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Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

DNTA, DNUSD Reach Tentative Agreement Though Emotions Are Still Raw Over Pink Slips

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Though a contractual stalemate between Del Norte Unified School District and the local teachers union appears to be thawing, staff and parents vented their ire to trustees for approving preliminary layoff notices more than a week ago.

One instructor, O’ Me-nok Learning Center fifth-grade teacher Chrystal Helton reminded the Board on Thursday that those pink slips were sent to library technicians and paraprofessionals — classified staff members — in addition to teachers.

Helton pointed out that the last week to issue those layoff notices disrupted “entire school communities.” Since no one had accepted her invitation last week to visit the K-6 school in Klamath, Helton brought her students’ voices to trustees, saying “I am their voice tonight.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

Del Norte Unified School District Recap, March 4, 2025

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Del Norte County Unified School District Trustee Abbie Crist was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s meeting:

 Surplus babies: Trustees authorized DNUSD staff to surplus more than 24 cases of Baby Think It Overs, realistic baby dolls that haven’t been used for more about 15 years and are taking up space in the school district’s warehouse.

However, they urged Tom Kissinger, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, to reach out to local organizations such as the Family Resource Center of the Redwoods or CASA of Del Norte to see if anyone would care to adopt those baby dolls.

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Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

DNUSD Moves Forward With Preliminary Pink Slips Amid Outcry From Parents, Staff, Students

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Joe Hamilton Elementary School | Photo by Amanda Dockter

Molly Sherman donned her parent hat when she told trustees that she was debating whether or not her daughter was going to Crescent Elk Middle School next year.

A third generation Del Norte Unified School District educator, Sherman sent her kids to Uncharted Shores Academy due to choices the district made in the wake of COVID-19 that she said weren’t best for students.

She began to have a change of heart after seeing things improve, but on Tuesday, with several of her colleagues set to receive pink slips, Sherman told trustees that her daughter likely wouldn’t go to Crescent Elk, the school she taught at for 13 years.

“I love this district. I love our schools,” said Sherman, chair of the math department at Del Norte High School. “I have loved every program I have gotten to be a part of here. But if you continue to make bad choices, she’s not going to sit in a classroom of 35 kids with brand new teachers that don’t know if they’re going to have a job.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD Trustees May Issue Layoff Notices To Teachers, Classified Staff on Tuesday

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Thumbnail: DNUSD logo

Del Norte County teachers and classified staff could receive preliminary layoff notices for the 2025-26 school year following a vote from the school board on Tuesday.

The Del Norte County Unified School District Board’s decision could impact more than 18 full-time teachers, Del Norte Teachers Association President Amber Tiedeken-Cron told Redwood Voice Community News.

Meanwhile library services technician and paraprofessional positions also face elimination, according to the proposed resolution. According to Tiedeken-Cron, these potential cuts would impact two classified staff members.

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Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD To ‘Sell or Junk’ Dilapidated Vehicles; New Vehicles Are On The Way, Superintendent Says

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Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose

Del Norte Unified is planning to sell or junk a plethora of surplus vehicles, the newest of which is a 17-year-old Chevrolet van.

Though most of the vehicles run, none are in good, or even fair condition, DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris told trustees on Thursday. They include six vans, three pickup trucks, a box truck and two buses. Their condition grading ranges from zero to two.

“Zeros are scrap, one is inoperative and two is severe wear and tear,” Harris said. “We don’t have any vehicles on this list that are normal, fair or good. They’re all basically not something we want to put staff or students in.”

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Articles, Community News, Education

Local Education Officials Are Monitoring Changes at the Federal Level, But Don’t Anticipate Major Impacts

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Thumbnail: Del Norte Unified School District logo

Del Norte County’s top education official said he doesn’t anticipate a major impact if the Trump administration makes good on its threat to shut the U.S. Department of Education down.

Del Norte County Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harris told trustees Thursday that he foresees responsibilities being shifted to other departments at the federal level. There is concern about the Trump administration stopping discretionary dollars that had gone to the Department of Education, but Congressionally-mandated monies likely won’t disappear, Harris said.

“There will be government agencies that oversee them potentially,” he said. “If there is a reduction in funding — we call them Title Funds — just know there are always reductions in Title Funds and always increases to Title Funds. We’ll keep an eye on those as we go ahead.”

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Trump’s Attack On Federal Funding Could Impact Del Norters’ Access To Health Care, Senior Services, Education, Local Nonprofits Say

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Open Door Clinic operates a clinic at the Del Norte Community Wellness Center. At a discussion with Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, the organization’s CEO Tory Starr said he was worried about being unable to serve patients should their federal funding be frozen. | Photo by Persephone Rose

Nearly a week after a judge temporarily blocked a Trump Administration directive to freeze federal funding, Open Door Clinic CEO Tory Starr said his organization is still bracing for the worst.

Open Door operates more than 14 clinics across Humboldt and Del Norte counties, providing behavioral health, medical, dental and obstetrics care to 60,000-plus patients and employing nearly 800 people.

During a virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, Starr said that while a judge hit pause on the directive Jan. 28, guidance he’s received from the Health Resources and Services Administration suggests that federal dollars could still be at risk.

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Articles, Community News, Education

Former Del Norte High School Principal, DNUSD Named As Defendants In Sexual Assault Lawsuit

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A retired Del Norte High School principal has been accused of sexually assaulting a student in a recent lawsuit filed against both him and Del Norte Unified School District

The lawsuit, filed in Del Norte County Superior Court on Oct. 18, 2024 and amended Jan. 6, 2025, alleges that Randy Fugate was a teacher when he began grooming the plaintiff in 1999 in order to sexually exploit her. The complaint also alleges that Del Norte Unified School District was either aware, or should have been aware, of Fugate’s actions and did nothing to prevent them.

The plaintiff is seeking damages against both defendants for negligence — including negligent hiring, supervision and retention, and negligent failure to train, warn or educate — sexual battery and for violating the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act and California Civil Rights Act of 1976.

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Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

DNUSD To Seek Public Guidance As It Continues To Develop AI Policies

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DNCOE’s director of information network services showed the Board of Trustees this clip of a Morgan Freeman deepfake during a discussion last year about artificial intelligence in the classroom. Thumbnail courtesy of the Del Norte County Office of Education

A year after he showed trustees a YouTube clip featuring a Morgan Freeman deepfake, Ryan Bahten says Del Norte Unified School District will seek public input as it continues to draft policies around artificial intelligence.

The district will deploy a community survey starting next week, said Bahten, the Del Norte County Office of Education’s director of information network services. The input provided will guide him and other district and DNCOE employees as they differentiate between AI as a tool in the classroom and AI as a potential risk to student privacy.

Bahten said he is aiming to get a policy before the Board of Trustees in time for teachers to begin learning how to use AI next school year.

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Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD’s Classified Staff Reject Tentative Agreement; District, DNTA Begin Mediation Process

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Thumbnail image includes the DNUSD and CSEA logos taken from the district’s Facebook page and Great Northern Chapter #178’s Facebook page.

Negotiations between Del Norte Unified School District and the union that represents its classified employees are set to start over after members of the union’s local chapter rejected a tentative agreement.

The rejection of the proposed agreement between DNUSD and the California School Employees Association Great Northern Chapter #178 comes as contract discussions between the district and the Del Norte Teachers Association head toward mediation.

It also prompted Jenna Lussier, lead negotiator for CSEA Great Northern #178, to step down from the union’s negotiating team.

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