Dublin School Superintendent Marken Resigns Unexpectedly due to Dispute with Board Trustees
(former) Superintendent Marken
DUBLIN, CA–As though parents in Dublin didn’t have enough to worry about, with an accelerating coronavirus pandemic, layoffs and economic recession and racial justice conflict, there is one more worry – the stability of the Dublin Unified School District. At tonight’s Dublin School Board meeting Superintendent Dave Marken unexpectedly resigned in closed session. Based on feedback from teachers the dispute between Superintendent Marken was primarily with Trustees Blackman, Cherrier and Kuo who chose to disregard the Superintendent’s tentative agreement with the DTA. This is particularly surprising given the State of California announcing yesterday a budget agreement that avoids K-12 cuts (source). [UPDATED 6/24/20 with additional letters received from the community.]
[UPDATED 6/27/20] Dublin resident Catheryn Grier started a Change.org petition (“A Vote of “No Confidence” in Dublin Unified’s Board of Education (BOE) Majority”) that has garnered over 650 signatures in under 12 hours.
Parents who have not paid close attention to DUSD or its Trustees are recommended to do so in the upcoming months and election. Marken published the following letter to the community: Read more…
DUBLIN, CA–“I can’t breathe.” These were among the last words uttered by George Floyd as he lay handcuffed and prone at the intersection of 38th and Chicago in south Minneapolis. On Monday, some 2,045 miles to the west, the same words were chanted in the streets of Dublin, CA. The event was the peaceful march dubbed “TriValley #showup”. Student-led community organizers wanted to create a safe, yet impactful forum to express their desire for societal and institutional change.
The event started at 2PM Monday afternoon at Emerald Glen Park in the southwestern portion of picnic area. The speakers stood atop a mound at the park and were all visible to the growing crowd. There were both prepared statements and spontaneous comments that all encouraged the need for greater understanding and a call for reform.
DUBLIN, CA–Beginning in 2010, OneDublin.org offered a glimpse into the future plans of graduating seniors as a preface to the Senior Awards event. The “I am Dublin High” format was a short form video that asked the graduating seniors to identify their next academic destination. As we curtained the website in 2019, this profile ceased. It gives us great pleasure to share an effort that was undertaken by a graduating senior of the Dublin High School Class of 2020.
DUBLIN, CA–The momentous date was May 27, 2015. In perhaps, a simpler time, the event was the inaugural Dublin High School Film Festival. It was driven by Video Production Instructor, Michael D’Ambrosio and his first year students populating the newly hatched program. The demand from the class was to deliver 15 video pieces from his 40 students. The final works were to be completed, peer-reviewed and then for some – rewarded with a screening at the Center for Performing Arts on a Wednesday night. Last year, online tickets to attend the 500-seat theater sold out in one minute and 28 seconds. The concept evolved into a phenomenon that has become part of the landscape at Dublin High for the past five years.
With the commencement of a new academic calendar in 2019, Mr. D’Ambrosio spoke openly to his students and colleagues that perhaps the festival concept had run its course. In essence, lacking any new innovation, what would the event serve – other than a simple continuation? As we have all experienced, the COVID-19 outbreak has touched each and every corner of our local and global lives. From a narrow, but important focus, the daily functioning of K-12 student’s lives has been literally turned upside down.
With the Shelter in Place order for Alameda County, leadership at the Dublin Unified School District has worked with the Dublin Teachers Association to formulate and to negotiate a system to maintain the learning continuum for over 13,000 students – doing so while not knowing with complete certainty when the order might be lifted. This unprecedented circumstance even raised the concept of whether to issue letter grades or a credit/no-credit system for final recognition that was eventually resolved by the School Board.
DUBLIN, CA–While the globe continues to wrestle with the COVID-19 Pandemic, elements of daily life are being examined, debated and in some cases re-engineered. The otherwise pedestrian act of receiving a haircut or dining in a restaurant is being scrutinized by both science and societal norms. One of the greatest issues before us is how to execute and deliver education in a manner that remains effective and continues to provide safety. Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees Student Representative Tinni Mukherjee recently played a key role in shaping the rest of this extraordinary school year for Dublin students, more on that shortly.
Dublin School Board Student Rep Tinni Mukherjee
The spike of positive coronavirus cases in Northern California triggered six Bay Area counties to issue a Shelter in Place order back on March 16, 2020. The order directed the public to stay at home as much as possible, with the exception of purchasing gas, groceries, going to the bank and retrieving prescriptions. It was a swift action and one that potentially has saved many lives. For families with school-aged children daily life has been turned upside down.
