TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

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TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby wildrose » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:34 am

Looks like I beat blackturtle.us to creating the board meeting thread for the month. How proud I am! Hopefully he doesn't take it too hard.

HIGHLIGHTS:
1) Homecoming Discussion - Following a student report one of the board members showed great concern regarding Homecoming and Sweetheart events. Due to cancellation and/or postponement of sports this year, other social events have been impacted. As a result students haven't voted on who will get to be Homecoming queen and that sort of thing. I'm not sure why this issue warranted such a lengthy discussion, but it did.
2) Superintendent's Report - The only thing worthy of note is that this guy felt the need to remove his mask in order to speak into a microphone despite the fact that he was sitting within about three feet of a board member. I'll leave it to others to rebuke him for his obviously stupid behavior.
3) Maintenance - Lots of delays. I've heard that the campus is a mess and the guy in charge had all sorts of excuses for the current state of affairs. As I recall he insisted way back in August or September that maintenance projects would not interfere with academic activities, but all reports are that the situation on the ground at the school is something approximating a disaster.
4) Christmas Program - A couple comments made regarding how nice it was to have an online Christmas presentation. Everything said was positive despite the low quality of the project. It was clearly an embarrassment, but the board seemed oblivious of this for some reason.
5) One board member managed to mention her Christmas light display TWICE during two separate junctures within the course of the meeting.
6) Spanish Club Fundraiser - The club will utilize Amazon Smile. Most board members seemed to have never heard of Amazon Smile. They required an explanation. Not sure how they could be unaware of Amazon Smile, but ....
NEXT REGULAR MEETING: Feb 18, unless otherwise posted.

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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby twister » Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:51 am

During the student awards part of the video I heard that one of the kids has a YouTube channel. I looked it up and found the following video. It looks like the school should have put the kid in charge of the Christmas program. There's a really pretty park in this video. Probably it's the one on Stonebridge from what I can tell.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby MAGA » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:08 pm

Is it just me or has the childhood obesity epidemic gotten worse? I know it probably has since as a result of COVID stay at home orders children are probably eating more junk food and exercising less. Kids need to get more exercise and someone needs to step up and take responsibility and not allow kids to continuously munch junk food like brain dead cows grazing in a pasture. Parents need to wake up and do something about this issue.
STOP THE STEAL
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby shadylady » Sat Jan 23, 2021 8:04 am

MAGA: Childhood obesity has without a doubt gotten much worse. The first wave was when video games became popular to the point that they began to displace daytime outside play. The second wave was the increasing popularity of non-human powered skateboards, mini-motorcycles, and quads. The third wave has been this COVID situation which will hopefully just be temporary. Add to those three waves the increased consumption of empty calorie snacks and we now have a generation set up for lifelong medical conditions which they can legitimately blame on their parents. When there is no shortage of good information about nutrition and exercise widely available for free and parents still fail to teach their children good health habits, then there is no one to blame except for the parents.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby sandman » Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:36 am

There have been reports over the years showing a trend towards increased rates of childhood obesity. The numbers don't look good. As mentioned, the irony is that we know now more than ever about proper nutrition and fitness and yet a "huge" portion of our society seems content to ignore that body of knowledge and indulge and make excuses for why they are fat and out of shape.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby hand » Mon Jan 25, 2021 7:56 am

If you're going 80mph how long will it take go to 80miles?
Hopefully the typical THS grad can do better than this! Even at the end it's obvious she still doesn't understand why "an hour" is the correct answer.
Have A Nice Day
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby tronagirl » Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:24 am

wildrose wrote:2) Superintendent's Report - The only thing worthy of note is that this guy felt the need to remove his mask in order to speak into a microphone despite the fact that he was sitting within about three feet of a board member. I'll leave it to others to rebuke him for his obviously stupid behavior.

Okay, I'll take you up on that offer. People have died in Trona and Ridgecrest of COVID and this complete moron can't even follow basic safety protocols? What a complete and utter idiot! I've heard that someone on the school staff died this week. Judging by this guy's lack of concern and common decency, it would appear that he set the stage for that death and should be held accountable!
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby mrfish » Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:18 am

Stupid People (глупые люди)
YUP! Stupid happens and if you want to know the Russian words for stupid, idiot, moron, halfwit, etc. watch this video. It might not be a cure for stupidity, but it'll at least provide a few jokes to make it less painful.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby blackturtle.us » Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:36 pm

Press release from TJUSD. I think that "55 million dollars" was a typo. I've seen the estimate as anything from $5M to $15M, but never $55M.

THE THIRD STRIKE.

Trona Joint Unified School District received news late in December of 2020, reducing “Soda Ash” royalties from 6% to 2%. This news was strike three in a series of events that have had a devastating impact on the Trona schools.

The first strike began in July of 2019 when two major earthquakes caused significant damage to the High School, making it necessary to relocate all high school students to a much smaller facility resulting in elementary students sharing their campus with high school students. Additionally, due to the elementary school age, which was built in 1968, several improvements were required to bring the school up to current building standards.

Before repairs were completed at the elementary school, and now the current high school campus, strike two came with the pandemic that forced schools across the county to close and provide "distance learning.” With Trona's remote location and lack of reliable internet, students and staff struggled. In order for the District to provide the students with the best educational experience, the District had to supply a device for each student. The district has had to purchase additional devices, chargers, hotspots, and even buying internet service for a few families. In addition to academic struggles, TJUSD provides food services for all kids under 18 in the community, of which 80% of students are on the free and reduced lunch program.

In the fall, Trona Elementary School received a waiver and was able to have elementary students return to classrooms part-time but it was short-lived. As the COVID resurgence hit the community, it became necessary to return to distance learning after Thanksgiving. With the vaccine for teachers expected soon, we hope to bring the students back, but that will make more decisions concerning our students' welfare.

While we understand the reasoning behind the Bureau of Land Management's decision to give the Soda Ash Industry a level playing field in the global market, it is devastating to our school. According to the information released by the Bureau Land Management, “To keep America competitive, a ten-year, an industry-wide royalty rate of two percent will be established on January 1, 2021, for all existing and future federal soda ash and sodium bicarbonate leases. Implementation of the royalty rate reduction will counter the expanded global market influences of Chinese and Turkish production, encourage expanded investment and job creation by U.S Industry, promote U.S. mineral development, and enhance national security. By establishing this for ten years, companies will have greater economic certainty to make immediate, long-term investments that will strengthen the industry”.

This third strike cuts TJUSD's total revenue in half, creating massive educational and financial hardships. The blow will be felt all across our small community, impacting and reducing student services and staff. In addition, TJUSD is still faced with earthquake repair costs estimated at around 55 million dollars. The likelihood of TJUSD being able to financially contribute to the necessary repairs will now be hindered or almost impossible due to the reduction in royalties.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - January 21, 2021

Postby wildrose » Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:43 am

Shouldn't the Charter School Fiasco count as a fourth strike? For anyone unfamiliar with that situation, there's a thread devoted to it. The cost of the Charter School Fiasco was about $1.5 million if I recall correctly. Although it can be argued that it was money the district received and then had to pay back, that amount of money is still formidable and not something which should go unmentioned. On top of that, the Charter School Fiasco is an indication of a bigger issue: Bad Leadership. Trona is notorious for making bad decisions and things have only gotten worse in recent years.
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