Category Archives: Education

Articles, Education, Infrastructure

DNUSD Faces Daunting Task Of Updating Surveillance System Hardware, Software Amid Skyrocketing Tech Costs

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of DNUSD Communications Director Michael Hawkins

Ryan Bahten summed up a setback to Del Norte Unified School District’s new system for monitoring emergencies in real time using its surveillance cameras with one word: RAMageddon.

DNUSD’s Information Network Services director said that in order for the district’s new ActiveNet system to work efficiently, the network video recorders at each school site need replacing. But the current skyrocketing costs in memory chips — driven, Bahten says, by the prevalence of artificial intelligence — means that won’t be cheap.

“Dell, as an example, will only give us a quote for six days on a server because every six days they expect pricing increases,” Bahten told trustees Thursday, describing 30-to-50% increases in technology costs month over month. “Right now, today, if I was to buy an NVR, we’re probably looking at anywhere from $35,000 to $40,000 per unit for that one box. But, unfortunately, we’re at a point where what we have is failing out there for our security camera hardware.”

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Articles, Education, Local Government

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, June 25, 2026

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Thumbnail photo: Don McArthur (middle) is retiring from his Trustee Area 1 seat on the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees. | Photo courtesy of dnusd.org.

Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer was absent. Among the items discussed at Thursday’s Del Norte County Unified School District meeting:

Trustee Area 1 Vacancy: With Del Norte Unified School District’s longest-serving trustee, Don McArthur, announcing his retirement earlier this year, the Board of Trustees will soon have a vacancy.

DNUSD and the Del Norte County Office of Education will be seeking candidates interested in serving in the Trustee Area 1 seat. The Board expects to extend an appointment in July or August. For more information, email communications@dnusd.org.

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Articles, Crescent City, Education, Local Government, Youth

Uncharted Shores Academy Leases City-Owned Former Preschool Building At Peterson Park

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Uncharted Shores Academy

Uncharted Shores Academy has found safe harbor for its Offshore Resource Center thanks to a Crescent City Council decision Monday.

The Council’s unanimous approval to lease its property at 475 7th Street to the charter school comes roughly two weeks before Uncharted Shores was set to vacate one of its satellite locations at Washington Square, according to Executive Director Dan Cartwright. 

In addition to offering space for students in its homeschool program to meet with teachers, the Washington Square space also housed the school’s business office, Cartwright said. But because of Sutter Coast Hospital’s plans to use the building for medical offices, its current tenants need to be out by the end of the month, he said.

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Articles, Education, Local Government

Del Norte Unified Still Struggles With Budget Deficit Despite Improvements

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte Unified School District

Del Norte Unified School District is still grappling with a budget deficit, but the district’s current financial picture has improved over last year, its assistant superintendent of business said.

DNUSD’s net budget shortfall heading into the 2026-27 fiscal year is $3.78 million compared to the $4.6 million deficit it was dealing with last year, Greg Bowen told trustees on Thursday.

At a public hearing roughly three weeks after California Gov. Gavin Newsom released his revised budget, Bowen credited a 4.31% cost of living adjustment, or “super COLA” and  a proposal to allocate additional funding for special education for the improvements. But Bowen said district officials are “cautious about what the future holds.”

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Articles, Community News, Education, Regional News, Smith River, Tribal Affairs

‘Respectful Recognition Of The Original People’; Smith River School To Acknowledge Its Place In Tolowa Territory

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Smith River School Local Organizing Committee

Updated at 11:07 a.m. Saturday to correct Andromeda Lopez’s title and clarify Amanda O’Connell’s title.

It took more than a year of “energy, passion and advocacy,” but the Tolowa community, parents, teachers and advocates finally received the green light to formally recognize that their school stands on Tolowa homeland.

Andromeda Lopez, a Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation citizen and a True North Organizing Network leader organizer, called the unanimous approval from Del Norte County Unified School District trustees to install a public land acknowledgment sign at Smith River Elementary School a landmark moment in local history.

But the Board’s decision on Thursday came after its president, Charlaine Mazzei, cut the public comment period short amid outcry over what she and her colleagues said was a misunderstanding over the definition of the word territory.

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Articles, Education, Klamath, Youth

‘This Situation Could Make Us Fail Our Finals’; Klamath Students, Parents Approach School Board, Again, About Late Buses

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Thumbnail photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Skylar Lambeth was blunt — the bus being late 48 times is inexcusable.

