“It’s amazing that it took so long for this to be settled. It seemed pretty clear from the beginning that the Ed Code was being violated.” —Romero Maratea, Escondido Elementary Educators Association president What’s in a name? Escondido Union School District officials had an interesting, albeit illegal, solution to a lack of resource specialists and a state-mandated caseload limit of 28 students per educator: Just…
Ammar Campa-Najjar led the way in 50th Congressional District and top county results Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar advanced to the run-off in the race to fill the vacancy left by disgraced former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter in California’s 50th District. Campa-Najjar will likely face former Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who’s attempting a congressional comeback, and beat out former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio in the all-party primary held on…
Escondido student Juan Reynoso is about to step into largely unchartered territory. When he graduates this spring, he’ll be only the second person to have completed a new joint Master in Public Health (MPH)/Master in Urban Planning (MUP) degree program. Launched in 2016 by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), the program allows students to pursue a…
It’s back. Scrabble-Thon, Escondido Public Library’s homage to many things spelled for points, returns for its 16th annual run for the “QUARTZY,” otherwise known as the highest-scoring word you can play, according to James Bartlett, scrabble maven. According to Bartlett, QUARTZY, will score 164 points if played across a red triple-word square with the Z on a light blue double-letter square. It will score 162 points if…
Video of an Escondido Charter High School teacher violently reacting to a group of students intruding on his class has drawn widespread criticism from Australia to Cape Verde – but more than one viewer insists not all was as it seemed. Footage showing Escondido Charter students entering the classroom of a teacher was uploaded to streaming website Streamable earlier today. Wearing party hats, stick-on moustaches, sombreros and…
Facing 13 counts of election and voting fraud, Escondido Union School District (EUSD) trustee Jose Fragozo Monday pleaded guilty to one of the lesser felony counts in a plea bargain agreement. The remaining 12 charges were dismissed. Fragozo entered his guilty plea mere hours after a 55-member jury pool was brought into court. They were being interviewed about participating in a trial expected to last…
Escondido got in on the new energy wave in education as a host for Honeywell International’s 8th Annual Green Boot Camp. It resonated with educators from California to Vietnam, Russia to the Garden State of Nuevo Jersey. “It was both educational and fun,” said Susan Engelsman, grades 6-8 math teacher at Harding Township School in Mt. Vernon, New Jersey. “Honeywell filled our days with a…
Recall Escondido Union School District Board president Joan Gardner? That’s the battle cry of a newly formed association of retired educators and Escondido progressives committed to education for English Learners calling itself “The Saturday Group.” The group launched its recall effort at the June 23 EUSD Board meeting in response to Vista Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney’s refusal to agree to a request for a…
Terra Madre ‘Gathering’ Billed as “a celebration of passion and action” Terra Madre Gardens holds what organizers call “its first of many gatherings” on Saturday, June 18. “Inspired by the power of community and the call to create positive change, this gathering is a beautiful culmination of transformational Workshops, Yoga Sessions, Healing Experiences, Conscious Music and Visionary Art,” publicist Jennifer Root said. The idea came…
As befitting a school on the rise, Cal State University San Marcos (CSUSM) graduated its largest class ever over the weekend. Five separate ceremonies bestowed degrees to over 3,160 students — 3,012 undergraduates and 588 teacher credential candidates. It was the school’s 25th commencement. “Notably, 55 percent of the graduating students are the first in their families to earn a four-year college degree and 35 percent…