Morning Report: Schools That ‘Turned and Faced the Strange’ to Succeed

You heard it here first: Only 13 percent of San Diego County schools’ students are doing better in English and math than they were before the pandemic. 

That’s not great but it’s worth checking in on the ones seeing better outcomes. Our education reporter Jakob McWhinney talked to a handful of principals in that slim margin of success to understand what’s working. 

There’s no demographic trend between them. From what we can tell, it’s thanks to what ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, as David Bowie put it.

A few standouts: East Village Middle College High saw a 40-percentage-point leap in students meeting English and math standards. Its principal credits three years of dramatic change to the school’s vibe: it’s name, design, schedule, calendar and coursework – a willingness to experiment. 

Dual Language Immersion North County students had a 33-percentage-point jump in similar standards after breaking away from a larger organization, adding reading specialists and a math intervention class.

Hill Creek School in Santee credited their 31-percentage-point leap in instructional standards to a new program that allowed a more flexible schedule for students, time to work on courses where they struggled. 

Get the full scoop here.

San Diego’s Had at Least Nine Fires This Week

January 2025 couldn’t be more different than January 2024 when the sky brought life-threatening floods. This year, it seems no neighborhood is safe from wildfire.

We’re all on edge because of the deadly, catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles that continue to burn in new areas. Two brush fires broke out Thursday in San Diego, one quickly-doused brush fire along Gilman Drive in La Jolla and another that burned 228 acres as of 5 p.m. in the Otay Mountain Wilderness. (San Diego threw 175 firefighters at the La Jolla fire, almost 20 percent of its force and an astounding number of bodies that made quick work — containing the burn scar to just three acres.)

And as we went to bed, the Otay Mountain had spread quickly to 600 acres.

So far, San Diego city fire department’s and CalFire, which provides the county’s fire service, have fought nine fires within the last few days, according to the app Watch Duty. Why does it feel like SoCal is burning down? 

A few reasons: The last two-ish years were very wet which nourished thick vegetation growth across Southern California. But San Diego hasn’t had significant rain since March of last year, according to the National Weather Service. So all that beautiful greenery is now bone-dry fuel. 

We’ve experienced a big climactic shift overall, from a rainy El Nino to a drier La Nina. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects this La Nina to hold on strong through May. That coupled with strong and persistent Santa Ana winds. The dry, hot winds actually come from cold air over the Great Basin, as it rushes over our mountains, it compresses, heats up and turns into a devil wind. When that wind comes, with parched any spark will create a firestorm.

Another reason: Nobody is really able to keep up with cutting down or managing all that brush. We reported last August that the San Diego Fire Department was woefully behind inspecting brush in some of the city’s most fire-prone areas. Property owners are responsible for cutting brush back around their own homes. But Deputy Fire Chief Tony Tosca says he doesn’t have the staff or the resources to make sure everyone is doing this correctly. 

Now, the city’s facing a steep budget deficit. And the Fire-Rescue Department may have to tighten its belt even more, according to reporting by NBC 7. That could be bad for a department that was key in dousing a canyon fire along Fairmount Avenue and Montezuma Road in November – or the flames that lapped dangerously close to Fashion Valley mall on Tuesday. 

Fire is a natural part of southern California’s landscape. But another reason why the fires seem so bad is because more Californians live among the brush and wildlands that are prone to burn instead of concentrated solely in city centers. So every time we beat back flames along a canyon wall, we could technically be putting off the natural burn and regrowth cycles found in nature.

LA’s fires reignited debate over prescribed or planned burning, an effort to replicate how nature or indigenous peoples would manage brush otherwise. The U.S. Forest Service halted its program in California last fall, KQED reported. CalFire did some prescribed burns earlier this month in the community of Witch Creek – an area once devastated by some of San Diego’s worst fires in 2007. But it’s clearly not enough. 

County Supe Touts Local Behavioral Health Bond Asks

County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer wants to rally county residents and cities for more than 4,000 behavioral health beds and treatment slots. They are vying for state Proposition 1 funds.

Lawson-Remer called a press conference outside the County Administration building on Thursday to highlight county-backed applications that collectively sought more $580 million in state bond funds.

“Proposition 1 gives us a rare chance to rebuild and expand behavioral health care, to close the gaps, support our most vulnerable and make sure no one is left behind,” Lawson-Remer said.

Lawson-Remer urged city leaders throughout the region to move quickly to facilitate the projects.

Hold up: The San Diego region is competing with a handful of other SoCal counties for Proposition 1 money. The county and local providers also won’t know until later this year which local projects will get grants – and most of the projects are unlikely to open for a few years.

Lawson-Remer said she’s confident that San Diego will pull in cash and said the county expects to pursue funding in the next grant round if it doesn’t get the funding it hopes . 

Lawson-Remer said she’s confident about the county’s initial Proposition 1 push.

“Obviously, the more you go for, the bigger slice of the pie you’re gonna end up with,” Lawson-Remer said.

Related: The first big endorsement and money has been deployed in the race to replace Supervisor Nora Vargas and determine the future of the county’s political leadership. 

The Laborers International Union Local 89 endorsed San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno for the job and according to disclosures, put $400,000 into committees to support her and oppose Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council is set to begin discussing its endorsement Friday. 

In Other News 

• After a wave of executive orders from President Donald Trump, interim San Diego Unified Superintendent Fabiola Bagula reiterated that the district will try to protect students who are immigrants or part of the LGBTQIA+ community. (City News Service)
• There’s a new chief judge for the Southern District of California which heard high-profile immigration cases during the last Trump administration. (Union-Tribune)
• Active-duty troops were set to arrive in San Diego late Thursday to back a Trump-ordered crackdown at the border. (Associated Press)
• The county paid a nearly $500,000 settlement to a woman whose son got vaccinated without her approval while the county was investigated potential child abuse. (CBS 8)
• A San Diego Superior Court judge who was censured for skipping Friday workdays for almost 18 months retired earlier this week. (inewsource)
• North County pickleball players are imploring the Encinitas City Council to work on a solution for a popular facility that’s now hosting fewer games following noise violations. (Fox 5 San Diego)