After investigating Eureka City Schools’ decision to offload its former Jacobs Middle School site in a property exchange agreement with a mystery developer, the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury has issued a report criticizing the district for a lack of transparency and due diligence. “The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury concludes that the Eureka City […]
Fred Van Vleck
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Records Document Another Eureka City Schools Brown Act Violation
Eureka City Schools appears to have violated more open meeting and public records laws in its handling of the former Jacobs middle school property exchange than previously known, the Journal has learned via a new batch of public records disclosed in response to the paper’s request. While the Journal already reported that the district erred […]
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Eureka City Schools to Offer In-Person Classes in March
The Eureka City Schools Board voted last night to open up for in-person instruction by March 1 for pre-school to eighth grade, with families having the option to continue distance learning. Superintendent Fred Van Vleck noted in a Facebook post that the California Department of Public Health does not allow high schools to reopen in […]
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Interdistrict Transfer Agreement Reached
After several months of uncertainty for local parents whose children are enrolled in schools outside of their home districts, the Humboldt County Office of Education has clarified its policy on interdistrict attendance. In a press release, the HCOE confirmed local superintendents have agreed on some guidelines for transfers. These include an open enrollment period for […]
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UPDATE: Draft Interdistrict Transfer Policy Set to Go Before School Boards
Editor’s note: This story was updated from a version posted this morning to include additional information and text of the draft proposal. Humboldt County’s long-standing tradition of allowing parents to choose where their children go to school will likely see some changes next year under a tentative agreement reached by area superintendents this week. Office […]
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Cutten to Pay ECS $260K Over Interdistrict Fracas
The Cutten School District has agreed to pay Eureka City Schools $260,000 to avoid a potential lawsuit over failing to report all interdistrict transfers for several years, according to a settlement announced by ECS today. An estimated 25 percent of Cutten students — and 74 percent of that district’s interdistrict transfers — come from ECS, […]
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Playing Hardball
The harbinger of Eureka City Schools’ controversial proposal to cap transfers in an effort to stem the tide of students leaving for other districts — taking the state funding that comes with them — may have been a lawsuit filed last year against a small charter school. Filed in January of 2016, the case alleges […]
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Eureka School District Settles ACLU Lawsuit
Eureka City Schools has settled a civil rights lawsuit alleging pervasive and systemic discrimination against minority students, agreeing to an action plan aimed at improving conditions in the district’s schools. Filed in December 2013 by the Americans Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the National Center for Youth Law, the lawsuit alleged district administrators […]