In conjunction with the Shelter in Place order State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond announced new guidelines. At its heart, the statement was to address the safety of all students and staff. Further, the guidance was issued to illustrate “how students can and should be held harmless in grading, and how their work can be acknowledged.” In other words, the ability of a student not to receiving learning in a school setting should not be in jeopardy of receiving a reduced grade due to the lack of their presence. While logical, the declaration was broad and the responsibility to enact a grading policy for the second semester would fall to each school districts. Read more…
To help parents keep their children engaged beyond hours playing Minecraft and Animal Crossing here is our best of list of #homeschooling resources.
ProjectExplorer: Hours of Educational Video Content for Grades 3-12
ProjectExplorer’s mission “is to bring the world into classrooms and living rooms with free video content and curriculum that fosters global awareness and cross-cultural understanding.” For parents looking to enrich their students ProjectExplorer is an incredible free resource that combines educational videos with curriculum and virtual classroom resources. Students home / Teachers & parents home.
Read more…SAN FRANCISCO, CA–If you are a fan of Kari Byron (former host of Mythbusters), quality education programming or both you can join Kari for a special one-time screening of her new family-friendly TV show “Crash Test World” that highlights stories of everyday people working on solutions to the biggest challenges of our time.
ProjectExplorer, California Global Education Project, and World Savvy will be hosting a one-time screening of Crash Test World, a new family TV show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday March 3rd at 6 pm PST. Free tickets can be reserved at: http://ctwsanfran.eventbrite.com,
At the Premiere, two 22-min episodes will be shown followed by a Q&A with Show Creator & Executive Producer Jenny Buccos and Series Presenter Kari Byron. This is a free, family-friendly event (recommended ages 8 & up). Kari is a local science-education icon having filmed numerous episodes of Mythbusters in and around the Bay Area (including Dublin).
Crash Test World is the first TV series from non-profit organization ProjectExplorer, a leader in innovative instruction with a 17-year history of using media to help students grow up globally competent and culturally aware.
Dublin Unified School District Breaks Ground on Engineering and Science Building at Dublin High School
New facility to add 16 classrooms, a multi-purpose space, weight room, and maintenance roomDublin, CA – August 1, 2019 – During a ceremony held at Dublin High School on the evening of August 1, 2019, the district officially broke ground on the high school’s new Engineering and Science Building. Once completed, the facility will add approximately 47,000 square feet to the school’s campus. The first level of the new building will include five engineering classrooms, a weight room, maintenance room, and shop space. The second level will consist of three flexible science classrooms, a multi-use HUB space, and break-out space. The final level will contain four flexible science classrooms, three flexible science labs, and break-out space. Construction of the state-of-the-art facility is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2020-21 school year. Read more…
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Opens July 20 at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater
LIVERMORE, CA–Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is the irresistible family musical about the trials and triumphs of Joseph, Israel’s favorite son. Told entirely through song with the help of a main character Narrator, the musical follows the preferred son Joseph. After being sold into slavery by his brothers, he ingratiates himself with Egyptian noble Potiphar, but ends up in jail after refusing the amorous advances of Potiphar’s wife. While imprisoned, Joseph discovers his ability to interpret dreams, and he soon finds himself in front of the mighty but troubled, Elvis-inspired, Pharaoh. Joseph’s solution to Egypt’s famine elevates him to Pharaoh’s right-hand man and reunites him with his family.
In mid-April 2019 – a week after he announced his candidacy for president, Eric Swalwell held a campaign rally at his alma mater, Dublin High School. Three months later, Rep. Swalwell elected to announce his withdrawal from the race down the street at the IBEW hall. Currently in his fourth term serving the CA 15th district, the last three months have been a whirlwind. Accompanied by his wife, Brittany and two children, the family has traversed the country on numerous occasions.
He qualified and participated in the initial Democratic Party debate. Alas he stated, “So being honest with ourselves, we had to look at how much money we were raising and where we were in the polls.” This is what ultimately led to his decision to step out of the race. However, he was able to give voice to some of his most passionate efforts including finding a solution for student debt, advocating for renewable energy jobs and the creation of an assault weapon buy-back program. In fact, he received acknowledgement from Vice President Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders that they would all support this plan. He accentuated this point by saying that “We must demonstrate that we love our children more than we love guns.” Read more…
