Teachers sue over trans policy

By City News Service

ESCONDIDO — Two teachers from Rincon Middle School in Escondido filed a lawsuit April 27 challenging school district policies regarding what information can be shared with parents of transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

The lawsuit filed in San Diego federal court alleges the Escondido Union School District's policies prohibiting teachers from discussing students’ gender identities with their parents are unconstitutional.

The complaint states teachers are required to use “any pronouns or a gender-specific name requested by the student during school, while reverting to biological pronouns and legal names when speaking with parents in order to actively hide information about their child's gender identity from them.”

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West names various officials from the Escondido Union School District and California State

Board of Education as defendants.

Representatives with the Escondido Union School District’s Superintendent’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit, which seeks a court order finding that the district's policies violate the First Amendment.

The complaint alleges district representatives told the teachers that the policies’ tenets might be required by state and federal law and referenced a page on the California Department of Education website referencing Assembly Bill 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act, which was signed into law in 2013.

The website states, “The right of transgender students to keep their transgender status private is grounded in California’s antidiscrimination laws as well as federal and state laws. Disclosing that a student is transgender without the student’s permission may violate California’s antidiscrimination law by increasing the student’s vulnerability to harassment and may violate the student’s right to privacy.”

The teachers’ attorneys are also seeking a declaration finding the conclusions on the DOE’s webpage are unconstitutional and that the district is not required to enforce or implement its “Parental Exclusion Policies.”

Earlier this year, a new bill sought to force California school districts to notify parents should a school employee learn a student was identifying as a gender that doesn’t align with their birth certificate or other official records.

LGBTQ activists railed against the bill, AB 1314, stating it could endanger LGBTQ+ youths.

The Assembly Education Committee’s chair, Al Muratsuchi, announced last month that no hearing date would be set for the bill, stating, “This bill would require educators to ‘out’ a student to their parents, even when the student does not feel comfortable coming out, potentially forcing them into an unwelcoming or abusive home.”

By Juan Troncoso REGION

— Goldspotted Oak Borer, or Agrilus auroguttatus, is a flat-headed beetle native to southeastern Arizona, first discovered in San Diego County in 2004 and linked to increased oak mortality rates in 2008.

Since 2004, the Goldspotted Oak Borer has spread to four other southern California counties: Riverside (2012), Orange (2014), Los Angeles (2015) and San Bernardino (2019). It is likely that the innocent movement of infested firewood from Arizona to San Diego resulted in the initial introduction of Goldspotted Oak borers to San Diego County and this practice has been the main dispersal method throughout southern California.

Mayes, (Principal, Peregrine Environmental Analytics; Ecosystems scientist at Spatial Informatics Group-Natural Assets Laboratory; Adjunct Asst. Professor, Utah State University Dept. of Watershed Sciences) and Andrea R. Scholer, PhD (U.S. Forest Service) to address GSOB monitoring at the Keithley Preserve in Elfin Forest.

The project, funded by the USFS Strategic Technology Development Program (STDP), aimed to test the use of drone and infrared camera technology in the management of Goldspotted Oak Borer-infested woodlands by testing the identification capabilities of infestation gradients (low, medium, and high).

What’s next?

The Conservancy’s Land Managers are currently working on surveying the Keithley Preserve to begin management actions.

Additionally, we are looking to extend surveys beyond the known Goldspotted Oak Borer areas to get ahead of the infestation. The Conservancy will continue outreach and collaboration with neighboring land managers and landowners to spread awareness about oak health and share lessons learned from surveys. What you can do other income categories,”the authors wrote. “Lemon Grove also benefited as a developer came in and developed one of the last large vacant tracts of land within the city during the Fifth RHNA cycle.”

Of those who met at least one housing goal, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, San Diego, San Marcos and Vista all only met the “above moderate income'' guideline, failing to meet the needs of any residents making less than the area AMI.

Del Mar met both moderate income and above moderate and Poway met low income guidelines.

The authors cited two examples of cities taking proactive steps. El Cajon was praised for using spe- cific plans — building up around the El Cajon Transit Center — and Chula Vista for the Palomar Gateway Plan.

Both of these were built up around mobility hubs. By SANDAG's definition, a mobility hub is a community with high concentration of people, destinations and travel choices.

San Diego County is now in the sixth RHNA Cycle — from June 30, 2020 to April 15, 2029 — with an even loftier goal for cities to meet. A total of 171,685 units must be built to meet the rising need during that window, around 10,000 more than were intended for the fifth cycle.

While this is no easy task, the grand jury report did outline other recommendations which could make it possible, including:

• Providing support to re-introducing in the state

Legislature SB 1105, or similar legislation, to create a San Diego County agency that could raise revenue for housing.

• Providing support to SB4, which is currently before the state Legislature. That bill is intended to make it easier to provide affordable housing on land owned by religious institutions.

Other city-specific recommendations include the Solana Beach city manager working with the North County Transit District to develop affordable housing at the Coaster station, a recommendation for North County cities to also work with NCTD on developing housing near transit stops and for the county, El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City and Chula Vista to take on similar work with the Metropolitan Transit System.

Thousands of our iconic oak trees have been killed since, including century-old trees in Elfin Forest. While treatments are available for limited numbers of trees, the cost to treat entire groves is prohibitive for the Conservancy.

So far, the Goldspotted Oak Borer has been found to attack three known red oak species native to southern California: Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii), and Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chryslepsis).

In the Escondido Creek watershed, where the Escondido Creek Conservancy manages land, oak woodlands are dominated by Q. agrifolia and are being destroyed by this beetle.

The presence of Goldspotted Oak borers in our woodlands, combined with prolonged droughts, is replacing vibrant dark green canopies with dead and leafless branches.

In 2021, the Conservancy joined a research project led by Dr. Marc

Over the last four years, the Conservancy has been working on surveying woodlands to find the extent of the Goldspotted Oak Borer infestations.

With the help of community members, including students from local colleges, young professionals and retirees, the Conservancy was able to do multiple annual surveys and learn more about the health of our local woodlands.

Drone and on-theground surveys show that the overall health of the oak woodlands has been decreasing with time.

With the situation being so dire, the Conservancy is being proactive to save as many oaks as possible and to take action to make sure a new generation of oaks is nurtured to replace those we might lose.

In that regard, the Conservancy is also using findings from the drone flights to write a management plan for all oak woodlands at risk within the Conservancy’s management responsibility areas.

• Don’t buy or burn firewood unless you know it’s local. Buying it where you burn it is how you can help save oaks. Spread the word! Everyone loves oak trees; we need to work together to save them. https://www.nps.gov/ mora/planyourvisit/buyit-where-you-burn-it.htm.

• If you have oak trees on your property you’d like to protect, we recommend you contact a certified arborist and seek a consultation. A certified arborist can best advise you of your options.

• Help the Conservancy save oak trees by donating to: https://escondidocreek.org/donate/ and participating at a restoration event. https:// escondidocreek.org/ eventbrite-event/shrubclub-volunteer-event/

For more information about the Conservancy please contact information@escondidocreek.org.

For more information and resources on Goldspotted Oak Borer visit the University of California-Agriculture and Natural Resources website (https://ucanr. edu/sites/gsobinfo/).

Announcing East Cove Cottages Inclusionary Housing Program

We are pleased to announce that one affordable home at 1152 East Cove Place, Encinitas, will be available for purchase by qualified very low income households. Please visit ECCAffordable.com to review eligibility requirements and to