Submitted by Denair Unified School District:

The California State Board of Education unanimously sided with the Denair Unified School District on Wednesday in a boundary dispute involving the neighboring Turlock school district.

The issue dates to 2015, when developer Ron Katakis petitioned the Stanislaus County Office of Education to transfer about 91 acres from the Denair district to the Turlock Unified School District. Katakis envisions nearly 300 homes at the northwest corner of Tuolumne and Waring roads, which has been in the Denair district since the boundary lines were drawn many decades ago.

Public hearings were held in the fall of 2015 and a county commission unanimously voted in February 2016 to keep the property within the Denair district. Turlock appealed the decision, which finally was heard Wednesday in Sacramento by the 10-member State Board.

“We’re thrilled,” said Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger, who spoke at the hearing along with Trustees Kathi Dunham-Filson and Ray Prock Jr. as well as the district’s legal counsel.

Two officials from the Turlock district also spoke.

The boundary dispute has major financial implications, especially for Denair. The district will receive $1 million or more in developer fees when news home are built on the currently vacant property, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in state funding based upon student enrollment.

“We explained the financial significance,” Metzger said. “We estimate it’s about $980,000 a year. That’s 6% of Denair’s $15.3 million budget. It’s six-tenths of 1 percent of Turlock’s $162 million budget.”

Metzger said state trustees also seemed reluctant to overturn a unanimous local decision or set a precedent that favored a larger school district over a smaller one. Turlock has more than 14,200 students while Denair has 1295.

The Stanislaus County Committee on School District Organization weighed nine factors required by the State Education Code before voting 9-0 in February 2016 to deny Katakis’ petition. Turlock appealed the county decision in March 2016. The matter has been waiting to be heard at the state level ever since. The State Board’s staff recommended denial of Turlock’s appeal, saying, “The California Department of Education finds that there are no compelling educational reasons to overturn the unanimous action of the county committee to disapprove the proposal to transfer territory from the Denair USD to the Turlock USD.”

Submitted by: James Shehan, james@typevisions.com or (209) 480-1533

The 10^th installment of the annual Denair Farm & Family Festival promises to be the best one yet. There will be music, food, a tractor parade, dozens of booths and fun for the whole family when the community comes together on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“There is truly something for everyone,” said James Shehan, the chairman of the Denair Farm & Family Association, which organizes the event.

The festival typically draws 5,000 or more visitors to Denair each year. They are treated to a host of fun activities on Main Street between Sante Fe Avenue and Gratton Road.

The day starts with the Farm Run 5K. Registration opens at 7 a.m. and the race begins at 8 a.m. The route winds from downtown out into the country and back.

“They can walk or run with their dog, they can bicycle, whatever they’d like to do,” Shehan said of participants.

At 9 a.m., the festival truly kicks off with an antique tractor parade down Main Street. There are more than 20 vintage tractors owned by local farmers scheduled to appear. All the tractors later will be on display at the Farm Discovery Zone at the Community Center, which also will have an exhibit of hay harvesting equipment from the turn of the century to modern times.

After the parade, visitors can browse among more than 100 booths featuring jewelry, home decor, information on local companies and organizations, clothing, toys, gifts and plenty of food. There also will be a children’s play area with a bounce house and other games.

At 10:30, the music begins. California Creedence will perform the hits of Creedence Clearwater Revival as well as other popular songs from the 1960s and ’70s until 1:30 p.m. Later in the afternoon, the popular local ukulele band Sunshine Strummers also will take the stage.

Shehan said the Denair Farm & Family Association annually raises $2,500 to $3,000, which it gives out as scholarships each spring to graduates of Denair High School.

When the festival is over, visitors who still have an appetite are invited to stick around for the annual Denair Volunteer Fire Department barbecue that follows.

One of the primary goals at Denair Elementary Charter Academy is to provide a learning environment with a multicultural emphasis. Exposing students to Spanish is a key component of that, both in the traditional program as well as the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program.

Of DECA’s 576 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, 409 are enrolled in the traditional program. That means they receive 30 minutes of Spanish instruction up to three times a week. The 167 children in the DLI program are taught in a mixture of English and Spanish, depending on the grade level.

“DECA’s Dual Language program has been well-designed and is well-supported. It is also an integral part of the broader course of study at DECA,” said Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger. “Students in our English-only classes also participate in many of the activities, assemblies, and learning opportunities provided through the Dual Language program. All students benefit, whether they are in a Dual Language or English-only classroom.”

All DECA students also are part of the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) program, which includes schoolwide rules and behavior expectations. Students are rewarded in various ways for helping to create a positive school culture and modeling positive behavior.

