Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, so be sure to set those clocks back one hour — lest you find yourself starting school and work 60 minutes early on Monday.
OK, so adjusting clocks isn’t quite as urgent as it used to be with smartphones and Wi-Fi-connected toasters and all, but the time shift is also a good reminder to change out the batteries in your home’s smoke detectors.
That’s our PSA for the day, and here are some of the education stories we’ve been following this week:
- A number of local districts temporarily closed campuses this week in response to the wind-driven Silverado and Blue Ridge fires that raged through parts of Orange County. The OCDE Newsroom posted a running digest to track newer developments.
- With substitute teachers expected to be in higher demand, some local school districts are taking steps to make sure they’ll have enough, including raising daily pay rates.
- The OC Health Care Agency is inviting elementary, middle and high schoolers to submit creative mask designs, essays and social media content as part of its Mask Message Contest.
- Laura Gómez, who has worked at Martin Elementary in the Santa Ana Unified School District since 2006, has been named one of five California Teachers of the Year.
- The Laguna Beach Unified School District plans to reopen its middle and high school campuses with modified in-person instruction on Nov. 23.
- Dr. Jim Elsasser, who’s been superintendent of Claremont Unified for nearly a decade after working in Anaheim and Los Alamitos, has been announced as the next superintendent of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. His projected start date is Jan. 4.
- Earlier this month, staff members from OCDE’s alternative education program handed out free pumpkins, ice cream and candy to families who might not be able to trick-or-treat this year.
- Four high school coaches from OC have been nominated for state awards through the National Federation of State High School Associations.
- The Orange County Board of Supervisors has earmarked $5 million in federal CARES Act funding as a lifeline for child care providers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Dozens of school districts across the state are asking voters to approve facilities bond measures totaling approximately $13 billion. As EdSource reports, districts would be able to use some of these dollars to make their campuses safer when in-person instruction fully resumes.
- Members of the group CUSD Against Racism are calling for more anti-racism action in the Capistrano Unified School District.
- With COVID-19 infections rising in L.A. County, campuses in Los Angeles Unified — the nation’s second largest school system — aren’t likely to reopen before January, school board members told The Los Angeles Times.