SCHOLARS RECOGNIZED
BRYCE STRONG
Season dedicated to Trojans’ teammate ends in section semis.
El Dorado County students win scholarships. News, Etc., B1
Sports, A8
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VOLUME 171 • ISSUE 61 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
MONDAY, MAY 23, 2022
Caldor survivors call on Biden to keep word Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
Courtesy photo
Grizzly Flat resident Candace Tyler shares her experience as a Caldor Fire survivor in a video released by El Dorado County as part of a media campaign to appeal to President Joe Biden to override FEMA’s decision to deny individual assistance.
John Adams charter in EDH to expand Sel Richard Staff writer More than 1,000 waitlisted students hope to someday attend the John Adams Academy in El Dorado Hills, a tuition-free K-12 public charter school. It is good news for them that the El Dorado County Board of Education recently approved a material revision of the school’s charter to expand its site. The school, opened in 2017, offers an American classical leadership education model and presently serves just fewer than 900 kids. Scholars enjoy a curriculum that includes history, English, math, visual and performing arts, laboratory science and foreign languages, including Latin and Greek, with collegepreparatory electives. “Our scholars and families have been very patient and resourceful with the limitations of our current space,” said Executive Director Joseph Benson. “We have had to convert utility rooms to classrooms and we’re PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
using the parking lot as a playground.” The revision permits the academy to acquire an adjacent 78,286-square-foot building to house classrooms, a theater, a library as well as refurbish field space that connects the two buildings. Improvements to the existing building are also planned for the secondary program along with a gymnasium. Concerns were raised over questions of charter violations. “There were some folks who wanted to challenge it, saying it was a separate site and in fact it’s the same site; we share a parking lot with it,” explained John Adams Academy representative Carlos Yniguez. Ultimately, EDCOE staff found the revision legally compliant. Others worried that the school’s expansion would usurp tax revenue from the area’s district schools. But Yniguez insists that only a portion of their pupils are local. “Our current enrollment is comprised of families coming from 29 different zip codes,” he said. “We draw families from as far away as Sacramento and Yolo counties with the largest percentage coming from all across El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park/Shingle Springs, and Folsom.” As it does not receive any money from local taxes, the charter school is now looking to the school finance authority for bond approval to finance the expansion. Construction is expected to begin this ■
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El Dorado County has not given up its mission to obtain individual assistance for Caldor Fire victims from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county released a video Tuesday, May 17, meant to appeal to President Joe Biden on keeping his word to help residents get FEMA support after the Caldor Fire tore through more than 221,000 acres of county land, destroying more than 1,000 structures and leveling
much of Grizzly Flat in south county. FEMA denied the county individual assistance Oct. 8, 2021. With county leaders’ previous efforts to overturn that decision not seeing results, supervisors on Feb. 8 voted to create a media campaign to send a message far and wide that shows the extent of residents’ needs. “FEMA denied our residents individual assistance that could greatly help with temporary housing, emergency home repairs, uninsured and underinsured
“We feel like we are helpless right now. We could use all the help (Biden) can get us.” — Candace Tyler, Grizzly Flat resident and Caldor Fire survivor shortfalls for personal property losses, medical and dental costs, mental health services, food, clothing and other needs that would See SURVIVORS, page A3
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AT YOUR SERVICE
Members of the Placerville Rotary Club, Kim Smith, left, and Cher Williams, top photo, rake, hoe and pull weeds Thursday, May 19 around Placerville’s welcome sign off Highway 50. As part of its service to the community, throughout the year the Placerville Rotary Club selects sites that need a little TLC and Rotarians go to work. Placerville Rotary Club members Cher Williams, Sara Schindler, Amy Wilson, Kim Smith and Paul Doerr, from left, right photo, ready to tackle the project. Mountain Democrat photos by Eric Jaramishian
Placerville Rotary Club President-elect Sara Schindler, left photo, collects trash along Highway 50. Rotarian Scott Smith, right photo, broke out the weed whacker to knock down tall grass.
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