August 16, 2006 - Top Stories
For the first time since the Academic Performance Index Report was initiated in California, all but one of VC’s nine schools met or exceeded target test scores, at least according to preliminary scores released by the state.
This includes Pauma Valley Elementary School, which if it continues in this vein next year, will no longer be a “School in Program Improvement,” which it has been for several years.
Only one school, the Upper Elementary, is estimated to be in danger of not meeting the Academic Yearly Progress (Federal) measures for one sub-group. But that won’t be known for sure until September.
Federal No Child Left Behind standards say that if one sub-group doesn’t make its goals, the entire school has failed to meet its goals.
“We’re all ecstatic,” Supt. Lou Obermeyer told The Roadrunner this week.
“Our test scores show significant growth for the district and for each of our schools! Four of our schools are at or above 800 which is the target the state set for all schools,” she said.
“Our students, teachers, principals and support staff have worked hard and the test scores validate their hard work. Our estimates show that all of our schools have their AYP (Academic Yearly Progress) goals,” she said.
The AYP is the measure used by the federal and state governments to track district and individual school progress.
“I am proud of our district’s progress and the quality educational program we have for our students,” said Dr. Obermeyer.
According to Ken Clark, Director of Curriculum, all students in Grades 2-11 participated in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program during April and May last year.
The results demonstrate improved student achievement overall, as the percentage of students scoring Proficient or Above in English Language Arts and Mathematics increased over past years.
Significant growth continued in Mathematics and English Language Arts percentages increased at every grade level. Some highlights at grade levels:
• 76% of Grade 2 students scored proficient or above in Mathematics with no students scoring in the Far Below Basic Range.
•∑In Grade 3, the percentage of students scoring Proficient or Above in English Language Arts increased by 9% to 52%.
• 52% of students in grade 5 scored Proficient or Above in Mathematics, up from 37% last year.
•∑ In Grade 8, the percentage of students scoring Proficient or Above in English-Language Arts increased 8% to 54% while the percentage of students scoring Far Below Basic decreased by 4%.
• The number of students taking Algebra 1 increased for the fourth consecutive year, while 72% scored Proficient or Above with no students scoring in the Far Below Basic Range.
•∑In the high school grades, all levels showed improvement in English Language Arts. More students took Science California Standards Tests than in the past, demonstrating that more students are taking a more rigorous academic program each year.
For the last two years the district has focused on improving student achievement programs to identify the level of performance for all students and to provide support and growth opportunities for all children at every grade level, which were strengthened from the year before.
Teachers looked at student performance data and used the information to develop and strengthen instruction to improve student performance on the CST.
The CST measures the progress of students toward mastery of the California Content Standards.
Teachers were put in “grade level teams” and asked to come up with plans to improve scores in each of the core subjects in grades K-8.
They came up with guides to help make sure that the essential standards were being taught. During the year the teams met to look at test scores and make sure each student was moving to master the standards.
The state of California Accountability Reports for schools and districts will not be released until mid-September.
“Estimates of growth on the Academic Performance Index (State of California) should demonstrate that all schools met and exceeded their targets. Only one school, Upper Elementary, is estimated to be in danger of not meeting the Annual Yearly Progress (Federal) measures for one sub-group,” said Clark.
“We will wait for the final release of information, but it appears that all other schools, including Pauma Elementary, have met the AYP criteria,” he said.
Clark told The Roadrunner “Our teachers and principals have worked hard and done ‘whatever it takes’ to improve student performance and deserve to celebrate these successes as we look forward to the work still to be done.”
Many candidates are unopposed this year in Valley Center and Pauma.
The VC fire board, parks and rec. board and planning board will all be filled by people running unopposed.
The list of candidates running in offices in the Valley Center, Pauma area is now available from the Registrar of Voters.
Friday was the deadline to file for various local electoral offices.
This is subject to change as the list of candidates available from the Registrar the week after the deadline is sometimes incomplete:
VC-Pauma Unified School District: There will be an election for this board, where the seats of Henry Van Wyk, Lori Johnson and Barbara Rohrer are up for election. All three incumbents filed, as did pediatrician Doug Dechairo and teacher Johnny Sowers. Mike Morasco, a former trustee of the Escondido High School District board, had picked up papers, but, according to the Registrar of Voters, later withdrew.
