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Santa Rita board hears back‑to‑school updates: Tdap clinic, supplies drive, professional development and enrichment partnerships
Summary
District staff reported a July 30 Tdap clinic for 30 students missing the vaccine, distribution of more than 200 backpacks and 75 pairs of shoes, teacher professional development schedule and family enrichment partnerships funded through ELOP and other grants.
District officials gave the board a consolidated update on back‑to‑school preparations, including a Tdap vaccination clinic on July 30 for students missing required immunizations, large school‑supply and shoe distributions, teacher professional development and planned family enrichment events.
Quether Smith, director of engagement and school climate, said the district had identified 30 students missing the Tdap immunization and had arranged a clinic with the Visiting Nurses Association on July 30 so "all students will be able to have that vaccination before they return to school." Smith said funding for the clinic came from district sources to ensure compliance with seventh‑grade immunization requirements for day one of school.
Smith also reported that community liaisons handed out ‘‘hundreds and hundreds and hundreds’’ of backpacks at Santa Rita Elementary over two days and distributed more than 75 pairs of new tennis shoes and donated socks. She credited community liaisons — including Blanca — and donors (identified in the meeting only as a donor group called Bomba) for assembling the packs and supplies.
On enrichment and family engagement, Smith said the district used its Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) grant to take more than 200 families to see the theater production Honk at Hartnell and that staff are working with Salinas High School theater to identify additional family‑appropriate productions.
On professional development, Assistant Superintendent Becky Moore described mandatory and optional PD taking place during the pre‑school period. She said administrators and district coaches have been holding multi‑day sessions; 75 teachers had signed up for at least one optional session as of the meeting. Moore said Friday would be the first mandatory full‑staff PD day focused on implementation of California’s new reading screener requirement for kindergarten (the district is opting to screen grades K–6 to identify reading gaps) and that middle‑school teachers will receive the state‑required PRISM training for work with LGBTQ+ students.
Superintendent (Dr.) Alderman noted summertime facilities work — curb painting, mowing, new playground structures and murals at district schools — and said those improvements are intended to support a smooth start to the academic year.
Board members thanked staff for the outreach and logistics. The board did not take formal action on these informational items during the meeting.
