Morning Report: Rural Schools Still Struggling Post-Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted schools everywhere.

New reporting by our Jakob McWhinney shows that, in San Diego County, rural schools were among the hardest hit. Not only did rural schools fall farther behind their urban peers during the peak years of pandemic disruption, they have been among the slowest to make up lost ground.

The stark disparities emerged in data McWhinney crunched from the Education Recovery Scorecard Report, a school data analysis project led by education professors from Harvard and Stanford.

The report mapped third- through eighth-grade students’ scores on state and national tests. In San Diego County, McWhinney found that four of the six districts with the largest drops in math performance and five of the six with the largest drops in reading were in rural areas.

There were several rural districts not included in the report. But of the eight that were, seven saw performance drops two to three times higher than the statewide average in reading. Four of the eight saw drops in math between two and four times higher than the state average.

The results indicate that students at many of the districts are years behind where they should be. 

Also Troubling: Rural school districts in San Diego and elsewhere in California continue to struggle with higher than average rates of chronic absenteeism. Reasons range from long school commutes to inclement weather in mountainous areas and frequent SDG&E power outages during storms or periods of high fire danger.

Teacher turnover is high and school facilities are often outdated and in need of repair. It’s a big to-do list, and funds are limited, especially as pandemic-era help from the federal government runs out.

“The longer-term impact on a community when things like this continue on is a big deal,” One rural superintendent told McWhinney. “We need to get these schools fixed.

Read the full story here. 

Sacramento Report: The Holy Grail of Environmental Law Loses Its Luster

For more than half a century, the California Environmental Quality Act has been the centerpiece of state efforts to protect communities from air pollution, traffic congestion and sprawl.

In a state where environmental protection is a core value, the law was seen as untouchable.

Not anymore.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including local leaders such as Assemblymember David Alvarez and state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, say it’s time to revamp CEQA to ensure the law is no longer used to block much-needed housing development. The lawmakers say anti-growth groups often use the law to block construction projects even when there’s no environmental risk.

The law “has been weaponized,” Alvarez told our Deborah Sullivan.

Alvarez is co-author of a bill, AB 609, which would exempt small-to-medium-sized housing projects from CEQA requirements.The exemptions would apply only to projects 20 acres or less in urban areas or within city boundaries. Mega-housing tracts on hundreds of acres in the backcountry wouldn’t get a pass.

Even lawmakers who have made environmental protection their signature issue are on board. 

“In the past there was a mindset that thou shalt not touch CEQA, that it is a Holy Grail,” said Blakespear, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality and a former mayor of Encinitas. “I reject that.”

Also in the Report: Other efforts to speed up home construction in the state, including another Alvarez bill that would prevent cities from adding additional rules or limits to housing projects after they win city approval.

Read the Sacramento Report here. 

VOSD Podcast: Allegations All Around 

On the latest episode of the podcast, our crew unpacks corruption allegations coming from a former top school district official in Chula Vista. 

Our hosts also explain what we know about a lawsuit filed by former San Diego chief operating officer, Eric Dargan. As our Lisa Halverstadt revealed last week, the mayor’s office not only eliminated the position, but also fired him for cause. 

Listen to the full episode here. 

County Budget Update 

County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe said on Friday she plans to propose allowing county supervisors to extend their budget approval process from a customary June deadline until October.

Steppe said the extended timeline would enable the county to respond to anticipated economic turbulence – and give the winner of an upcoming election for District 1 Supervisor a say in the budget process. Two Democratic candidates in the District 1 race have already signaled their support for the move.

Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson criticized the proposal, calling it an effort to “kick the budget can down the road” instead of “address[ing] the $138.5 Million budget deficit [the Board’s Democratic majority] created.”

In Other News 

• Opinion: Leaders of a local coastal conservation organization argue in a new op-ed for Voice of San Diego that the United States and Mexican governments need to get creative about their solutions to the pollution in the Tijuana River. Read more here.
• KPBS spoke with Rep. Mike Levin about how the Trump administration’s tariffs could impact families and businesses in San Diego. Related: Check your tags! One local TV reporter checked the clothing tags of her colleagues in the newsroom only to find that most of their clothing items were made outside of the United States. She reports on how the tariffs could impact products like clothing and cars. 
• While it appears that many of Assemblymember Carl DeMaio’s bills won’t ever become law, he has continued to succeed at one thing: raising money. (Union-Tribune) 
• A family is suing the city of San Diego for towing a van where a homeless woman was living after a car hit the van. A month later, a worker found the woman dead in the van. The family alleges that she was “visible to anyone looking inside.” (NBC 7) 
• Cute alert: A group of lucky passengers spotted a blue whale off the coast of San Diego. Watch the video here. 

The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch and Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.