Superintendent's Newsletter
September Edition
Dear MUSD Community,
We completed the first two weeks and just about everyone was ready for a 3 day weekend! Friday night was a great start to the long weekend as our AHS Bulldogs Football Team were victorious over College Park. The Cheer squad put on another exceptional halftime performance as well. I can't wait for a home game so we can hear our fans and the incredible AHS Marching Band! Thanks to all the coaches, our athletic trainer, and our student trainers too for all their great work. I hope to be out at other fall sports and extracurricular activities as we move through September. See you there!
We’ve already completed Back to School Nights for AHS and our four elementary schools. I was able to visit JSE and AHS for their events. There were so many examples of why our schools are great places for children. Hopefully, I'll see many of you at the MJHS Back to School Night on Thursday night.
Even though we are only two weeks into the school year there are many things to stay informed about, please read carefully and all the way to the end! This month’s edition will cover topics like the 2019-20 school year calendar, this November’s election, community forums, attendance awareness, and school safety. There won’t be a test, but there is a survey…
What’s the survey about? Thanks for asking...as you may know, many districts in the surrounding area have changed to earlier starting dates for their school year. A few other districts are planning to move to a bit of an earlier start as well. MUSD is in the process of exploring an earlier start to the school year. As we closed the prior school year, a team of MEA (Teachers), CSEA (Classified Support Staff), Administrators, and PTA representatives met to discuss potential changes in the school year calendar. As we continue exploring these changes, we want to make sure we hear from you, our parent community. You may already have some questions. What would the start date be? Why would we make the change? When would we make the change? What happens to summer? All of these questions are addressed in a letter, linked below. Please review the letter in detail. Once you review the letter, you will then be able to access the survey (the link is embedded in the letter). You may access the letter here, Calendar Letter. The survey will remain open for two weeks.
Don't click on the letter just yet! First, check more of the info on our other topics below.
Sincerely,
CJ Cammack, Superintendent
Martinez Unified School District
Important Information - November Election
Did you hear about the changes to our election process for the MUSD Board of Education? If you read last year’s newsletters you have it covered. If not, here is a brief summary. Last fall, MUSD was forced to change from an ‘at-large’ election process (all Board Members elected from the entire MUSD community). The change required that we create five ‘trustee areas’ for the election of school board members. What’s this mean for the November election? It means if you live in Region 3, or Region 5, you will have a chance to vote for a candidate to serve on our MUSD Board of Education. If you live in Region(s) 1, 2, or 4, you won’t have a chance to vote this year for a Board of Education member. You’re chance will come in two more years when your ‘area trustee’ is up for election. You are likely experiencing a similar circumstance for the City of Martinez City Council elections, as they too had to make changes in their election process. Please note, MUSD and the City of Martinez don’t share the same boundaries. Therefore, areas created by each entity are different. While you may or may not be voting for a school board member in your region this year, but you will all have the chance to vote on Measure Q for MUSD schools. Measure Q, is an extension of the past parcel tax which was first passed in 2008 and later extended in 2012. Measure Q continues the $50 per parcel rate, with an increase of $25 dollars, for a total of $75 per parcel. Seniors would remain exempt as they have been in the past parcel tax measures for MUSD.
If you are curious about what MUSD Trustee Region you live in, please click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page, Trustee Area Map(s). If you’d like to know more information about the reasons this change was initiated, or the process used to establish these boundaries, you may review my prior newsletters from November through March of the prior school year. Those can be found here: PAST SUPERINTENDENT'S MONTHLY MESSAGES
Let's Talk
You are invited! Well, everyone is invited, but we’d really love to see you! Join us for a community forum to talk with myself, some of our Board of Education members and other members of our parent community. MUSD is hosting three Community Forums in September. The dates and locations are included below. During these forums I’ll be sharing information and answering questions. The key topics reviewed will be the new trustee areas, our upcoming parcel tax on the November ballot, Measure Q, and school safety. If you have an open mind, a positive mindset, and a willingness to engage, we would love to see you at one of these Community Forums. All the meetings will have the same format and same basic content, so no need to attend all three. We have set three dates to try and make sure it can fit into your busy schedule. The dates/locations are as follows:
September 11 @ AHS (5:30PM to 7:30PM) Performing Arts Building
September 13 @ MJHS (5:30PM to 7:30PM) Auditorium
September 17 @ LJE (5:30PM to 7:30PM) Multi Use Room
Safety Committee
September is Attendance Awareness Month
Did you know that children can suffer academically if they miss 10 percent of the school year? That’s just 18 days or 2 to 3 days a month. That can add up before you know it. This September, Martinez Unified School District is celebrating Attendance Awareness Month with a renewed push to get all kids to school—on time, every day. Research shows us that absences add up. That’s as true for Kindergartners as it is for 12th graders. It’s as true for excused absences as it is for skipping school. We know there will be days when your child will miss school, especially when they’re sick. But we know that nationwide, as many as 7.5 million students miss 10 percent of the school year? That’s 135 million days of missed school – and missed opportunities. And research shows us it also marks the point when students start to fall behind academically because they have missed too many days.
So this September, for Attendance Awareness Month, let’s work together as a community – school and business leaders, parents, students, teachers, doctors, neighbors – to get all kids to school – on time, every day.
Join us for the 2018 Shell/MEF Run For Education! September 30, 2018
The 16th Annual Run For Education will be held on Sunday September 30th at 8:30 am. You can run or walk in the 5k or run in the 10k. Register Online here.
Martinez Family Fun Night
The Family Fun Night (formerly the Pasta Feed) is sponsored by Martinez Rotary and Kiwanis. Join us Saturday September 29th from 6-8 p.m. at the Shell Clubhouse (1635 Pacheco Blvd). Cost is $15 per person. Current MUSD students are free with a paying adult. Contact martinezmef@sbcglobal.net for tickets or purchase tickets here. There will be kids games, activities, music and ice cream treats. Click here for more information.
Martinez Unified School District
Website: martinezusd.net
Location: 921 Susana Street, Martinez, CA, USA
Phone: 925.335.5800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartinezUnified
Twitter: @CJMUSD