School safety is focus of meeting for Green parents

Hundreds of parents crowded into a high school gymnasium Tuesday night to find out what's being done to keep their children safe at E.O. Green School, an Oxnard junior high campus where an eighth-grader was shot inside a computer lab last week.

$1,000 per day for school official

The Lodi Unified School District will pay interim Superintendent Len Casanega a prorated $223,000 salary over the next six months, the Board of Trustees announced Tuesday night. The salary, while competitive with salaries paid to superintendents in similar-size districts, is a significant increase over former Superintendent Bill Huyett's $199,000 salary and is a 63 percent raise for Casanega, who earned $141,000 as the district's director of personnel.

Menifee school board members refine list of proposed cuts

To applause from an audience of about 175 teachers and parents, school board members Tuesday nixed some proposed cuts to programs as they grappled with ways to slash $10 million from the district budget over the next two school years. The Menifee Union School District's current annual budget is $63 million, staff members said.

Escondido board approves transfer agreements, despite loss of students

Saying they were determined to uphold a promise to provide students and their families with options, Escondido Union High School District trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve transfer agreements with nearly two dozen other districts. The agreements, which allow students to attend schools outside of their home districts, are renewed annually. The agreements have been a point of discussion in many districts recently, however, as districts faced with significant funding cuts and declining enrollment try to hold onto their main source of funding -- students.

Novato schools brace for big cuts

Superintendent Jan La Torre-Derby said the Novato district, the largest in Marin, covering 8,000 students from kindergarten to high school, may have to cut $9 million over the next three years, including $4 million from next year's program. The Novato district has an annual budget of $65 million.

Kentfield picks new superintendent

Kentfield School District trustees Friday chose an administrator from the Walnut Creek School District to succeed longtime Superintendent Bob Caine, who is retiring this year.

Long Beach USD to cut $20.8M from budget

The Long Beach Board of Education on Tuesday approved $20.8 million in budget reductions in an effort to cope with anticipated cuts in state funding.

School officials: Developer fees on commercial property standard practice

A vote scheduled for today's meeting of Chico Unified School District's board of trustees may be delayed, if people in the business community get their way. But board members and district staff claim the developer fees being objected to are sorely needed here and standard practice elsewhere.

San Jose schools remove recalled meat

Days before Sunday's record recall of beef, San Jose Unified pulled all beef products from its school menus, a precautionary move that remains in effect indefinitely.

Schools await orders for suspect beef

Schools around the county are awaiting word as to what to do with hundreds of cases of suspect beef.

LAUSD's Brewer tardy in forming top team

More than a year after taking the helm of the nation's second-largest school district, Superintendent David Brewer III has yet to establish a critical inner-circle executive team even as key Los Angeles Unified professionals continue to leave.

Schools brace for teacher layoffs if budgets slashed

The threat of state budget cuts to education has San Mateo County's largest school district girding for teacher layoffs.

Southwest Fresno grapples with big void: no middle school

Starting this week, Fresno Unified will hold community meetings to discuss future building needs. High on the priority list is a southwest middle school. "It's the right thing to do," said trustee Carol Mills, who has long championed the idea. But the district still faces a key issue -- how to pay for it.

$1,000 per day for school official

The Lodi Unified School District will pay interim Superintendent Len Casanega a prorated $223,000 salary over the next six months, the Board of Trustees announced Tuesday night.

$8.5-million gift to boost after-school programs

Developer and philanthropist Donald Bren on Tuesday reached beyond the Orange County communities he helped build and define, announcing an $8.5-million donation to benefit after-school programs in Santa Ana and east Los Angeles County.

Schools struggle to live up to federal mandates

Now a student at Melrose Bridges Academy, a public school in Oakland, first and foremost on her family's agenda is for Roberta Martinez, 10, to finally learn to read, write and speak Spanish fluently. But federal and state officials have other expectations for Roberta's education: Under the No Child Left Behind Act, the primary goal of schooling is for all students to function at or above grade level — in English.