Service club help?
EDITOR: Is there a service club in town who can fix the bridge at the end of the parking lot at the library? The wood is rotting away in the middle and the end wood pieces that hold up the bridge are rotten. The plywood boards are loose and the ends flip up when walked on. The whole bridge is slippery and slimy when wet and is an invitation to a fall. And perhaps a trash can be anchored to the top of the steps. This area is littered with trash. There is quite a bit of foot traffic along this pathway and a safe bridge would be greatly appreciated.
Melissa Cox
Cloverdale
Boys & Girls Clubs continuing fundraising campaign
EDITOR: Last November the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma announced the Be Great Campaign for Cloverdale Kids with an ambitious goal to raise $70,000 just for the Cloverdale clubs.
Part of the money goes to scholarships so that all of the kids whose families cannot pay for after school and summer programs still get to participate. So far $57,595 has been contributed to the campaign. It’s time for a big push for $12,405 to put the campaign over the top and make that rocket on the big poster outside the club take off. Donations of any size can be made online at bgccs.org/donate or mailed to 1400 North Dutton Ave., Suite 24, Santa Rosa, CA, with a notation “for Cloverdale.”
Ann Elston
Cloverdale
‘Shocking’ play
EDITOR: I am shocked, disappointed and numb that such a disgraceful “show” was allowed to come to our precious people and town of Cloverdale. The use of foul language, especially when speaking of women and mothers was outrageous and absolutely uncalled for. Let’s be more cautious about who and what we allow to be shown in our town.
Claire Caudill
Cloverdale
Our schools are not a business
EDITOR: The Cloverdale Unified School District’s mission is to engage, challenge and nurture students according to their individual needs — yet, this month, the school board, in a 3-2 vote, decided to eliminate three full-time teacher positions, claiming fiscal responsibility as their primary concern and calling for the district to be run like a business. The Teachers Association of Cloverdale (TAC) agrees that CUSD must be fiscally responsible for the viability of our district and increasing student achievement. The cuts made will directly impact Cloverdale students with the greatest needs — special education and reading and mathematics intervention. TAC is concerned that the district and school board are not putting student needs above budgetary concerns.
California schools have utilized the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) to target goals, actions, services and expenditures in order to better support student outcomes. Parents, students, the community and teachers are all stakeholders in the process and it’s imperative that all stakeholders are involved in deciding how district monies are spent in relation to providing services to our students. TAC is concerned that stakeholders have not had the opportunity to discuss and analyze individual budget items to look for ways to reduce deficit spending while still putting student needs first.
At the March 13 school board meeting, the teachers repeatedly pled for the district and board to reconsider cutting positions directly affecting student learning, and instead argued that there are other areas of the budget outlined by the LCAP where the district could have made cuts. TAC argued that positions like the curriculum and instruction director, and other items in the LCAP, should have been considered for elimination, prior to teachers. Sadly, the majority of the school board was not swayed and moved forward with approving the reduction in force.
School Board officials are elected representatives responsible for holding the district accountable for following the LCAP process. TAC would like to ask the community to join teachers in urging the CUSD administration and school board members to remember that the needs of our students should always be our priority.
Concerned parents and citizens: please plan to attend the next CUSD Board meeting on Wednesday, April 3 at 6 p.m. at Cloverdale High School Makerspace. Let’s stand together to ensure that our district is not run like a business, but a functioning institution that puts student needs first.
Teachers Association of Cloverdale
Cloverdale
