Spotlight Schools Newsletter July 26, 2024

THE LATEST ON TK-12 EDUCATION IN ORANGE COUNTY

In this month's newsletter: Campaign season has officially arrived in Orange County. Candidates seeking to run for their local school boards in the November 5, 2024, election can now file paperwork with the Orange County Registrar of Voters' office, which oversees local elections. And could the November ballot deliver a bonanza in school bonds for local districts?

Also in this edition: California has outlawed public school districts from requiring school staff to reveal a student's gender identity to anyone without the student's consent. What does that mean for the parental notification policy passed by the majority of the Orange Unified School District Board of Education last year?

Plus, the shout-out to some of Orange County's former high school student-athletes that are set to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. And be sure to scroll all the way down to meet our fabulous new interns!

I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter. Please respond to this email with feedback, questions, or even emojis. 🤓 We want to hear from you! And don't miss out on our hyperlocal and nonpartisan education journalism on Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook and SpotlightSchools.com.

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Yours in knowledge,

Jeannette Andruss, Co-founder and Chief Editorial Officer of Spotlight Schools

School Bond Measures on the 2024 Ballot

Several Orange County school districts are seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from local taxpayers to finance improvements at aging campuses.

So far, at least ten school districts in Orange County have placed, or have explored placing, a bond measure on the November 5, 2024 ballot. If passed, the measures would allow school districts to sell bonds specifically to fund improvements and construction at campuses. Investors who purchase the bonds are paid back with money collected through a levy on local property owners.

As of July 26, the following public school districts in O.C. are putting bond measures on the ballot:

• The Anaheim Union High School District approved placing a $496 million bond measure on the Nov. 5 ballot to "repair and upgrade older local schools and improve quality education" at its 21 campuses that serve 31,000 students.
• On July 18, the Brea Olinda Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to place a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters to support the selling of $160 million in bonds to improve facilities at its ten schools, which serve 6,000 students from preschool through high school.
• The Buena Park School District is asking for voters to support an $84 million bond measure to fund repairs and improvement at its seven schools which serve 4,000 students.
• The Fullerton Joint Union High School District has placed a $284 million bond measure on the 2024 ballot to fund upgrades at its six high schools that serve 12,500 students. District voters last approved a $175 million bond measure in 2014.
• The Fullerton School District is seeking authorization to issue $262 million in bonds to repair aging classrooms, remove asbestos and lead pipes, among other projects at its 20 schools. 
• The La Habra City School District is asking voters to support a bond measure worth $73 million to fund repairs at its nine campuses that serve roughly 5,000 students. 
• The Lowell Joint School District covers parts of O.C. and L.A. counties. It's asking voters to approve a bond measure worth $54 million to improve its school facilities. The typical homeowner would pay around $142 a year for the duration of the bond measure, according to the district.
• The Santa Ana Unified School District is seeking voters' approval of a $355 million bond measure to make improvements at its campuses serving 38,000 students.
• The Tustin Unified School District's proposed bond measure would seek to sell $261 million in bonds.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District explored putting a bond measure on the 2024 ballot. At a school board meeting last month, a consultant advised the district to wait until the 2026 midterm ballot to float a bond based on survey results received from the community, according to the Daily Pilot. NMUSD voters last approved a $282 million bond measure in 2005, according to the district.

Local school boards have until Aug. 9 to submit a bond measure resolution to local election officials in time to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Local school bond measures require support from 55% of voters to be approved and they must also meet certain requirements enacted under Proposition 39, including having a citizens' oversight committee. Bond money cannot be spent on salaries for teachers or general administrative positions.

The amount each property owner would pay depends on what each district is requesting. For example, the Buena Park School District bond measure seeks to levy $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value (not market value) which the district estimates would amount to $129 per year for a typical homeowner.

It isn't just local school bond measures voters will consider in this election. Proposition 2, a $10 billion school bond measure, was put on the Nov. 5 ballot by California lawmakers.

