May is an exciting and busy time for your Scotts Valley schools. Middle and high school students are reviewing what they’ve learned this year to prove their new knowledge for final exams. Our younger grades are capping off their learning with plays, art and other fun activities to not only celebrate the end of the year, but to sneakily reinforce what they’ve learned this year. Great job teachers!
Our elementary grades will celebrate promotion on May 28, and Scotts Valley Middle School eighth graders will be promoted to freshman on May 29.
Of course, our high school seniors are also looking forward to the next chapters of their lives. On the afternoon of May 28, our seniors will graduate, looking forward to more education in college or to beginning their careers in firefighting, police work or the trades. I hope you’re enjoying the banners of our smiling seniors on Scotts Valley Drive, giving you a chance to see the students you’ve supported as they turn the page on their Scotts Valley education and prepare for great new things.
Part of our celebrations this month included the annual Scotts Valley Chamber Awards. I’m proud to share with you that this year’s Youth of the Year was Dylan Turzak, who spearheaded the recent Wellness Walk, and our Educators of the Year was our whole Scotts Valley USD Counseling Team (Katie Feickert – BK, Ryan Navaroli – BK, MacKenzie Keller – VH, Lauren Hicks – VH, Abbie Stevens – SVMS, Allison Baumsteiger – SVMS, Sarah Hershey – SVHS and Grace Wahl – SVHS).
It seems fitting that our Counseling Team received this recognition earlier this month, since May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is a time dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of mental health and well-being for all individuals, but especially our students. SVUSD is committed to supporting the emotional, social and mental well-being of every child, because it plays a vital role in how students think, feel, learn and grow. Whether facing academic stress, social pressures or personal challenges, our students benefit from the encouragement and understanding of our counseling team, and all of the caring adults around them.
During the summer, construction work will step up at all three sites, continuing work on the new high school track and field, with playground upgrades and other activities happening at our elementary schools. This summer our Champions childcare program will move from the elementary schools to Scotts Valley Middle so kids are not affected by construction.
Work also continues during the summer at our District Office. Even though school is out, important work continues on budgeting, reporting, construction oversight and preparation for the first day of school in August. There’s really very little break for our superintendent and hard-working leadership team!
One of the oddities of school finance is that we have to submit our budget—a three-year budget—before the State budget is completed. So, we make our best guess at what funding the State will provide, and usually have to make adjustments once the final budget is approved in Sacramento in early July. This year, the governor has proposed that school districts receive $900/student less in the 2026-27 budget because of budget uncertainties with a “promise” to restore this funding only after revenues have been stabilized. This goes against the laws established by Proposition 98 back in 1988, and this is the third year the governor has tried to maneuver around Proposition 98.
You can voice your opposition to this tactic by contacting your local representatives, and the governor. You can contact Gov. Newsom at gov.ca.gov/contact. For your local legislators, just go to findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov to find their contact information, and ask them to insist that this year’s budget fully fund our schools according to Proposition 98.
While we’re talking about funding, I’ve heard a few people suggest that with the recent budget cuts we had to make, our board trustees should sacrifice their stipends to show solidarity with our budget challenges. It’s important to remind the community that while many school boards do receive a stipend, your Scotts Valley board does not. That’s right—we already know how tight our budget is, and waived receiving a stipend over a decade ago.
May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We acknowledge the contributions that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to our country and the hardships they have endured throughout the last century and beyond. Schools are celebrating the rich history and contributions through art, books, music and historical discussions at all levels.
Last month the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation (SVEF) launched another great year of Food Truck Fridays! The turnout was amazing, and the local band Shady Rest really kicked things off with a bang. SVEF’s next Food Truck Friday will be on Friday, May 29, from 5-8pm. For more information and additional Food Truck Friday event dates, visit svef.net/events. Also, you can support SVEF by voting for this great organization to receive Envirotoken donations from New Leaf Markets here: newleaf.com/community/envirotokens-vote-santa-cruz.
A reminder that if you want to learn more about your school board’s activities and decisions, check out our recently launched svusdboardupdate.com. This site is updated after each board meeting to provide short summaries of presentations and decisions from the last meeting. We hope you all find this resource helpful, and we are always open to your feedback to improve this resource.
If you have questions about your Scotts Valley schools, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Roger Snyder is the Board President of Scotts Valley Unified School District. He may be contacted at rs*****@*************sd.org.
