Community

There is good news and bad news for boaters looking to hit the water through Labor Day—the county parks system’s biggest body of water, Anderson Lake, will be open through Sept. 5, but Coyote Lake closed in July because of low water levels.

The HEARTSafe Gilroy 5K Run/Walk was a huge success! The Leadership Gilroy Class of 2016 held the event on Aug. 20 at the Gilroy Sports Park collaborating with Gilroy Fire Department and the city of Gilroy. A healthy 140 people walked and ran, including Mayor Perry Woodward and his two daughters, Sierra and Charlie.

A service dog operation that helps veterans with combat-related mental and physical trauma and has been lauded nationwide is now battling county planners for an expansion to help even more vets.

In the newest state test results, Gilroy schools showed improvement over last year and held their own or slightly exceeded state scores, but in every grade and category scored below other Santa Clara County schools.And a majority scored below minimum state standards, 52 percent in English language arts and 60 percent in math. For Hispanics, who make up roughly 80 percent of all district students, it was 59 percent and 69 percent, respectively—the so-called achievement gap educators statewide have tried to close.In five of the seven grades tested, more than 50 percent of Gilroy students on average did not meet California’s minimum standards in English and math.Statewide, only in third grade math, and in seventh, eighth and 11th grade English did 50 percent or slightly more exceed state standards, according to results released Aug. 24 by state Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson and the California Department of Education.The Gilroy Unified School District, in a press release issued Monday, put a positive spin on the results and acknowledged its scores lag behind those of other Santa Clara County districts while holding up well against state averages.“We’re happy to see that our students have matched the overall state performance in [English] and that we continue to do better than the state average in math,” said district Superintendent Debbie Flores in the press release.“When considering our scores in tandem with our county, we’re clear there is still work to do as Santa Clara County traditionally outperforms most of the state. But we’re seeing our district do quite well in comparison to other counties near us,” she added. The other counties were not identified in the press release.Gilroy students were on par with other California students in achieving the state’s goal of meeting or exceeding state standards, according the GUSD press release.“Overall 49 percent of GUSD students in English Language Arts and 40 percent of students in math met this goal,” according to the release.GUSD planned to send student scores to parents this weekThe California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, CAASPP, is in its second year of use. It replaced the long-used STAR test and is based on the state’s Common Core Standards.In a press release, the state Department of Education said California students had made “significant progress” compared to last year’s results, adding that “nearly half” met or exceeded English standards and nearly 40 percent did so in math.Torlakson expanded on the positive theme in the press release and noted improvement is needed.“The higher test scores show that the dedication, hard work, and patience of California’s teachers, parents, school employees, and administrators are paying off.“Of course there’s more work to do, but our system has momentum. I am confident that business, political and community leaders will join parents and educators to help continue supporting increased standards and resources for schools,” he said.More than 3.2 million students in grades three through eight and 11 took the CAASPP test, according to the Department of Education.All GUSD, Santa Clara County and California CAASPP scores can be found at the DOE website at this link: http://bit.ly/2ca57Ms.Gilroy’s charter school, Gilroy Prep, part of the Navigator schools group, outperformed by far all of GUSD’s regular public school classes. Of the four GPS grades tested, three through six, an average of 82 percent of students in English and 67 percent in math met or exceeded state standards. For Hispanics, 78 percent in English and 67 percent in math did so.Kevin Sved, Navigator Schools CEO, said in a release issued Aug. 24, “The 2016 results prove the success [last year] was not a one-time thing but, instead, a reflection of the multi-faceted approach Navigator has been employing since welcoming our first students in 2011.”  Navigator Chief Academic Officer James Dent said, “Learning we exceeded our 2015 numbers is both affirming and inspiring. We founded Navigator Schools to provide an alternative to our local underserved families and watching our dream come to reality is an incredible feeling.”At Gilroy’s eight other elementary schools, the lowest performing in English were Glen View, El Roble, Eliot and Antonio Del Buono, with 71, 67, 67 and 66 percent, respectively, of all third, fourth and fifth grade students combined scoring below state standards. For Hispanic students at those schools, the percentages were 75, 70, 76 and 66 scoring below.Math results for those same grades ranged from 71 and 70 percent below state minimums at Antonio Del Buono and Glen View, to 69 percent at Eliot and El Roble.Top performing elementary schools in English were Luigi Aprea and Rod Kelley, where 60 and 55 percent of students, respectively, met or exceeded state standards.In math, those same schools were on top with 56 and 55 percent meeting or bettering state standards.Scores for Hispanics districtwide were below those of all students—59 percent of Hispanics compared to 52 percent of all students scored below state standards in English language arts. The numbers were 69 percent vs. 60 percent in math.There were promising results, too. In grades three through seven, for example, although in all but one result more than half of students scored below state standards, there was some improvement over last year.The number of students meeting or exceeding state standards edged upwards when compared to those same classes’ performances the year before in both subjects. The only exceptions were fourth and fifth grade math results, which dipped.At Brownell Middle School, the number of students who met or exceeded California’s standards in English climbed by 13 points to 61 percent and math was up six points.At South Valley Middle School, English scores at or above state standards were up eight points, to 41 percent, while the math percentage was up seven points.English scores were up by five percentage points at Solorsano Middle School.At the high school level, the CAASPP tests 11th-graders. As at the other grade levels, students did better in English than math and a majority had good results in the former, exceeding state averages.At Christopher High School, 57 percent of students met or exceeded state standards in English, while at Gilroy High School the number was 53 percent. The state average was 49 percent.Math performances were lagging. At CHS, 75 percent of 11th-graders did not meet state standards, while at GHS 67 percent fell below. Statewide, 68 percent of 11th grade students scored below state math standards.