VC Planning Group: Seven seats are open for this advisory council to the Board of Supervisors and seven have filed. Which means there will be no election. The seven are Susan Simpson, appointed incumbent, Lael Montgomery, incumbent; Cindy Wallace, education director, David A. Montross, contractor, John Coulombe appointed incumbent, Eric Laventure, a water district tech and former member of the planning group, Terry Van Koughnett, appointed incumbent,
Valley Center Municipal Water District: Two of the three directors up for reelection, Randy Haskell in Dev. 2 and Merle Aleshire in Div. 5, are unopposed, and so there will be no election. There will be an election in Div. 3, where Al Sherr, a businessman living on North Star Way, has filed to run against longtime director Gary Broomell, who is a citrus rancher.
Yuima Municipal Water District: It appears that there will be an election for this district in Div. 1 between Douglas Anderson, a farmer and Jack Lee, a retired businessman. Bill Knutson is unopposed in Div. 4.
Valley Center Fire Protection District: Apparently there will be no election for the five seats open on the VC Fire Protection District. All four incumbents, Mel Schuler, Dan Thornton, including appointed incumbents Weaver Simonsen and Bill Palmer, have filed. So has Oliver Smith.
VC Parks & Rec District: It appears there will be no election as all three incumbents, Tom Bumgardner, Eric Jockinsen, and Fran DeWilde have filed and are unopposed.
Deer Springs Fire Protection District: There will apparently be no election for this board either. Three seats are open. Tom Bumgardner, incumbent, Bruce Tebbs, retired airline pilot and incumbent Robert A. Winje, have filed.
Pauma Valley Community Services District: Three seats are up for election is this district. Incumbents are Ronald Stewart, William Taylor, and Richard Meyers. Filing papers can be picked up at the district office, located at 33129 Cole Grade Road. You can call the district at 742-1909.
Pauma Valley Community Services District: Three seats are open on this district. Three have filed: Richard J. Meyers, Ronald O. Stewart and William D. Taylor.
Pauma Municipal Water District: Two seats are open on this governing water district board. Yoneo Kariya, a farmer, has filed. No one else has filed.
Rincon Ranch Community Services District: This Pauma Valley District has four seats available. Three are long terms, and one is a short term. Manny Grey and Bernard Jensen have filed for the long terms. No one has filed for the short term.
Mootamai Municipal Water District: Two seats are open on this board whose district serves part of Pauma Valley. Incumbent Don Cline has filed for one seat. Michael Biondi has filed for the other seat. So, apparently there will be no election.
Two fatality accidents occurred last week along a stretch of road along Hwy 76 that is starting to acquire a deadly reputation.
Several fatal accidents have occurred along this stretch in the last few months, some of them involving big rigs and closing the road down for half a day.
The section of road in question is just east of the intersection of Hwy 76 & Valley Center Road. Driving east it is a long downward slope with a deadly curve that many drivers fail to slow down for. Those that do slow down often leave behind in their wake the stench of brake liners.
On Aug. 9, about 5:10 a.m., a man from Indio was driving a 1989 Kenworth truck tractor with two semi-trailers westbound on Hwy 76 east of Valley Center Road.
He failed to negotiate a curve on the roadway due to his unsafe speed for conditions, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The Kenworth traveled off the north roadway edge and overturned, colliding with an AT&T telephone pole, severing the pole completely.
One of the flatbed semi-trailers detached from the Kenworth and traveled into a grove of orange trees.
The Kenworth and the other attached flatbed semi collided with a parked 1992 Ford Ranger pickup truck that was on the right dirt shoulder.
The occupants of the Ford were a father and son. They had stopped to add water to the car’s radiator and had just got back in the Ford when they were hit by the Kenworth.
The father, Victor Chavez, of Escondido, was sitting in the driver’s seat and his son, Marcos Chavez, 18, also of Escondido, was sitting in the right front passenger seat.
The driver of the Kenworth, Victor Gutierrez-Paz, 42, of Indio, sustained fatal injuries at the scene.
The occupants of the Ford sustained moderate injuries and were transported to Palomar Medical Center.
The road was closed for eight hours and traffic was detoured around on a winding, off-road route that ended them up on the Nate Harrison Grade.
The next fatal accident occurred Aug. 11, 1:10 p.m. on westbound Hwy 76, east of the South Grade of Palomar Mountain Road.
A 74-year-old Pauma man, John Charles Schlater, was driving a 2005 Chevy Colorado eastbound on S-6 at an undetermined speed.