The Del Norte High School student said her first grade has suffered and she’s missing “entire units” of history due to the late bus. Her peers could have made similar statements to the school board, she said Thursday, but they rely on the bus to return home.

“I feel Klamath kids have been forgotten about too many times,” Skylar said. “Klamath kids often get seen as lazy and not caring about grades, but that’s just not true. Us Klamath kids have bright futures, but this takes education away from us and that’s just not fair. This situation could make us fail our finals.”

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Articles, Education, Youth

‘Kids should be getting to school on time every day’; Klamath Parents Say Chronically Tardy School Buses Have Led to Lower Grades, Stress

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Thumbnail photo: A school bus drops off students at Del Norte High School on Friday. Klamath parents say the bus to take their kids to school has been late 37 days this year, causing their kids to receive tardy notices. | Photo by Jessica Cejnar Andrews

Before informing parents that the school bus has been late picking up Klamath students 37 days this school year, Chrystal Helton asked parents if their child’s grades in their first period classes had suffered.

One parent said her son is getting a C-minus in first-period math and was removed from theater and put into general studies to make up his work. Another said her daughter’s dance grade dropped and, because of the late bus, she’s relying on video recordings from her friends to learn the routine.

Helton, whose kids go to Del Norte High School and ’O Me-nok Learning Center, said her sophomore and junior years have history during first period. One has eked out a C-minus because he “busted his butt,” she said, the other is failing, though he loves history.

“This isn’t normal,” Helton said. “Kids should be getting to school on time every day.”

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Articles, Arts & Culture, Economy, Education, Local Government, Youth

Strengthening Bonds of Friendship; Largest Rikuzentakata Delegation Visits Del Norte

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Thumbnail photo: Takeya Owada, who is in the oyster fishery business, shows his fellow delegates from Rikuzentakata how to shuck one of the oysters Mike Schmidt and Erik Karle, of Schmidt’s House of Jambalaya grilled at the Taste of Japan event on Friday. | Photo courtesy of Jen Schmidt

Cal-Ore Lifeflight CPR instructor Aubree Arneson shows the life-saving technique to a Joe Hamilton Elementary School student as part of the Kamome Festival’s focus on emergency preparedness Friday. |

Taku Sasaki gave a simple “nice to meet you, konnichiwa,” when he and his fellow travelers filed into the Del Norte County Airport on Thursday.

After exchanging hugs, handshakes and bows, the Rikuzentakata mayor and his fellow delegates from Japan grabbed their bags and were whisked away to their first event, the cardboard boat races at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool. 

Coinciding with the Kamome Festival, this visit marks a new development in the Sister City relationship between Crescent City, Del Norte County and Rikuzentakata. The current delegation, consisting of 21 city officials, business leaders, students and educational leaders, is the largest to visit since cultural exchanges began more than a decade ago, according to Kiyoshi Murakami, Rikuzentakata’s senior international affairs advisor.

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Articles, Education, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Unified Hits Brakes on SitelogIQ Proposal, Says Savings Potential Not Worth Challenges

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Thumbnail: SitelogIQ representatives proposed installing a solar array near Bess Maxwell Elementary School. | Image courtesy of SitelogIQ

Del Norte education officials decided that waiting 15 to 17 years for substantive savings installing a solar array might bring wasn’t worth committing to a $5 million project even with a $1 million federal rebate.

Reporting back from a March 20 meeting that included officials from the county, the airport and representatives from Pacific Power and SitelogIQ, Del Norte Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harris said that the community’s utility stated that tying solar into its grid would be difficult.

Meanwhile, quotes DNUSD had received from SitelogIQ were only for solar panels that would be installed at what is currently Del Norte High School’s arboretum near Bess Maxwell Elementary School, Harris told trustees. 

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Articles, Education

DNUSD Board of Trustees Recap, April 9, 2026

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Michael Hawkins

Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer was absent. Among the items the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed Thursday.

School Closure: A leak prompted the Smith River Community Services District to shut the water off at Smith River School on March 3, which in turn forced staff to send students home early, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris told trustees.

The Board of Trustees approved a request to the California Department of Education to allow DNUSD to receive credit for the instructional time students would have been at Smith River School had the water shutoff not taken place. Noting that the shutoff was outside of its control, Harris said the request would ensure that the district does not lose average daily attendance funding for March 3.

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