Read more about the local school bond measures at SpotlightSchools.com

Candidate Filing Period Now Open

If you want to run for public office in Orange County, now is the time to jump in.

July 15 marked the start of the period for candidates to file paperwork to run in the November 2024 election in Orange County. That includes for school board races across the county's 28 public school districts. The Orange County Registrar of Voters' office, which oversees local elections, will accept paperwork from prospective candidates until 5 p.m. on Friday, August 9.

In general, to run for school board you must be a registered voter living in the school district area you wish to represent. You can find out more about what it takes to run for local office by consulting the Candidate's Handbook.

Several candidates for local school boards have already launched campaigns. The Los Alamitos Unified School District Board of Education has three of its five seats on the November ballot. Incumbent Chris Forehan has already declared he is running for reelection in Trustee Area 2. In Trustee Area 4, L. Bobby Papoulias, Ed.D., a professor at Cal State Fullerton, is running. Farnaz Pardasani, a district parent and the former PTA President at McGaugh Elementary, has also declared her candidacy for Trustee Area 4. In Trustee Area 5, district parent and former charter school principal Matt Bragman is running. (Editor's note: I have volunteered with Bragman and Pardasani for several years at McGaugh Elementary School.)

To find out which other candidates have filed papers visit the OC Registrar of Voters website or search this database.

See a complete list of the local school board races on the Nov. 5 ballot at SpotlightSchools.com.

🗓️ Don't forget! The last day to register to vote for the November 5, 2024, General Election is October 21, 2024.

CA Outlaws Requiring School Staff to Share a Student's Gender Identity Without Student Consent

Starting January 1, 2025, California school districts will be barred from requiring school staff to disclose a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to another person, including their parent, without the child’s permission. 

On July 15, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955, known as the Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act or SAFETY Act, into law. Backers say it will protect LGBTQ+ students who might fear their household would not support their identity. Opponents say the law would force schools to be less transparent with parents about what is happening with their children on campus.

The law comes after several school boards, including some in Orange County, passed parental notification policies sparking passionate debates and protests over the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students and the rights of parents.

The SAFETY Act is already the subject of a lawsuit on behalf of the Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the first to enact a parental notification policy. One school board president said her district won't comply with the new law.

It’s not yet clear what will happen to the Orange Unified School District’s parental notification policy approved during a raucous school board meeting in September 2023. 

Passed by the conservative board majority at the time, the policy requires that parents of students under the age of 12 be notified if their child asks to be identified as a gender “other than the student’s biological sex or gender listed on the student's birth certificate or any other official records.”

In a recent email to Spotlight Schools, OUSD Superintendent Ernie Gonzalez wrote: "At this time, we are reviewing current board policies and practices in accordance with AB 1955, and I will recommend to the Board of Education any necessary modifications to policies in order to be compliant with the law."

Former OUSD trustee Madison Miner co-wrote the district's policy. She was recalled from her seat in March 2024. In a recent message to Spotlight Schools, Miner said the SAFETY Act is an example of the government eroding the role parents have in making decisions for their families.

“As a former conservative board member who helped author and pass a parent notification policy to protect children, I am deeply concerned about the governor passing AB 1955. This reflects a government stance that undermines parental rights,” Miner wrote. She added: "Such a stance is an encroachment on family autonomy and a move towards too much governmental control in personal and family matters."

Asher Belshe, a transgender male and recent graduate of a high school in the Garden Grove Unified School District, had a different take on the new law. Belshe said it offers transgender students a sense of relief knowing that they can choose to keep their identity a secret.

“With AB 1955 being enacted it gives me a lot more hope. I see so much backlash to trans youth and I'm so relieved that we finally got something in our favor," Belshe wrote in an email to Spotlight Schools. He added: "It ensures these students remain safe. The outing of students could cause abuse, neglect, disowning, and in the worst cases, a loss of life." 