Juan Ramon Chaj was driving a 2003 Toyota Tacoma westbound on Hwy 76 approaching the Chevy. The Chevy crossed over a double yellow line into the westbound lane and collided with the Toyota. Schlater sustained fatal injuries.
Ramona Chaj sustained major injuries and was taken to Palomar Medical Center.
According to the CHP a preliminary investigation indicates the driver of the Chevy may have suffered from a medical emergency, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
New teachers prepare to take the annual tour of the district. Shown are: (not in order) Sonia Camacho, Madeline Aragon, Kathy Peters, Megann Ramsey, Eva Rosa, Christina Miller, Kathleen Helms, Alisa Suitor, Christopher Jahn, James Roby, Laura Armstrong, Jascha Dolan and Emily Toone.
“The cost of inaction rises every day. We’re not talking about thousands of dollars, but millions,” said Supervisor Bill Horn Monday during testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform, which held hearings in San Diego County.
Horn was speaking about the impact of illegal immigration on this border county.
Horn, a Valley Center resident, is chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He told the congressional committee, “San Diego may be the gateway to Mexico, but our taxpayers are the doormat. Every dollar spent on providing services to illegal immigrants is one that is not used for taxpaying citizens.”
The focus of the committee’s hearings was to gather testimony regarding local, state, and federal reforms necessary to address illegal immigration.
Committee members in attendance were Representative Tom Davis (R-Virginia) and Representative Xavier Becerra (D-California).
Others who testified included U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement Special Agent Miguel Unzueta, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender, the President and CEO of the Hospital Assn. of San Diego and Imperial Counties Steven Escoboza, State Senator Denise Ducheny and a Professor of Pediatrics from University of California at San Diego Dr. Bronwen Anders.
In May the Board of Supervisors commissioned a study to determine the cost of illegal immigration to the County of San Diego. The study is expected to be completed this fall.
During his remarks, Horn said, “Illegal immigration has a significant and adverse affect on local government. San Diego’s proximity to the southern U.S. border and the fact the County of San Diego is responsible for providing essential services only amplifies this effect. I believe the illegal immigration issue is far greater than most are willing to admit. While current law and circumstance make it very difficult to accurately quantify the impact of the problem, it is immense.”
One of the problems, said Horn, is that children of illegals are born in the U.S. and then become naturalized citizens.
“This means regions across America, and particularly those close to the border, are bearing the weight of providing services to children whose parents are often not paying taxes for those services,” he said.
Border counties have younger, poorer populations. He cited one study that showed that on border counties 43% of children under 17 live below the poverty line, compared to 34.8% of children in non-border counties.
San Diego County’s pre and post natal care administered by public health nurses is used heavily by the illegal population.
“While the child, by virtue of being born on U.S. soil, is legal, the mother may not be,” said Horn. “This significantly increases workloads and wait times to see public health nurses, making it more difficult for those who are legal residents to get care,” he said.
Conceding that many who break the law to get here come to work, some come to take advantage of living in an open society, he said.
Last year, out of 448 arrests made by the North County Regional Gang Task Force 232 had violated immigration laws, said Horn.
“For the first half of 2006, the team has already arrested 433 individuals, 367 of those being in violation of immigration laws, a staggering 84.8 percent. This is extremely troublesome,” said Horn.
The average daily cost to keep an inmate in county jail is $90 /day. An average stay of six days, the cost of the 2006 illegal immigrant arrests is at least $198,180, said Horn.
“This is not including the expense of apprehension. Our porous borders and weak immigration laws pose a considerable public safety risk. This isn’t just about money; it’s about people’s lives. As long as the border isn’t secured, we’ll continue to import drugs and violence,” he said.
Last month’s Horse Fire that burned almost 17,000 acres of the Cleveland National Forest cost nearly $7 million to fight. That fire, noted Horn was apparently the result of a campfire abandoned by illegal immigrants.
The impact on local education is also large, he said.
According to the County Office of Education the 2006-2007 cost per pupil is $11,264.
“Assuming just one hundred children of illegal parents attend school this year; the cost will be $1,126,400. While we can’t identify how many are enrolled, we can see the cost to taxpayers to provide them an education is significant.”
Horn cited the U.S./Mexico Border Counties Coalition study, which says that if the border counties were the 51st state they would rank first for federal crimes, second in incidences of tuberculosis, third in deaths due to hepatitis, 50th in percent of population that has completed high school, and 51st in number of health care professionals.
The Valley Roadrunner
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Website: www.valleycenter.com
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