Crimson News Magazine journalist earned 14 awards
PASO ROBLES — On Tuesday, Jun. 8, the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) Board of Trustees met for their regularly scheduled meeting.
Jeff Mount, Paso Robles High School teacher and journalism advisor, provided an update on the award-winning Crimson News Magazine. The end of the year issue was delivered to the school last week and will be inserted into this week’s mailed edition of the Paso Robles Press.
Out of the over 800 entries and 25 schools in the Journalism Education Association (JEA) of Nothern California annual contests, Crimson PRHS earned 14 awards.
Seven PRHS students earned honorable mentions:
- Bricen Chitty for his news story covering COVID and vaccinations
- Reily Lowry wrote ‘A Marine in the Making,’ which traced a directing officer’s story.
- Rayvin Wulfing, editor in chief for the Crimson, wrote a feature on music.
- Malia Gaviola and Miguel Muniz for their Breaking News Stream. The two reported actively on what it was like for students working under hybrid schedules and quarantine.
- Malia Gaviola won another honorable mention for a News Package on her 2020 School Board Elections coverage
- Malia Gaviola again for an Info Graphic covering Biden’s Cabinet
- Malia Gaviola for a News Video ‘Chalking with Passion’
Other awards the students received:
- Third Place for Sports Package by Rayvin Wulfing
- Second Place for:
- Op-Ed Package – Malia Gaviola
- News Site – Crimson Staff
- Featured Package – Crimson Staff
- News Package – Jackie DiMatteo, Tyler Seidel, Cole Eberhard, Miguel Muniz
- First Place for Sports Package – Rayvin Wulfing, Ashley Paulsen, and Maicah Cabello
PRJUSD is transitioning from at-large elections to by-trustee-area elections.
Starting in November 2022, residents will vote for a single Board of Trustee candidate residing in their newly drawn trustee area.
There was a second public hearing for trustee area map scenarios. Currently, there are four different mapping scenarios to choose from.
Trustees gave staff direction to eliminate maps one and three because they felt those scenarios did not best represent the Hispanic population.
More information on the election change and mapping scenarios can be found by visiting pasoschools.org/Page/2039.Â
The final and third public hearing for the trustee area is scheduled for Jun. 22.
Another public hearing was held for the 2021-2024 Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
Pursuant to Education Code Section 52060, all districts in California are required to develop an LCAP that combines the educational plan with the district’s budget and describes the school district’s goals and specific actions to achieve those goals.
The new three-year LCAP for 2021-24 was developed based on extensive feedback from stakeholders, including staff, parents, community members, bargaining unit representation, and students.
The final draft of the LCAP will be presented for action in the Jun. 22 school board meeting.
The district has created the following LCAP Goals:
- PRJUSD students will be College and Career and Community Ready when they graduate
- PRJUSD will increase all student success and achievement and provide highly qualified teachers and supports aligned to California State Standards.
- PRJUSD will provide additional services and supports to ensure social-emotional and academic growth for English Learners, Homeless, Low Income, Foster, and Students with Disabilities.
- PRJUSD will provide opportunities that support a culture of belonging and positive climate for our students, families, and staff.
A third public hearing was for the proposed 2021-22 budget.
See included photos for a breakdown of expenditures and predicted budget for the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 school years.
Trustees motioned to pull item I3: Approve Payment Listing and item I5: Approve Springboard 5th Annual Installment (of 7) for PRHS ELA Core Curriculum from the consent agenda.
After some clarification item I3 was approved. Item I5 was pulled to be discussed as a separate item at the next meeting.
District trustees approved a contract with Lisa Garcia, D5 Accounting.
From the item description:
“D5 Accounting shall provide consulting expertise on assessing and making recommendations on the financial management of capital projects, including best practices, strategies, and solutions for reporting, tracking, and other approaches to ensure budget compliance. The contractor shall develop auditing processes, project tracking, and annual reconciliation tools for managing capital projects.”
The term of the contract will be from Jul. 1, to Jun. 30, 2022.
Compensation will be at a rate of $90 per hour and shall not exceed $36,000 for the initial term of the Contract. The compensation will be paid for with Measure M funds.
With a 7-0 vote, district trustees approved the Sunshine Proposal between Paso Robles Public Educators (PRPE) and the PRJUSD for the 2021-2022 school year.
From the items description:
“Based on the federal and state funding, the PRPE proposes a salary schedule increase, additional and increased stipends, and an increase to the District Health and Welfare Benefits and retiree benefits CAP to support the PRJUSD Guiding Principles goals to attract and retain qualified certificated employees.”
The following articles have been agreed upon to negotiate:
- Article 3 Salary
- Article 2 Recognition
- Article 4 Health Benefits
- List of Stipends
- Article 8 Evaluations
- Article 9 Transfers/Vacant Positions
- Article 11 School Calendar/Work Year
- Article 12: Safety
- Article 13 Class Size
- Article 14 Hours
- Article 15 Peer Assistance
Due to some technical difficulties, the meeting was cut off at the start of the discussion items. The meeting picked up again at the staff comments.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Jun. 22.
