SLO County of Education | One Community, Together

SLO COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION

One Community Together

BY JAMES BRESCIA, ED.D. COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

May and June were very stressful months for schools nationwide and within our county because of school violence. Social media and even what was once considered traditional media focus on quantity (clicks, likes, shares, etc.) over quality, sensationalism over detail, and rumors consistently outshine fact. I entered the profession in 1986, and as time advances, I have grown to appreciate and value authentic and genuine relationships. Today’s schools face multiple linguistic, cultural, religious, ethnic, and racial issues requiring a caring community to foster positive relationships. Large urban areas such as Los Angeles County and smaller rural communities like San Luis Obispo County experience challenges, social pressures, and school violence. It is not easy to collectively accept responsibility for all of our citizens and their actions. Communities have risen to challenges throughout history, and today is no different.

Our school, community, law enforcement, and mental health leaders meet regularly to discuss the needs, perspectives, and challenges of the individuals we serve. How do we collectively address the needs of everyone and build up our entire community? School and community violence across the United States continues to be a topic of my monthly Superintendent’s Council and general school administration meetings. On the Tuesday following Memorial Day, approximately 100 community leaders representing the schools, law enforcement, government, and mental health gathered to review communications and safety practices for all schools in San Luis Obispo County. California Civil

“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Code 1714.1 makes parents and guardians vicariously liable for up to $25,000 for their child’s willful misconduct. In addition to arresting responsible parties and legally forcing families to pay for the damages to public facilities, we must do our best to prevent violence and property damage before it happens. Before starting the 2022-2023 school year, my office will facilitate another Building Community Summit to address communications and safety in our schools proactively.

The Building Community Summit aims to facilitate multi-agency communication and collaboration, present positive strategies for community engagement, and build up the county. The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, local students, parents, nonprofit agencies, religious leaders, city & county government officials, school leaders, elected officials, and law enforcement represent the membership of a Department of Justice grant designed to reduce school violence and build community. Sheriff Ian Parkinson and I believe that “we can address our issues proactively, one relationship at a time.” Because of the Sheriff’s efforts along with the Office of Emergency Services, San Luis Obispo County is one of the first in the state to map every school campus and better connect the community digitally. All district, charter, private, and parochial school properties are reviewed and updated during the summer. Research indicates that community capacity to prevent violence is achieved primarily through the social relations embodied in dense networks of “strong” ties within geographically bounded spaces known as neighborhoods or communities has been challenged on two grounds (Bellair, 1997; Morenoff, Sampson, & Raudenbush, 2001). Because professional experience and research indicate that violence prevention programs structured to build community capacity are the most successful, our agencies commit to providing proactive practices that mitigate personal or agency disconnect.

Everyone has the right to learn in a safe environment. Families need to feel confident in sending children to school without fear. Research indicates that prevention efforts by students, families, school staff, law enforcement, and the entire community can reduce school violence. Consistent communications, holding responsible parties accountable, and proactive safety practices are some of the strategies we are implementing. During the weeks following the tragedies in Texas, I observed our local law enforcement, school personnel, local government officials, and mental health representatives collaborate for the greater good. I believe that together we can positively impact our future by facilitating multi-agency communications, working collectively, and acknowledging that we are all part of a shared community. I pledge to continue fostering these collective efforts and promoting safety throughout the community. It is an honor to serve as your County Superintendent of Schools. 

TOM KEFFURY

The Best Part of Waking Up

BY CAMILLE DEVAUL

For the past 20 years, Tom Keffury has been the voice San Luis Obispo County wakes up to listen to in the morning.

Yet, when Tom was 23, he had just moved back into his parents’ home in Atascadero. He lay in his childhood bedroom staring at the ceiling, wondering where his life was going next. Despite spending the previous four years at two different colleges, Tom had no degree, no job, and did not make it as a Major League Baseball player as originally intended.

While Tom’s dream of becoming a professional baseball player did not come true, he did become a morning radio host on country music station KKJG (more familiarly known as 98.1 KJug) and in San Luis Obispo County, that’s kind of the same thing.

“To get from there to where I’m at now...I feel lucky,” says Tom, “I feel blessed, I feel grateful.”

In addition to hosting the morning radio show, Tom is the front man for sponsorships of the California Mid-State Fair (CMSF). So in a way, finding a career in radio and at the fair is a full-circle moment for him.

Growing up in Atascadero, one of his first jobs was cleaning stalls at the fair. He remembers avidly listening to KPRL with his dad, along with the era’s best radio broadcasters, including Paul Harvey and Howard Cosell.

“I’ve always had a spot in my heart for some old-time radio folks,” Tom remembers.

As a kid on road trips with his family, Tom would mimic the radio voices by imagining his own show while interviewing his sister in the car. It didn’t occur to either of them that they were foreshadowing Tom’s future.

