Graduation rates improving
EDITOR: I’d like to take a moment to congratulate the roughly 4,500 students who will be receiving their high school diplomas in the weeks to come. I commend our graduates for their commitment to their education, often despite personal setbacks or challenges such as the 2017 wildfires. This major life milestone is a testament to their hard work and perseverance. It’s also thanks to the support of teachers, classified staff, school administrators, and of course, family.
Graduation marks the end of one journey but the beginning of another. Youths armed with a diploma have a world of possibilities before them, whether they choose to continue their education or begin pursuing a career immediately.
That is why I am celebrating the fact that the number of youths exiting high school with their diplomas, and the opportunity they symbolize, is on the rise. Between 2010 and 2018, the county graduation rate has risen from 75 to 81 percent. This is the case even though the state increased the rigor of the performance criteria used to measure graduate outcomes in 2017, resulting in more conservative graduation rates.
At the same time, the achievement gap between all students and Latinx students has almost disappeared. The graduation rate for Latinx students has risen 14 percentage points over the last eight years, to 80 percent. This progress wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated work of Sonoma County public school employees and numerous nonprofit organizations that support our schools. These same people are dedicated to further increasing the graduation rate for all students in the years to come.
Interested to know more? Read about Sonoma County graduate outcomes at scoe.org/edfacts or access a calendar of Sonoma County high school graduations at scoe.org/graduation.
Steven D. Herrington, Ph.D.
Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools
Thank you, Earth Day participants
EDITOR: We wish to thank all those who joined the Environmental Committee of Cloverdale Indivisible on the walk and at the downtown event celebrating Earth Day 2019. It was an uplifting successful day because of your participation, the representatives from Recology, Soluna, the Clean River Alliance and all the volunteers who made it happen. See you at next year’s annual event that commemorates the interdependence of all living things.
Sally C. Evans
Environmental Committee Co-Chair
Cloverdale
Bond money spending
EDITOR: Cloverdale Unified is contemplating using new Bond H money to pay off interest on a property they bought because enrollment may go up. In checking enrollment figures from 1994 when it was 1486, to present, enrollment has basically stayed the same. This year it dropped to 1375.
I doubt very much that student population in Cloverdale will go up to the extent a new school is needed. Cloverdale Unified has two bonds on our property tax bill already and a third will be added this tax year.
Bond money is supposed to be used to improve schools not pay off interest for purchased property. Where did school officials expect to get interest payments from when they purchased the property in March of 2018?
If residents have to pay three bonds for this school district, at least spend the money correctly — for the schools.
I was on the Oversight Committee for 2010 Bond G. I believe we did reroof schools, modernize classrooms, purchase classroom equipment, update high school playing field facilities, etc. with that bond.
I really wonder about the need for a third bond and what has happened or will happen to money from all three bonds residents of Cloverdale are paying. If buying property for a new school is one use of bond money, it is an inappropriate and unnecessary use. I question the wisdom of school administration and the board in purchasing this property thus creating the problem that exists because they did.Â
Linda Elliott
Cloverdale