The Hollister-Gilroy Area CHP office will beef up DUI enforcement patrol starting Friday, September 2-Monday September 5. “Too many lives are lost on our roadways every year as a result of impaired driving. Let’s end the summer safely and remember to designate a sober driver,...

A builder faces possible six-figure fines in connection with a massive spill of silt-laden, construction runoff water into a Gilroy creek near Christmas Hill Park from the Glen Loma Ranch subdivision under construction on the west side of town.

Over the last couple weeks my morning commute into Gilroy got a little more exciting with the opening of a new roundabout on Santa Teresa Boulevard. After weeks of navigating through construction zones in temporary lanes that should have resulted in a DMV drive test pass for life, driving the new roundabout at Miller Ave. with its smooth, freshly laid pavement and traffic lines still gleaming with fresh paint was a breeze.As reported in the Dispatch earlier this year, the city is in the midst of a roundabout building boom, and will have 15 of them within the next two years.Cheaper to maintain over time than traditional lighted intersections, city engineers love roundabouts. They increase fuel efficiency because vehicles do not have to come to a complete stop. They also operate more efficiently, allowing more vehicles to pass through than a 4-way intersection, which was proven during a MythBusters episode.Roundabouts are also safer for motorists, resulting in less right-angle, left-turn and head-on collisions, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. And pedestrians only have to look for oncoming traffic in one direction.Since Gilroy completed its first roundabout at West Luchessa Avenue and Thomas Road earlier this year, the city’s public information officer has been reaching out to the community and fielding queries on this new addition to the city’s landscape.“The biggest issue has not been so much the roundabouts themselves, but the construction that surrounds it,” said Joe Kline, who posts regular updates on construction projects on the city’s various communication channels: Facebook, NextDoor and newsletter.Earlier this summer, as part of their outreach, the city worked with CMAP TV to capture aerial footage of the Third Street and Santa Teresa Blvd., Miller Ave. and Santa Teresa Blvd., and West Luchessa Ave. and Thomas Road roundabouts using drones.The footage can be seen on the city of Gilroy Public Information Office Facebook page.“Large projects are hard to convey at the ground level, the drones allow you to get higher up and provide a much clearer picture of what is going on.”Take a peek at Gilroy on Google Earth. It’s not just the roundabouts that pop out, but the more prevalent little cousin, traffic circles that are adorning the roads of Gilroy’s newest neighborhoods, from Heartland Estates to Glen Loma Ranch. From above they are like alien crop circles, while below, Kline says they provide a more utilitarian purpose—traffic calming and aesthetics.At latest count, the United States had 4,800 roundabouts, according to RoundaboutsUSA, a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 26,000 in Great Britain and 32,000 in France.However, with the recent building boom in our neck of the woods, the alien-seeming structure can be a bit jolting for some.Feeling “meh” according to the emoticon next to his name, a recent visitor to Gilroy commented on Facebook: “Who came to Gilroy and decided to put roundabouts everywhere?” What has been your experience on Gilroy’s new roundabouts?

