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CVHS student author
Freshman is the author of 2 books
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Football team gets dominated
Trojans lose to the Mustangs
Carousel receives praise
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Musical is great all around
CVHS student gets stabbed and robbed ‘Prior beef ’ led to attack, deputy says: four arrested By Eva Poon feature editor
On Oct. 21, a school board community forum will be held at the Alameda County Library from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. At the forum, the five candidates will state their platforms and answer questions posed by community members. So what exactly does this mean for the Castro Valley student body? “Change is conceivable,” said Siegel. For example, Crawford said he wants to “crack the vault of secrecy that surrounds” the school board, minimize waste, reduce board travel, and ease school overcrowding. He also hopes to increase R.O.P. and training for non-college bound students. Crawford said in a personal statement, “ I deeply care for my community and our children’s learning experience.” The other challenger, Ra-
dousky, said she wants to increase the number of experienced and qualified teachers in classrooms, give teachers decent wages. She also wants to maintain programs and services while still maintaining the budget, and focus more on education rather than how well students take standardized tests. Loss said her priorities are to continue the high student achievement, to maintain fiscal stability, and to offer all students rich and robust curriculums. Barbieri and Okui did not reply to The Olympian’s request for comments. Siegel hopes the Oct. 21 forum will inform the community about the long-awaited race. “We want to give the community more access to the school board,” she said.
Police arrested four suspects involved in the stabbing of a CVHS student on Santa Maria Avenue near Castro Valley Boulevard on Sept. 5. The student was stabbed in the back and robbed of his cell phone, Deputy Timothy Vales said. “It was because of a prior beef [the suspects] had with him,” said Vales, who was at a CVHS varsity football game during the incident. The assault, which happened around 8 p.m. outside of the high school, was completely unrelated to the football team’s scrimmage against San Ramon High, the officer said. The suspects include CVHS and Redwood Alternative students and non-students. All the suspects are male. No names have been released because the boys involved are minors. The police arrested the four suspects on charges of robbery, conspiracy, and assault with a deadly weapon. It is unclear if the stabbing occurred before or after the cell phone robbery. “It happened all at once,” described Vales. Vales does not know if the robbery and stabbing were premeditated. He says that other people, besides the suspects,
sured room temperatures as high as 93 degrees Fahrenheit. Barbara Siegel, Castro Valley High teacher and teachers’ union leader, has proposed various ideas with the rest of the union for improvements and recognizes the financial standpoint of the district. A major point of the district’s argument is that to add air conditioning for every classroom that doesn’t yet have it would cost $8 million, which the district cannot afford. The teachers are asking for the
district to at least provide it in the rooms that need it most. According to complaint documents, schools can formally complain about lack of textbooks for students, unqualified teachers, overcrowding, and unsafe unhealthy facilities. One of the rules entitles a school’s facilities to be changed if they are “inadequate, unsafe, and unhealthful.” For example, room temperatures must fall between 65 and 80 degrees. The district has been trying to reduce the heat in less expensive
ways. The district has planted trees and flora, opened windows, and added more curtains. The teachers’ union says this has not helped enough. “An elementary school has had rooms registered at 100 degrees and teachers leaving with heat rashes,” remarked Siegel when asked about the worst conditions for classrooms. The district still argues over equality when concerning air conditioning, but Siegel says it’s kind of strange to say that when
Malena Bell / Editor-in-Chief
Suzanne Kentris speaks to (from left) Devyn Christy, Megan Sullivan, and Rachel Wagner in the play Carousel. See story on Page 5.
Board faces makeover By Tim Wong news editor
This year will be very active for Castro Valley voters, not only because of the presidential elections, but also because of the possibility for change in the school board. Three of the school board members’ terms have ended and, this time, the incumbents are being challenged for their position. “It has been 12 or 14 years since they have been challenged, so it’s been forever,” said Barbra Siegel, president of the Castro Valley Teachers Association. Judith Radousky and Marc Crawford are the hopeful candidates, challenging the incumbents Kunio Okui, John Barbieri and Jo Loss. This is not the only change the school board has in store.
were involved in the conflict between the teens prior to the assault. However, only the victim and the four suspected assailants were present at the scene. “The [other people] didn’t have an actual role in the assault, but they had a role in what led up to it,” Vales explained. “It involves more than just the five people.” Vales says that the victim had a 10 to 12-inch laceration on his back. He was transported to Eden Medical Center and went home later the same night. The victim has since returned to school. The four suspects were ar-
“... the victim had a 10- to 12-inch lacerations...” tTimothy Vales Student Resource Officer rested and taken to jail. Vales believes they are still currently in jail. This incident fell under the jurisdiction of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. The District Attorney has yet to file criminal charges against the assailants, but according to Vales, they will probably be the same as the arrest charges. The suspects are unlikely to be charged as adults in the case. The trial date has not been set. “This kind of incident is not unusual for Castro Valley, but it doesn’t happen very often,” said Vales.
Teachers file complaint about hot rooms By Brandon Lui staff writer
Hot classrooms and air conditioning are at the center of a conflict between the school district and the Castro Valley Teachers Association. For the first time, the teachers union filed a grievance against the district in September because the teachers claim some rooms get hotter than the state standards allow. At CVHS, teachers have mea-
only 40 percent of the district is air-conditioned. Siegel hopes that the district would agree to have inspections to see which schools and rooms need air conditioning units. When asked why the teachers’ union fights so hard to create change in classrooms and buildings, she responds, “We really felt like we should stand up for the kids.” District officials did not reply to Olympian messages seeking comment.