SRCS board is considering parcel taxes

At its Aug. 8 meeting, the governing board of Santa Rosa City Schools​ is set to vote on a pair of parcel taxes for an upcoming ballot. These taxes together, at $50 and $75, would raise $4 million for our schools.

(Santa Rosa City Schools vote on parcel tax proposal, Press Democrat, July 28)

The school board was concerned that the November ballot is crowded with many other taxes — including a $124 million housing bond measure and a quarter-cent sales tax increase for the City of Santa Rosa.

“Because of the crowded ballot this November, the board also is considering election dates in the next two years.”

I hope that readers in Santa Rosa will consider supporting these measures if and when they reach our ballots. Education needs to be among our community’s top priorities as we rebuild from last October’s fires.

Successful end to SRCS ‘summer-school’

The second of two sessions of high-school credit recovery, offered through Santa Rosa City Schools, has successfully come to an end.

Libraries versus Amazon subscription

Here’s a text-graphic that compares monthly costs to subscribe to Amazon Prime versus the average cost in taxes to support a library.

The graphic was compiled by EveryLibrary​ in response to an opinion piece in Forbes. In it, contributor Panos Mourdoukoutas argued that Amazon should open its own bookstores “in all local communities.” Amazon could supposedly “replace local libraries and save taxpayers lots of money.”

‘Bullied to Death?’ by Judith A. Yates

“What exactly happened on September 5, 2015, in Mankin Park is difficult to decipher. Eyewitness testimonies vary. The whole truth will never be known.”

Author Judith A. Yates explores the last hours of 14-year-old Sherokee Harriman. The official explanation is that Sherokee killed herself by stabbing herself in the stomach after she and another girl got in a fight over a boy.

Sherokee left the park where this altercation took place, and returned a short while later with the knife.

Sherokee’s family contends that the exchange was no fight. The girl and her friends bullied Sherokee and, when she returned with the knife, she either stabbed herself on accident or one of them forced her to stab herself. No charges were brought against any of the teens who witnessed Sherokee’s death.

The media and public outcry latched on to “bullying” as the cause of Sherokee’s death — and as this book documents, throughout her time in school, Sherokee was subjected to continual taunts about her appearance and hygiene. When she became older, her classmates also called her a bitch, a slut, and a “ho.”

Any attempts to report the bullying left Sherokee branded a “snitch.” Sherokee eventually “tired of it all,” and stopped turning in reports. When asked at home for an update she’d simply say school officials were “looking into it,” or that they “took care of the problem.”

But whatever bullying Sherokee endured, was on top of additional trauma. Her mother, Heather, came from an abusive home and suffered from poor self-esteem.

Heather bounced from job to job, relationship to relationship. (Sherokee and her older sister Shyloe came from two different fathers.) Heather also had difficulty managing her anger; she would shout and use obscenities and accuse the other person of deliberately “pushing [her] buttons.”

Sherokee and Shyloe were both sexually abused by their mother’s husband Ronnie (who was also Shyloe’s father.) It left the girls with lasting psychological scars.

Sherokee additionally struggled with bouts of severe depression. She was emotionally immature and lacked the coping skills to get what she wanted in any other way than by throwing tantrums. Sherokee often threatened to kill herself when she did not get her way. And like Heather, Sherokee tended to blame others for her behavior and responses.

Ultimately, this book poses more questions than it concretely answers. What — or who — actually caused the death of Sherokee Harriman? Was she “Bullied to Death?” Or was it one of many factors that were cumulatively too much for this damaged young person to bear? Reading this story was difficult and painful, but worth thinking about by caring adults who want to combat bullying or want to foster resiliency in children.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinion expressed is my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County

Talk about fortuitous timing: the Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County was parked in downtown Santa Rosa while I was walking there one day this week.

The Free Bookmobile gives away free books at locations throughout the area. (The schedule is listed on its website.)

It got its start as a weekend service project by a local family. Today it operates as a program of the Sonoma County Public Library Foundation, an organization that also supports “The Big Read” and Sonoma County public libraries.

Job-search help via Sonoma County Library

Among my research projects this week: job-search help through Tutor.com for Sonoma County Library cardholders.

Orientación y apoyo académico gratuito

Fuente de imagen: Santa Rosa City Schools

(En español / In Spanish)
Orientación y apoyo académico gratuito, a el Centro del Bienestar Integrado de Santa Rosa City Schools:

Elección en noviembre para Junta de Educación

(En español / In Spanish)
​Del boletín del Santa Rosa City Schools para julio 2018: Candidatos para la Junta de Educación de Santa Rosa City Schools deben de presentar sus documentos entre el 16 de julio y el 20 de Agosto de 2018.

‘Dragon Pearl’ by Yoon Ha Lee

On an impoverished and remote planet, Min and her brother Jun dreamed of one day traveling together among their civilization’s “Thousand Worlds.” Jun joined the Space Forces and Min’s plan was to enlist alongside him as soon as she was old enough — but as Dragon Pearl opens, Jun has disappeared.

Seemingly, Jun deserted his post to pursue a mystical object, the “Dragon Pearl.”

To figure out what really happened to Jun, Min decides to run away from home, and follow him into space. Complicating matters, Min and her family are fox spirits, who are viewed with suspicion by their society.

New English language-arts curriculum at SRCSA

Here’s something to look forward to with a new school year at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts: new reading-and-writing curriculum, adopted on Feb. 28, 2018 by Santa Rosa City Schools, arrived in June at SRCSA library. There, they await processing by me as Instructional Materials Technician.

‘The Storm Runner’ by J.C. Cervantes

Maya mythology forms the backdrop to The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes. It centers around teen protagonist Zane Obispo, who’s at the center of an ancient prophecy.

Zane is destined to release the Maya god of death and destruction from his prison in a dormant volcano. Desperate to do whatever it takes to protect those he cares about, Zane finds himself at the center of a war between Maya gods. As the adventure progresses, Zane comes to learn amazing revelations about himself.

A rich cast of supporting characters — some human, and some out of mythology — surround Zane on his quest.