After graduating from Atascadero High School, Tom moved to New York City to attend Columbia University, where he had a football scholarship. that camp,” Tom shared. “I wanted to get out of the small town Atascadero life and get to a big city...so I chose the biggest city in the world.”

And for the first year, Tom loved being a city kid. But by his sophomore year, he missed the small-town life. For his third and fourth years of college, he transferred to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, which he described as Atascadero with a college in the middle. For the next two years, Tom played baseball for the university and met his future wife, Myki.

While Tom had finished his required classes to graduate, he did not meet the other requirements to graduate and walk away with a diploma. The reason... Tom laughs and says it was because he more so majored in college fun.

Tom decided to move back home to Atascadero and figure out his next move. His plan was always to make it to the major leagues, but after coming to grips with it not becoming a reality, Tom got his first job in broadcasting with KPRL in Paso Robles. Using the advice from his uncle, a broadcaster for K-Fog in the Bay Area, Tom stayed at KPRL for one year. He then moved to the SLO-based country music station 92.5 KDDB as its afternoon disc jockey, later transferring to being their morning show host.

With his and Myki’s first baby on the way, Tom decided to shift into sales for American General Media, and the family moved to Arroyo Grande before Tom left the broadcasting industry entirely in 2002 for a quick stint in sales at a local ad agency Barnet Cox.

But he did not stay away from broadcasting for very long.

In 2005, American General Media General Manager Kathy Signorelli called Tom asking him to come back as the morning show host for KJug. At the same time, Tom was offered a job at the CMSF, running the fair’s sponsorships.

Tom is someone who thrives on being busy— he thrives on the hustle. So since 2005, Tom has been radio broadcaster by morning and CMSF front man by afternoon.

The CMSF has always had a special place in Tom’s heart. He, like many others in the county, grew up with the fair. It was the highlght of childhood summers. It is the Super Bowl of SLO County.

But KJug, he says, has become special to him as well.

“The fair is very, very special and has always been very special...I’m very grateful to work there and be a part of it,” said Tom, “KJug has become very special to me as well. KJug is different than every other radio station.”

The love of KJug to Tom, for the most part, can be attributed to his morning radio show partner Becky Kingman.

“I love her to death. She and I have a very unique and special relationship. We get each other completely,” explained Tom. “She is like the little sister I never wanted.”

From day one, Tom and Becky clicked — on and off the air.

Tom says of Becky, “She is my best friend... we’re really close. I can’t imagine at this point doing the radio show with anyone else but her.”

Anyone who has listened to 98.1 KJug within the last 20 years has seen the various phases the station has gone through, which included other morning show partners who shared the airwaves with Tom. While none of them were dislikable, the station and the show took a whole new life when Becky joined Tom on air.

People wake up in the morning looking forward to turning on 98.1 for two reasons: good music and to listen to Tom and Becky.

Tom credits their show’s popularity to his and Becky’s honesty.

“There is only one goal, and that is to have fun. We believe if we are having fun, then the listener is having fun,” says Tom adding, “It’s what radio should be and needs to be these days.”

While he acknowledges, not everyone appreciates their banter and willingness to be themselves, to most people, it is refreshing.

“If you don’t stand for anything, then you stand for nothing,” he says.

KJug has always been a country music station. Combining the relatability of country music and the honesty of Tom and Becky kind of goes hand in hand — like peanut butter and jelly.

Continuing the country scene, Tom has been a large part of the Mid-State Fair family. Known to many as the “biggest little fair anywhere.” For 10 days, the fair brings in some of the genre’s biggest acts, including artists like George Strait, Garth Brooks, Kiss, Journey, and countless others.

Tom works year-round to ensure funding for the fair by working with corporations for sponsorships and acts as a liaison between the music artists and the fair, developing marketing plans for the artists once they are booked.

Our “little fair” is known nationwide to music agents. And that started Tom says, by all the people who came before him.

“That’s really a testament to the people who came before me but who made the investment and had the vision to see what could happen down the road,” Tom shared.

The first big league act booked at the fair was Buck Owens in 1969. From then on, Paso Robles became a stop for nearly everyone’s tour while in California.

However, it all almost came to an end when in 2020, the CMSF was completely canceled due to the pandemic.

“That was a tough year for the fair and the entire community,” Tom remembers. “The fair was on the brink of never coming back if we had to cancel another year.”

But with true resilience, the community stood by its fair and supported it through the hardship.

Reflecting again on 2020, Tom and Becky were allowed to continue working on the morning show while the majority of the world shut down. Their show was able to bring some normalcy to people when the world was shattering.

“Honestly, it’s probably the best I have ever done in my life is just coming to work the past two years,” Tom explained. “That bond [with the community] has been strengthened so much because we were able to keep working.”

But now, we are in July, two years after that storm of uncertainty, and the community is ready to get back to the little fair again in Paso Robles. And this year, they are “Full Steam Ahead!”

“We live for that moment of seeing people connect and further develop their relationships,” Tom said, “It’s great, and we can’t wait for this year.” 