Another thing that sets DECA apart is its focus on promoting college attendance, even at the lowest grade levels. Each classroom adopts a college. Students are taught about different universities and what going to college means.

The children in the traditional and DLI programs share time on the playground, in the cafeteria and at schoolwide events.

It’s what happens in their classrooms that separate the traditional and DLI students.

In DLI classes, instruction in English and Spanish is precisely calculated. Starting in kindergarten, 90% of instruction is done in Spanish and 10% in English. That ratio adjusts by 10% each year until by the fourth grade, each language is used half the time.

Continue reading “Even as Dual Language Program Grows, Multiculturalism is an Important Goal for all Students at DECA” »

Submitted by Denair High School:

Denair’s bus rolled into the Woodland Christian parking lot just after 6:30 Friday night. Kickoff was scheduled for 7 p.m. Thick traffic driving north meant the Coyotes were in a crawl much of the way, adding a half-hour onto what should have been a 2½-hour trip.

Kickoff was delayed 15 minutes or so while Denair warmed up in a small stadium carved like a bowl into the earth. The topography made a hot night feel even more humid. And the proximity of the nearby freeway coupled with the exhaust of portable generators for the lights created semi-smoggy breathing conditions on the field. The poor air didn’t help a handful of Coyotes already battling a late-summer flu bug.

No matter.

A late start and queasy stomachs still weren’t enough to slow Denair, which got three more touchdowns from Dylan De Silva to coast to an easy 34-7 victory over the Cardinals.

Coach Anthony Armas was pleased with the outcome, but not completely satisfied with how it was achieved. He was proud of his players for mentally getting into game mode after the long bus ride as well as stepping up when some of their teammates became sick. But he felt Denair could have scored more points.

Twice the Coyotes (2-0) were stopped on fourth down inside Woodland Christian’s 10-yard line. Another time, they lost a fumble deep in Cardinals territory.

“We left a couple of touchdowns on the field,” Armas said. “We had two fumbles. We definitely can’t put the ball on the ground, so that’s something we’ll be working on in practice this week.”

Despite the turnovers, Denair’s offense still hummed along. Much of that is thanks to De Silva, a senior fullback who has scored six touchdowns in the first two games.

Most of De Silva’s yards come on power plays up the middle behind an offensive line missing its two starting tackles – Derek Starkey (concussion) and Zach Cherry (arm). Into their places stepped Ulysses Corrales and Derek Coleman. They joined guards Carlo Morales and Jose Lopez, center Christian Obando and tight end Will Knox in consistently opening holes for De Silva and his backfield mates to run through.

“We were dinged up, but as a whole, I thought they played well,” Armas said of his offensive line.

Denair led 21-7 at halftime and then scored TDs in the third and fourth quarters to put the game away. The defense forced an interception by Elvis Silva and did a nice job of keeping Woodland Christian (0-2) out of the end zone.

“We played our style on defense – bend but don’t break,” said Armas.

JV Game: No game held This Week: Denair has a bye, which probably couldn’t have come at a better time for the Coyotes. Armas canceled Monday’s practice because a number of players still were dealing with the flu bug. He plans to have light practices Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before giving the team Friday off. … Denair’s next game will be in much cooler conditions. The Coyotes will travel to Santa Cruz to play Soquel on Sept. 13.

The four trustees of the Denair Unified School District interviewed three candidates Thursday night to fill the vacant fifth seat on the board. After discussion, they unanimously chose to appoint Carmen Wilson.

Wilson will serve the remaining 15 months of the term of longtime board member John Plett, who resigned Aug. 9, citing health reasons.

The other candidates were Tina Marie Gresio and Kenneth Austin Rickard. Each was interviewed by the board while the others waited in an adjoining room.

Trustees Kathi Dunham-Filson, Regina Gomes, Ray Prock Jr. and Crystal Sousa decided to appoint Plett’s replacement rather than hold a costly special election. The term ends in November 2020.

Wilson has two children in Denair schools and has participated on school site committees. She has been a board member for the Stanislaus County Youth Development Committee and the Turlock American Little League, and taught Sunday school at Connection Point Church in Denair. Wilson works as a certified public accountant at the Center for Human Services in Modesto.

Her financial experience impressed multiple board members.

“I like her background,” said board President Reggie Gomes.

“The financial piece is something that fills a void and would make us a better board,” Dunham-Filson said.

Wilson also got board members’ attention when she spoke of the importance of retaining Denair students who may consider transferring out of the district when they enter middle school or high school.

“I liked Mrs. Wilson’s focus on keeping students in district,” Souza said.

“That really struck me as well,” Prock agreed. Wilson will be sworn in at the Sept. 12 board meeting and will be up for re-election in November 2020.