Author Archives: DenairPulse Editor

Denair Unified Trustees Approve 2.37% Bonuses for Teachers

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Submitted by Denair Unified School District

The road to financial recovery took a satisfying turn at Thursday night’s special meeting of the Denair Unified School District board. Trustees approved a 2.37% bonus for all teachers who were on staff in 2015-16, the first step toward restoring painful salary cuts enacted three years ago.

The one-time payment matches bonuses given to classified staff earlier this year.

Thursday’s unanimous decision affects the 65 teachers and school counselors who worked in the district last year – including those who retired or took jobs in other districts this year. The bonuses will be distributed this month and will cost the district $110,861 – money board members and Superintendent Aaron Rosander were delighted to share.

“We owe a big debt of gratitude to all our employees,” Rosander said. “They’ve all been working hard to reposition and recast our district in our community. And it’s working. Now we’re gaining more people because our programs are powerful. And I think the best is yet to come. You can see that we’ve turned the corner.”

When Rosander arrived in February 2014, the district and its employees were reeling from a one-two financial punch of declining enrollment and reduced state funding. Salaries for classified staff were slashed 12%; pay for teachers and administrators was cut 8%. Some employees were laid off.

Enrollment, which peaked at about 1,600 students in 2008, had been steadily eroding and bottomed out at 1,294 children in 2014-15.

“Declining enrollment will bring you to your knees. It will choke you,” Rosander said Thursday night. “The budget gets tighter and tighter. That was the piece that was really vexing to our district.”

Rosander and Chief Business Officer Linda Covello initiated a financial recovery program that maximized the use of so-called “restricted” funds to pay for people, programs and equipment while reducing the burden on the general fund. The district’s food program was revamped, turning a $100,000 drain on the budget into a money-maker. Rosander said “powerful interventions” lowered how many students were assigned to special education programs that are required by the state but not fully funded. Continue reading “Denair Unified Trustees Approve 2.37% Bonuses for Teachers” »

Curnow Scores 6 TDs as Denair Crushes Le Grand 50-0

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Submitted by Denair High School

Brendan Curnow’s six touchdowns Friday night in a 50-0 demolition of Le Grand may or may not have set a school record. When you’ve been playing football since 1946 – as Denair High has – there is a lot of history to chronicle, though not all of it is written down. For sure, Curnow’s performance is one of the best any Coyote has ever had.

And still that may not have been the most interesting takeaway from a game that Denair dominated from start to finish.

The fact is the Coyotes suited up just 13 players – and then had Jarred Carbajal go down with a dislocated left shoulder on the opening kickoff. It takes 11 players to field a team, meaning Denair played the rest of the game with only one reserve. There were many more coaches on the sideline than extra players.

“Every time we had a hard hit, I kind of freaked out until everyone got up,” admitted head coach Anthony Armas.

He said his coaching staff had 30 seconds before the first offensive series to “teach” Justin Gomes how to play tight end to replace Carbajal, who already was subbing for the injured Dylan Mann.

Low on bodies, the Coyotes nonetheless imposed their will on Le Grand, racing to a 26-0 halftime lead behind running backs Curnow, Justin Steeley and Chase Pritt, who shredded the beleaguered Bulldogs’ defense.

Steeley opened the onslaught with a 74-yard run – the first of eight touchdowns the Coyotes would score. Curnow took over from there. The senior back scored on runs of 25, 53, 35, 41 and 25 yards again, and then took a screen pass from Kyle Prock 80 yards for another TD to cap a memorable night. Continue reading “Curnow Scores 6 TDs as Denair Crushes Le Grand 50-0” »

Denair Students Can Reap the Rewards of Positive Behavior

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Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Most students appreciate it when teachers and others compliment their behavior, whether that’s quietly completing an assignment in class, showing respect for others or even helping to clean up the campus by picking up litter at lunchtime.

But back up those positive verbal strokes with a tangible reward and watch those many of those same students ramp up their good behavior.

That’s the thrust behind a new effort launched this year at two campuses in the Denair Unified School District. It’s called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and it’s intended to enhance student success and reduce discipline problems by proactively focusing schoolwide attention on what children are doing right.

Teachers and staff at Denair Middle School and Denair Elementary Charter Academy spent much of the 2015-16 school year identifying the standards that would be expected of every student on their campuses. Employees went through extensive training, in part to ensure consistency in what behaviors would be recognized and rewarded.

“Each school will be different because each builds their program from the ground up,” said DMS Principal Kelly Beard.

At DMS, that evolved into what is called PAWS – an acronym that reflects youngsters who have a “positive” attitude, “act” responsibly, make “wise” decisions and “show respect.” PAWS print coupons are handed out by all staff members when they see students displaying those traits. When students collect at least five PAWS prints, they can redeem them for a range of prizes of different values – pencils, notebooks, extensions on homework assignments, passes on PE warmup laps, lunch with teachers. The big reward – worth 35 PAWS prints — is a half-hour with a friend in the “VIP room” playing video games, ping pong, foosball, indoor basketball and other games. Continue reading “Denair Students Can Reap the Rewards of Positive Behavior” »

Denair Loses 35-14 to Much Bigger Gustine Team

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DHS Coyotes Football

Submitted by Denair High School

In football, bigger, stronger, faster players often have an advantage. It’s as true in the Southern League as it is on Sundays in the NFL. Denair knows all too well the difference size can make after its 35-14 loss Friday night to Gustine.

Gustine trotted out 12 players who weigh at least 200 pounds against the Coyotes. That’s nearly half the Reds’ 26-member team. Four of them tip the scales at 250 pounds or more. They’re big boys. Compare that to Denair’s 16 players, only one of whom weighs more than 200 (Joe Brasil at 230).

More than anything else, the physical mismatch explains Friday’s result in the Southern League opener for both schools.

“Their size was a big issue,” admitted Denair Coach Anthony Armas. “They had a big offensive line and that gave us some problems.

Rather than trying to beat blockers straight up, the Coyote defenders shot gaps and tried to use their speed to slow down the Gustine offense. And though it made some good plays, especially in the second half, Denair’s defense was gouged for too many big runs and big passes in the first half as Gustine raced to a 28-6 lead.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, but the early deficit and a few key penalties that negated big plays by the Denair offense were too much to overcome.

“It was just one of those nights. Everything went their way,” said Armas, whose team dropped to 2-2 overall. “They were a lot better than we thought, but like I told the kids after the game, ‘That team was better than us, but not 35-14 better than us.’ ”

Junior varsity game: Denair won 22-8. It is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Southern League. Continue reading “Denair Loses 35-14 to Much Bigger Gustine Team” »