Category Archives: Education

Articles, Crescent City, Education, In Media Res

Del Norte County Office of Education Hosts Inaugural ‘Building Bridges’ Family Summit 

Leave a comment
Event signage in front of school entrance.

Climbing the stairs that lead to the main entrance of Crescent Elk Middle School feels an awful lot like stepping through a time machine. 

It’s not just the building’s 1930’s Art Deco aesthetic that immerses me in nostalgia every time I walk through its doors. I graduated from the school in 1999, sure, but I’ve wandered through those halls for a myriad of reasons over the decades. Most recently, I found myself returning to my adolescent alma mater for an entirely new reason. As the parent of a student, I was invited by the Del Norte County Office of Education and the Del Norte Unified School District to their inaugural “Family Summit” event. This conference, called “Building Bridges”, was an effort undertaken by DNCOE and DNUSD to strengthen student and family connections between home, school, and resources available within the broader community. 

Continue reading Del Norte County Office of Education Hosts Inaugural ‘Building Bridges’ Family Summit  →
Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

Del Norte High’s First Poetry Out Loud Champion Advances To State Competition

Leave a comment

“I have a lot more hope for the future,” 

J.Rowe, one of the three guest teachers participating in Sunset High School’s Poetry Out Loud competition, came from the Sacramento area to teach poetry to local students. She is a social activist and spoken word artist who explores themes of empowerment, social justice and love through her poetry. The students at Sunset High have a lot of big ideas and the courage required to put those ideas into motion, she says. 

“These students I’ve been blessed to work with are very much ahead of their time.” Rowe told Redwood Voice Community News at the Poetry Out Loud Open Mic event Friday.

Continue reading Del Norte High’s First Poetry Out Loud Champion Advances To State Competition →
Articles, Community News, Economy, Education, Health, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation, Youth

Trump’s Attack On Federal Funding Could Impact Del Norters’ Access To Health Care, Senior Services, Education, Local Nonprofits Say

Leave a comment

Open Door Clinic operates a clinic at the Del Norte Community Wellness Center. At a discussion with Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, the organization’s CEO Tory Starr said he was worried about being unable to serve patients should their federal funding be frozen. | Photo by Persephone Rose

Nearly a week after a judge temporarily blocked a Trump Administration directive to freeze federal funding, Open Door Clinic CEO Tory Starr said his organization is still bracing for the worst.

Open Door operates more than 14 clinics across Humboldt and Del Norte counties, providing behavioral health, medical, dental and obstetrics care to 60,000-plus patients and employing nearly 800 people.

During a virtual roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Jared Huffman on Monday, Starr said that while a judge hit pause on the directive Jan. 28, guidance he’s received from the Health Resources and Services Administration suggests that federal dollars could still be at risk.

Continue reading Trump’s Attack On Federal Funding Could Impact Del Norters’ Access To Health Care, Senior Services, Education, Local Nonprofits Say →
Articles, Community News, Education

Former Del Norte High School Principal, DNUSD Named As Defendants In Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Leave a comment

A retired Del Norte High School principal has been accused of sexually assaulting a student in a recent lawsuit filed against both him and Del Norte Unified School District

The lawsuit, filed in Del Norte County Superior Court on Oct. 18, 2024 and amended Jan. 6, 2025, alleges that Randy Fugate was a teacher when he began grooming the plaintiff in 1999 in order to sexually exploit her. The complaint also alleges that Del Norte Unified School District was either aware, or should have been aware, of Fugate’s actions and did nothing to prevent them.

The plaintiff is seeking damages against both defendants for negligence — including negligent hiring, supervision and retention, and negligent failure to train, warn or educate — sexual battery and for violating the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act and California Civil Rights Act of 1976.

Continue reading Former Del Norte High School Principal, DNUSD Named As Defendants In Sexual Assault Lawsuit →
Articles, Community News, Education, Youth

DNUSD To Seek Public Guidance As It Continues To Develop AI Policies

Leave a comment

DNCOE’s director of information network services showed the Board of Trustees this clip of a Morgan Freeman deepfake during a discussion last year about artificial intelligence in the classroom. Thumbnail courtesy of the Del Norte County Office of Education

A year after he showed trustees a YouTube clip featuring a Morgan Freeman deepfake, Ryan Bahten says Del Norte Unified School District will seek public input as it continues to draft policies around artificial intelligence.

The district will deploy a community survey starting next week, said Bahten, the Del Norte County Office of Education’s director of information network services. The input provided will guide him and other district and DNCOE employees as they differentiate between AI as a tool in the classroom and AI as a potential risk to student privacy.

Bahten said he is aiming to get a policy before the Board of Trustees in time for teachers to begin learning how to use AI next school year.

