Superintendent Todd Cutler reported to Trustees at the Winters Joint Unified School District’s school board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 17 that although the committee had interviewed three candidates (selected from an original pool of 13 applicants) for a new Chief Business Officer, they had not made a final recommendation for the position. The committee will work to bring a new candidate recommendation back to the board. YES! Youth Empowerment Summit During the Public Input section of the agenda Jesse Salinas, Yolo County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters, presented information about the YES! Youth Empowerment Summit which encourages civic engagement among Yolo County youth. He showed Trustees a video of last year’s youth summit which featured recent Winters High School graduates Marin Spalding and Andrea Gonzalez sharing about their experience. In the video Spalding spoke during an experience sharing section that what she took from the event was it is important young people use their voices to demand change and action, and that youth voices matters and can help the community and the people who live there. Gonzalez mentioned one of the great things she took from participating was finding out the elected officials she spoke with valued the opinions of young people who brought up topics including government assistance, active shooter preparedness, academic bias and more. YES! Was recognized by the National Association of Election Officials who awarded Yolo County with the Guardian Award for Promoting and Exemplifying Professional Principles and Standards. This award is part of the Election Center’s Professional Practices Program and is one of seven national awards given at their annual conference in Florida. Salinas showed off the award and announced the 2020 YES! was in the works. More information about the YES! Program and the videos of the past events can be found at YolosaysYes.com. Student Reclassification Update Sandra Ayón, Assistant Superintendent- Educational Services, reported 52 Winters students were reclassified as proficient in English at the Winters JUSD annual reclassification ceremony on Sept. 23. Included in the California Education Code-California law requires that the assessment for initial identification of an English learner and the assessment shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of achievement of the students’ English reading, speaking, and writing skills. Currently, the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the mandated state test for determining English language proficiency. Ayón reported students whose primary language is one other than English are required, under state and federal law, to take the test as a kindergartener or in transitional kindergarten-if the school district has a TK program. The initial test is also administered to students who transfer into California and are considered English learning students. Ayón shared site stats on the number of Winters students reclassified who took the ELPAC last school year:
- Waggoner Elementary School: 102 students took the test and five were reclassified this year.
- Shirley Rominger Intermediate School: 119 students took the test and 15 were reclassified this year.
- Winters Middle School: 92 students took the test and 17 were reclassified this year.
- Winters High School: 75 students took the test and 13 were reclassified this year.
- Wolfskill Career Readiness Academy: 11 students took the test and two were reclassified this year.
