Schools

The usually stoic and composed James Dent, co-founder behind the Navigator School brand that won over public officials in Gilroy and Hollister, was visibly shaken Wednesday night as the Santa Clara County Board of Education voted 4-3 to uphold Morgan Hill Unified’s decision to deny his organization’s charter petition.

The December meeting of the Retired Teachers held at San Juan Oaks Golf Club found our group again working to benefit San Benito County.

The San Benito County Free Library will now be open for part of the day on Fridays – a departure from those days being closed since October 2012.

Schools state-wide are primed to benefit from Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed $106.8 billion state budget for 2014-15, which will infuse the public education system with an extra $10 billion in funds.

San Benito High School has announced it is seeking public input on the superintendent search. It is asking residents if they want to meet with an adviser handling the search.

Two days after one charter school management company withdrew its petition, the Santa Clara County Office of Education staff has recommended denial of a second charter petition, still currently on appeal before its local Board of Education.

The Gavilan College Faculty Association and Gavilan College staff, in conjunction with the Gavilan College Educational Foundation, is organizing a gala fundraising event for Spring 2014. Titled "Sowing Seeds, Nurturing Dreams," the event will raise money to provide scholarships, food assistance and transportation assistance for students in need. It will also be an opportunity to spend an evening on the beautiful Gavilan College Gilroy campus with friends, community members and alumni, and enjoy superb local food and wines, all for a great cause.

A Hollister girl took first place in an age division for Bookshop Santa Cruz's annual Young Writers Contest. Julia Pearson, a seventh-grader at Rancho San Justo Middle School, entered her short story to the contest in October and won first place in the 10-13 year-old age division. It was a fictional narrative that she wrote for her seventh-grade language arts class. Then she got to read a portion of it on KZSC radio station at UCSC on Nov. 19 on Bruce Bratton's “Grapevine” program. Bookshop Santa Cruz is also donating a copy of the book to the school library of each honoree.

In 2013, San Benito County put on a hard hat and got to work on the future.

Health department and school officials are continuing to address a case of tuberculosis in the aftermath of the revelation going public this week.