Continue reading DNUSD To Seek Public Guidance As It Continues To Develop AI Policies →
Articles, Community News, Education

DNUSD’s Classified Staff Reject Tentative Agreement; District, DNTA Begin Mediation Process

Leave a comment

Thumbnail image includes the DNUSD and CSEA logos taken from the district’s Facebook page and Great Northern Chapter #178’s Facebook page.

Negotiations between Del Norte Unified School District and the union that represents its classified employees are set to start over after members of the union’s local chapter rejected a tentative agreement.

The rejection of the proposed agreement between DNUSD and the California School Employees Association Great Northern Chapter #178 comes as contract discussions between the district and the Del Norte Teachers Association head toward mediation.

It also prompted Jenna Lussier, lead negotiator for CSEA Great Northern #178, to step down from the union’s negotiating team.

Continue reading DNUSD’s Classified Staff Reject Tentative Agreement; District, DNTA Begin Mediation Process →
Articles, Community News, Education

Law Enforcement Report ‘Non-Credible’ Threat Concerning Crescent Elk; DNUSD Superintendent Fields Questions About Jan. 7 Lockdown

Leave a comment

Thumbnail: DNUSD logo

Hours after two parents confronted the school board over last week’s lockdown, Del Norte County law enforcement investigated another threat they ultimately deemed non-credible.

A report came to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office concerning a possible threat of violence at Crescent Elk Middle School, Del Norte Unified School District announced on Facebook at about 9:30 a.m. Friday.

The child that allegedly made the threats had been speaking with a friend from Humboldt County who was concerned enough to notify the Fortuna Police Department, Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott told Redwood Voice Community News.

Continue reading Law Enforcement Report ‘Non-Credible’ Threat Concerning Crescent Elk; DNUSD Superintendent Fields Questions About Jan. 7 Lockdown →
Articles, Community News, Education

Contract Negotiations Between Del Norte Teachers Association, DNUSD Stuck Over Salary Increases

1 Comment

Thumbnail: Del Norte Teachers Association and Del Norte Unified School District logos.

Contract negotiations between the union representing local teachers and Del Norte Unified School District have hit an impasse with a dispute over salaries being the primary roadblock.

DNUSD is offering a one-time cash bonus of $750 per certificated employee. Del Norte Teachers Association negotiators are pushing for ongoing salary increases for union members. But with COVID dollars having run out and the potential for millions in budget cuts in the next few months, DNUSD officials say the district can’t afford the union’s ask.

DNTA President Amber Tiedeken-Cron, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade history and math at Smith River School, doesn’t buy that explanation.

Continue reading Contract Negotiations Between Del Norte Teachers Association, DNUSD Stuck Over Salary Increases →
Articles, Community News, Education, Transportation

DNUSD Transportation’s ‘Monsters’ Include An Aging Fleet, Dearth of Drivers

Leave a comment

Photo by Persephone Rose

Though she thanked trustees for taking her concerns seriously, Lisa Sedgwick rejected the idea that implementing a digital system for reporting and tracking mechanical issues in district vans would cost $70,000.

Sedgwick, a teacher at Mary Peacock Elementary School, told Del Norte Unified School District trustees on Thursday that free electronic tools exist that allow people to fill out forms that are dated and time stamped and QR codes can make them available when a van is returned after hours.

“If you’re really stuck on having a paper form, which they never tell you when you make a complaint in person [that there’s] this form to fill out — it was never handed to me when I complained about the rotors two years ago — that could be handed to you when you’re handing over the keys,” she said. “There are so many tools that are easy to use and they’re free. There’s no reason to spend $70,000 when you have these tools available.”

Continue reading DNUSD Transportation’s ‘Monsters’ Include An Aging Fleet, Dearth of Drivers →
Articles, Community News, Education

From Broken Axles to Warped Brake Rotors, DNUSD Staff Raise Concerns Over Vehicle Breakdowns

1 Comment

Photo by Persephone Corvid Rose

A trailer’s broken axle added more drama to the Del Norte High School marching band’s tale of triumph at the Festival of Bands field show in Eugene earlier last month.

But Music Director Dan Sedgwick says the axle is an example of several concerns he and other faculty have raised regarding the safety of vehicles transporting students to and from activities outside of Del Norte County.

Sedgwick, his wife Lisa Sedgwick, who teaches at Mary Peacock Elementary School, and his colleague in the music department at Del Norte High, Collin Kirkwood, described warped brake rotors, leaking brake fluid, a bus that ran out of diesel exhaust fluid and seat belts held together with duct tape.

Continue reading From Broken Axles to Warped Brake Rotors, DNUSD Staff Raise Concerns Over Vehicle Breakdowns →