Hello Scotts Valley community! November brings shorter days and some much-needed rain, but our schools are in full swing with lots going on.
Our Scotts Valley Falcons teams have been demonstrating their prowess on many different fields:
- Our cross country girls won a SCCAL team title.
- Girls volleyball has done the same, for the first time in the history of the school!
- SVHS boys football team is headed to the CCS playoffs.
- Scotts Valley senior Ava Decleve repeated as champion at the SCCAL Championships at Pinto Lake County Park last Thursday.
Again, I want to thank the community for its support of our schools through our most recent bond program. At the high school, we have fenced off the field and begun pre-construction work while we continue to wait for the Department of the State Architect (DSA) to approve our stadium modernization plan. We were hoping to break ground a month ago, but the approval process with the DSA is remarkably slow.
We ran a selection process for the construction firm to modernize our two elementary schools, and from six proposals we have selected Overaa Construction (who modernized the middle school) for this exciting effort. Our architect is working on proposals now, and we will be holding community engagement nights on Monday, Nov. 17, for Vine Hill, and Thursday, Nov. 20, for Brook Knoll. These nights will be held at Scotts Valley High from 5:30-7pm. Please come by to see these proposals, and provide your feedback.
I know when you opened your property tax bills there were new charges associated with this bond, so thank you for your financial support. We do track bond finance rates, and when we can, we refinance bonds to reduce the costs on your property tax bill. This doesn’t change our costs or funding—it only helps the community. This opportunity arose recently, and we were able to refinance our existing bonds to save taxpayers more than $800,000 in the coming years.
Our amazing Scotts Valley High Drama Department will be putting on “The Importance of Being Earnest,” A Trivial Play for Trivial People! Show nights are Dec. 4, 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13. Tickets will be on sale mid-November.
Supporting families who have lost SNAP benefits
The CalFresh Program, federally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), issues monthly electronic benefits that can be used to purchase most foods at many grocery stores and markets. The CalFresh Program helps to improve the health and well-being of qualified households and individuals by providing them with a means to meet their nutritional needs.
Due to the government shutdown, SNAP resources will not be issued to families starting Nov. 1, and some of our students will be impacted. Here is some information for potential resources. If your family is struggling to feed your children due to the federal shutdown, please notify your school administration.
If your family is facing a delay or loss of SNAP/CalFresh benefits, the Scotts Valley Schools’ parent organizations are here to support you, with additional resources available soon. In the meantime, please use the resources on this flyer (link: tinyurl.com/ypw5457n) to help bridge the gap. Remember, school meals remain free and are fully covered by the state.
Roger Snyder is the Board President of Scotts Valley Unified School District. He may be contacted at rs*****@*************sd.org.
