The Winter Olympics are taking place right now, but it is not just athletes who are practicing to do their best to compete. Just ask Benicia High School’s Debate Team. The team will be taking part in the Golden Gate Speech Association’s State Qualifiers at James Logan High School in Union City on Sunday, March […]
Library trustees to discuss waiving fines at certain ages
The Board of Library Trustees will vote Tuesday on whether or not to forgo fines on children’s library cards when they turn 12 and 18. According to a report by library management staff, library personnel had noticed for years that children’s library cards were often blocked due to the actions of their parents or caretakers […]
Photo: Takin’ it (Big) Easy
Teachers rally for higher funding priorities
Several Benicia Unified School District teachers rallied outside City Park an hour before Thursday’s school board meeting to raise awareness of ongoing negotiations between the Benicia Teachers Association (BTA) and BUSD. On Jan. 24, BUSD and BTA held a negotiations meeting one day after a budget workshop which focused on providing information related to school […]
BUSD business chief: $800K needed for balanced budget
Benicia Unified School District would need to make $800,000 in ongoing adjustments for its budget to break even, Chief Business Official Tim Rahill reported at Thursday’s school board meeting. On Jan. 10, Gov. Jerry Brown announced his final January budget proposal. After gathering information from the proposal, Rahill said BUSD would need to make $800,000 […]
Semple teachers to face off in Lip Sync Battle fundraiser
(This post has been updated from the print edition.) Lip-syncing in music is often frowned upon (See: Milli Vanilli), but when it is turned into a competition, everybody wants to be a part of it. Lip-sync competitions certainly have become a sensation in the past couple of years. While simply mouthing the words to popular […]
BUSD trustees to vote on resolution requesting more money for California public schools
The superintendent of the Benicia Unified School District is asking school board trustees to support a resolution by the California School Boards Association (CSBA) requesting more money for state schools at Thursday’s BUSD Governing Board meeting. According to the resolution, “California has the sixth largest economy in the world and the largest Gross Domestic Product […]
Mary Farmar students taking part in kindness challenge all week
Elementary schoolers already have a tendency to be kind, but this week at Mary Farmar Elementary School, students are taking it to a whole new level. For the second year in a row, Farmar is taking part in the Great Kindness Challenge, an international bullying prevention initiative in which students spend the last week of […]
Arts Benicia to host After School Art program at Farmar in February
While a school day is not always enough time to learn the basics of art, Arts Benicia is here to make sure creatively inclined students have additional opportunities to hone their craft. After School sessions will be held at Mary Farmar Elementary School throughout February. Arts Benicia’s After School program, sponsored by Benicia Unified School […]
Benicia Unified Performers put all hands ‘on deck’ for newest production
Ahoy, mateys! Benicia Unified Performers will be presenting its annual dinner theater fundraiser next Saturday with proceeds benefiting Mary Farmar Elementary’s art program. This time around, Mary Farmar’s Multi-Purpose Room will be transformed into a cruise that has been plundered by pirates for “Death on Deck.” This is the third year in a row that […]