Education Archives - Page 2 of 15

New Chico Unified board member prepares for challenges Gayle Olsen: "Every student learns differently"

by Natalie Hanson
posted Jan. 11

Editor’s note: Gayle Olsen and Teisha Hase joined the Chico Unified School District’s (CUSD) school board this month after winning seats in the Nov. 5 General Election. This Q-and-A with Olsen is the first story in a two-part series. And read our sidebar on what policy under the Trump Administration could look like here.

Gayle Olsen is no stranger to the challenge of fighting for resources for the most vulnerable students.

Now that she’s won the race for a seat on the board in Trustee Area 2, she said she’s ready to leverage that experience to fight for many more students.

A longtime special education teacher, Olsen says she’s ready to step into her new role — especially given how many challenges the school district may be facing within the next two years. On the campaign trail, she previously told North State Public Radio about several of her priorities, including advocating for children’s rights to privacy under the law and pressing for proper funding of facility improvements. read more

Sheriff: school’s “vulnerability” exploited by gunman DA: Suspect had history of mental health problems

photo by Yucheng Tang

Elias Wolford, one of two shooting victims.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 19

The Dec. 4 Palermo school shooting that severely injured two kindergarteners appears to fit more under “domestic terrorism” than it would under the hate crime category, says Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Ramsey also indicated, in a recent telephone interview, that he believes the violence was related to the suspect’s mental health problems.

Meanwhile, in a social media post last week, a woman who identifies herself as Debbie Wolford, the grandmother of victim Elias Wolford, said Elias hadn’t had movement of his legs since being hospitalized. In another update this week, a post indicates that Elias had undergone emergency surgery that went well.

The two victims, Elias and Roman Mendez, both still hospitalized, had a short visit with each other, said the Butte County Sheriff’s Office in a Dec. 13 statement. read more

Young shooting victims identified Suspect in Palermo school shooting also named

photo by Yucheng Tang

Sheriff Kory Honea identifies Glenn Litton (shown on screen on left) as the suspect in the Palermo school shooting.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Dec. 5

Roman Mendez, aged 6, sustained two gunshot wounds resulting in internal injuries when a gunman entered his school yard Dec. 4 and opened fire. Elias Wolford, 5, was shot one time in the abdomen, also resulting in internal injuries.

The two kindergarten students who attended Feather River Adventist School in Palermo remained in critical condition today. In the pictures shown at a press briefing earlier today, smiling Roman wore a red sweater and Elias cupped his chin in his hands.

“They have a very long road ahead of them in terms of recovery,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. “It’s very likely that they are going to have to have a number of surgeries going forward.”

Authorities say the gunman killed himself after injuring the kindergarteners. The shooting was reported to the California High Patrol at 1:08 p.m. Dec. 4. read more

Chico State Academic Senate calls for TPM policy suspension

photo by Caleb Hearn

Bryce Ingersoll tabled on campus, discussing with students what implementation of the TPM policy would mean.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Nov. 12

The Chico State Academic Senate has called on the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s office to suspend the interim “Time, Place, Manner” (TPM) policy that sets rules for student protests.

The Oct. 31 resolution says the CSU should “initiate a process of good faith negotiation through shared governance to determine what guidance for peaceful activism … may be justified and consensually applied.”

The local Academic Senate took action days after the Academic Senate of the California State University system passed a resolution condemning the CSU-wide interim TPM policy. The California Faculty Association notes the policy restricts use of face coverings and requires “advance written permission for posters, signs, banners, and chalking.” read more

Will CSU’s new policy affect campus free speech? Some students and faculty worry; university officials say nothing has changed

photo by Yucheng Tang

Professor Lindsay Briggs makes a suggestion at the Sept. 25 campus forum.

by Yucheng Tang
posted Sept. 26

This story was updated Sept. 28 as more detail on the policy emerged.

On a list of 174 locations on the Chico State campus, only three are listed as “Public” that are available for sound-amplified assembly, marches, protests, and debate between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays by reservation, based on the newly-introduced, California State University (CSU) Interim Time Place Manner policy.

However, university spokesman Andrew Staples said Sept. 27 that outside spaces at Chico State, including Trinity Commons, can be used for “demonstrations, protest etc.” during campus operating hours that are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily if the area hasn’t already been reserved. A document sent to ChicoSol Sept. 28 called “Addendum Specifics” says those areas can be used for “non-amplified speech and expression.” read more

Irked Zingg backed off $300,000 art donation Former Chico State president wanted name removed from campus Recital Hall

photo courtesy of Natasha Doron/The Orion

Inside Chico State’s recital hall when, in 2017, feminist activist Gloria Steinem spoke.

by Dave Waddell
posted July 31

After Chico State’s spanking new recital hall was christened in 2016, it came as a shock to some faculty that it was named for retiring university President Paul Zingg and his wife.

But today, what was once the Paul and Yasuko Zingg Recital Hall goes by the stripped-down name of Recital Hall.

Why did the university quietly remove the name of its former president?

The short of it is that Paul Zingg, in 2021, feeling ignored by the university he long led and disrespected by his successor, came to want it that way. He also wanted back the art collection, appraised at more than $300,000, that he had gifted to Chico State’s Janet Turner Print Museum as part of the naming deal.

University officials promptly granted Zingg’s requests, and the word “Rescinded,” in big, black letters, is stamped across the documents that originally described and memorialized the agreement. The Recital Hall was officially named for the Zinggs in May 2016. Their names were removed in September 2021, said university spokesperson Andrew Staples. read more