According to a recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, public school parents in the state are divided about how schools accommodate a student’s request to choose their pronouns. According to the survey, 48% of public school parents polled support schools allowing students to choose their pronouns while 51% of them oppose it.

Read more at SpotlightSchools.com.

The debate over students using personal smartphones during school hours has been heating up. While many parents say being able to reach their kids on a device during the school day is a safety issue, there are concerns about how cellphone use, and social media apps on phones, is impacting kids' mental health and development. (See coverage of Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation" for more.) There are also worries that the devices are a distraction in the classroom and can lead to cyberbullying.

In response, California lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that, if passed, would require school districts "to adopt a policy to limit or prohibit the use by its pupils of smartphones, except in specified circumstances" by 2026. The Los Angeles Unified School District is already taking action and passed a smartphone ban last month.

At its June 18 meeting, the Fullerton School District Board of Education discussed revising its policy covering students' use of personal mobile devices at school. The proposal would require that all devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, be turned off or put in airplane mode during school hours. Students would be able to use devices in an emergency. The policy is expected to be discussed again at the board's July 30 meeting.

📱 We want to hear from you!

Please fill out this brief survey about smartphone use at TK-12 schools. (It only has six questions!) Or email us at hello@spotlightschools.com. Your feedback may be used in an upcoming story.

Other Stories We're Reading

Please note: some of these articles require a subscription to read.

• Anaheim Union High School District banks on international students amid declining enrollment // L.A. Times 
• Stefan Bean, O.C.’s new Superintendent of Schools, talks about overcoming adversity, his vision for the O.C. Department of Education, and his role relating to charter schools in new Q&A // OCDE Newsroom
• Track coach at Santa Ana USD high school arrested; accused of sending inappropriate texts to a student // FOX11 // Santa Ana Police Department
• An Orange County first grader lost recess for two weeks for giving a Black Lives Matter drawing to a friend. Were her free speech rights violated? // SF Chronicle 
• What is Project 2025 and how could it impact TK-12 public education? // EdWeek
• Students in California will soon have to take a personal finance course to graduate high school // EdSource
• Frustrated by school web filters, a teenager created his own // CalMatters
• Fullerton students offered free math tutoring through student-run program // Fullerton Observer

Southern California is home to numerous Olympians, and some of them were once student-athletes at Orange County's many public schools. The Huntington Beach Union High School District recently posted a shout-out on social media to some of its alumni that are competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Team USA.

🏅 See details on these athletes, and other Olympians from Orange County, from Patch. Visit NBCOlympics.com for information on how to watch specific events of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which start today.

Meet Spotlight Schools' New Interns

Spotlight Schools is pleased to announce that we have two new Editorial Interns that will add student-centered stories to our coverage of education in Orange County.

Katie Arnoult and Jaya Eapen are both rising juniors at Los Alamitos High School in the Los Alamitos Unified School District. Last school year, they were both staff members on the student-run Griffin Gazette newspaper at LAHS.

Katie was an editor and reporter and wrote stories on a variety of topics including an award-winning article on Artificial Intelligence in education.

"With this internship, I hope to get more experience and grow as a journalist," Katie wrote in an email. "I'm excited to continue writing about things going on around my community and work with others!," she wrote.

As a staff writer for the Griffin Gazette last school year, Jaya covered stories ranging from a profile of a National Merit Scholar to a fashion review of The Met Gala.

"After joining journalism in school this past year, I discovered my love for reporting and helping inform my community about relevant topics," Jaya said. "I’m especially excited for this new internship because it gives me the chance to continue writing during the summer and delve into new topics."

One more thing... Congrats to our first-ever intern, Bella Kim. This summer, she was the only student to represent all of California at the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. "Each year, the selective academic and scholarship program equips some of the most passionate, curious and brightest students across the United States with access to leading journalists in Washington who share valuable insights and career-defining experiences," reads a news release for the program. We're so proud of Bella and can't wait to see what she does next! 👏

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