UC Davis is embracing the philosophy that the world’s most serious problems can be solved only by people with a wide variety of perspectives, and is encouraging colleges and schools all over campus to infuse their recruitments for new faculty members with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
A week before the board of Napaâs public school system is expected to vote on shuttering two middle schools and replacing one with an English-Spanish language academy, parents and staff with the Harvest and River schools came out in virtual force Thursday night trying to head off any closures â even as district leaders warned failing to act could make a state takeover more likely. Howard Yune, Register More than 100 people spoke up over the course of more than 5 ½ hours during a special online meeting of the Napa Valley Unified School District board, which began weighing potential shutdown of Harvest Middle School in southwest Napa and River Middle School on the cityâs north side after the 2021-22 year. A majority of the petitioners attacked the idea of eliminating either or both programs â the former teaching a dual-language immersion program in a heavily Latino neighborhood, the other devoted to social-emotional learning and close links between teachers and its preteen students.
Pushback by parents concerned about the possible closure of Harvest Middle School â and about reducing access for disadvantaged and minority students â is leading advisers to the Napa school district to look at other ways of shrinking the footprint of a public school system pressured by falling attendance. The task force charged with helping the Napa Valley Unified School District adjust its budget to a contracting student body is turning its attention to a host of options that would shutter one of four middle schools in the city of Napa before the 2022-23 academic year but keep open Harvest on Old Sonoma Road, which hosts a dual English-Spanish curriculum and a student body more than three-quarters Latino.