Bleary-eyed and wearing sleepy grins, dozens of local students came out to Kohl’s Department Store early Saturday morning to get a leg-up on their first week of classes thanks to the efforts of a Gilroy service organization, local retailers and law enforcement.

GUSD board president in council run Fred Tovar, a first-time Gilroy City Council candidate and current president of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education, says he seeks to bring a spirit of inclusion to the city’s legislative body.“My biggest asset is I collaborate with people—no matter what end of the spectrum they are on. I want to ensure everyone is part of the process, whether it’s about land use or transportation. It can be a long process, but we owe it to the members of our community to make sure everyone is involved,” said Tovar, during an interview in downtown Gilroy on Aug. 20.“We may not agree, but we can work together to get to a decision we are both happy with. I love to talk things through with everybody.”Tovar said he’s not one to make “rubberstamp” decisions. During his eight years on the school board, he’s pushed for more discussion during meetings and further inquiry.“I’m not a micromanager and I believe in the talent we have, but if I have questions about something in our packet, I will go straight to the source and ask.”It was during his tenure on the board that saw the updating of aging facilities, new school construction, the successful passage of two school bond measures and inclusion of prestige programs like the Biomedical Science Academy at Gilroy High School and K-12 Spanish Dual Immersion Program.While talking to Tovar, the phrase “raising the bar” came up repeatedly. During his time on the school board, Tovar said he championed policies that pushed students and the district to do better.Born and raised in San Jose, Tovar moved with his wife, Patricia, and their two kids, Jordan and Ciarra, now 21 and 18 respectively, to Gilroy 10 years ago to be closer to his parents, Teresa and Carlos Tovar.Tovar has worked at the Stanford University School of Medicine for the last 15 years and is currently the director of student affairs and assistant director of admissions for the Stanford University School of Medicine Primary Care Associate Program.In this dual role, he supports students as they make their way through school and reaches out to prospective students, including those from underrepresented communities in rural areas like El Centro, Bakersfield and Salinas.“I want to build collaborations with counselors, different school administrators, but I also want to expose kids to the idea that they too can go to Stanford,” said Tovar, who each year invites a group of 30 to 40 Gilroy students to the university campus. Does his homework“Fred is a straight shooter,” said GUSD board trustee Mark Good, at Tovar’s campaign kick-off event last week at The Golden Goddess, a new spray tan salon in downtown Gilroy owned by his niece, Alexis Tovar. Tovar’s City Council candidacy has been endorsed by the entire GUSD board. “What he says in public, he says in private also.”Good, who is running for re-election to the board in November, called Tovar a “hard-worker” who listened and used good judgment.“There is a lot of reading and research that goes on when you are sitting on a board or city council, and you have to do it competently, which he does,” said Good. “He always does his homework, talks to people and then votes for what he thinks is right.” ‘We can do this’Over DJ music at the salon, Tovar’s campaign manager, Art Barron, offers the lowdown on the next couple months.“This is going to be a grassroots campaign,” he said. “We’ll have volunteers getting out the vote, registering new voters, knocking on doors, fundraising.”Barron, who helped Tovar with his first successful run for the school board in 2008, said they also plan on holding a number of events or speaking engagements so the larger Gilroy community can learn more about Tovar, who has already received endorsements from Mayor Perry Woodward, Councilmember Peter Leroe-Muñoz, and Rebeca Armendariz, a city planning commissioner and founding member of the Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy and Services, which this year presented Tovar with a Community Champion Award.“Fred is for smart growth and is a big supporter of our downtown businesses,” said Barron. “He wants to work with all small businesses and help new ones get started.“He will be the voice of the community,” Barron added.