responses. Candidates Sue Novasel, Kenny Curtzwiler and Angela Swanson were the only County Supervisor candidates to respond, and Douglas County Sheriff candidates Ron Pierini and Dave Brady were the only Sheriff candidates to respond. We thank those that took the time to reply.

1) What do you see as the Number 1 issue facing residents of District 5?

In a world full of acronyms it may be difficult to keep up on what they all mean. Here are two that you may want to learn as they have an impact on students in not only the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, but in the entire state of California.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) replaces California's nearly half-century-old, state-controlled school finance system with one that promises more local control as well as greater transparency and fairness. LCFF is designed to provide school districts with flexibility to direct resources to meet student's needs.

The Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School (LTESM) was selected as a 2014 California Distinguished School, an award given to just 5% of the state's schools.

“We are very proud of our programs and we are excited to be recognized as one of the top elementary schools in the state," said LTESM Principal Joel Dameral. "Our students, teachers and parents have worked hard to earn this Distinguished School recognition.”

The Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation invites the community to its annual Celebration of Education. LTEF provided grants of over $44,000 for student activities in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District during the 2013/14 school year.

Join them on Wednesday, May 14th, from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Lakeland Village Pavilion. There will be presentations by local students, refreshments and entertainment. This is a free event for the entire family to see the great things that are happening in our school district through the support of our local education foundation.

Children not 5 years old by the time school starts in the fall are unable to attend kindergarten due to a new state law, but the Lake Tahoe Unified School District will have Transitional Kindergarten (TK).

The Kindergarten Readiness Act, signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2010, changed the kindergarten entry date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1 so that children enter kindergarten at age 5. The law phases in the new age requirement by moving the cutoff date one month a year for three years, beginning this fall for children born between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2.

The idea of Sierra House Elementary School becoming the Sierra House Mountain Academy was presented to the Lake Tahoe Unified School Board this week. If this becomes reality, Sierra House would join the other themed South Lake Tahoe elementary schools: Meyers is the Environmental Magnet School and Tahoe Valley is the Performing Arts Magnet School.

The goal is simple, "Helping the youth of South Lake Tahoe to be well read and well fed."

Hunger isn't just an inner city problem. Hunger isn't just a third world problem. Hunger affects approximately 16 million children in the United States with 3 million rural community households being "food insecure."

How can children focus on solving a math problem or writing an English paper when he or she is trying to ignore the persistent pangs of hunger? School work is forced to compete with hunger.

The Lake Tahoe Unified School District Board of Education and Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees will hold a joint meeting on Tuesday, February 11 in the LTCC Board Room at 5 p.m.

During the joint portion of the meeting the groups will have three topics of discussion: Trustee boundaries during this fall's elections, seamless pathway from preschool to graduate school, and facilities and technology partnerships.

The Community Advisory Committee will provide parents with resources needed to handle every day questions issues concerning their children.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District psychologists will be on hand to answer these questions, and more:

· Is your child struggling with her homework?
· Do you feel like your kids never listen?
· Are sibling battles out of control?
· Are you worried about your child’s behavior?
· Would you like to meet other parents who share your concerns?