The school district is also in the process of hiring a new superintendent. More information on that is here.
Josh's letter is below:
Dear Neighbors,
It has been a privilege to serve the
Emeryville community as a member of the Emery Unified School District Board of
Trustees for over 12 years. Unfortunately, my professional
responsibilities as the newly hired Executive Director of a nonprofit community
development corporation and the needs of my family, have combined to require
that I resign my position as School Board Trustee effective March 31st.
With two teenage daughters, we are
moving from our two bedroom, one bathroom condominium to a much larger
condominium in downtown Oakland. Our new
home will accommodate our family's needs, and has room for our parents in
the future. We continue to own property in Emeryville and we intend to move
to Emery Bay Village after the Center for Community Life is completed. In the meantime, I will remain involved as a
tax payer and future neighbor of the Center of Community Life.
I am grateful to my colleagues on the school board for
their dedication to supporting the work of our teachers, students, families,
guardians and the community. I feel honored to have had the
opportunity to work with School Board members John Affeldt, Miguel Dwin and Joy
Kent. The sound leadership of Board
President Melodi Dice has been a rock of stability in the changing tides of
school funding. The dedication and
professionalism of these board members over many years has been inspiring.
I am also grateful for the
thoughtful partnership of the Emeryville
City Council whose work has demonstrated that “partners power student
success.” Closer integration of City afterschool programs with school
programs has enhanced work in the classrooms and teachers have been able to buy
homes in Emeryville through the City’s first time homebuyer program. Under the leadership of City Manager Sabrina
Landreth, I have no doubt that Emeryville will continue to improve as an
“Age-Friendly City”.
I have been impressed by the many
ways that business leaders have stepped
up in support of education in Emeryville.
Consistent partners who have worked to power student success include Pixar,
Madison Marquette, Expressions Center for New Media, 45th Street
Artists Cooperative, the Townhouse Restaurant, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Jamba
Juice, Wereham Development, the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce and many others.
The Work of the Emery Ed Fund to
coordinate these efforts has been invaluable.
Most of all, my family is grateful
for the twelve years of excellent education that our daughters received at both
the Emeryville Child Development Center and Emery Unified School District. My daughter Sarah was well prepared for her
current interest in engineering by the teachers at Anna Yates and my daughter Maya
continues to be inspired by the work of the Anna Yates Elementary School Theater Club. (Don’t miss their next
performance at the Emeryville Senior Center on Salem Street on March 28th
at 6pm and March 29th at 3pm.
Call the Anna Yates Elementary School office at 601-4917 for more
information.)
The School District has made great
progress toward becoming a model full-service community school. Our
integration of healthcare, parent resources, after school activities and
community resources into our schools, has reduced barriers to education and supported
teachers to do their best work.
I am particularly thankful to Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her
support of the Family Resource Center and her work to upgrade our High School
Gym to be a safe shelter in times of crisis.
I am also thankful for Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan
and Alameda County Supervisor Keith
Carson who have provided invaluable guidance throughout our transformation
process.
The District’s strong relationship
with Peralta Community College to bring college level courses to our High
School is very exciting, and I must thank Superintendent
John Sugiyama, Superintendent Debbra Lindo and School Board member Miguel Dwin
for their leadership of this work.
State Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner and State Senator Loni
Hancock have been great partners in
fighting for the needs of children and families in Emeryville. Without their hard work at the state level,
our efforts to improve Emeryville’s school district might not receive the
critical attention that we require from the California Department of Education
and other State Agencies.
With the community’s support, we
have started construction on our new community school and will now have
adequate facilities for the District’s partnerships and collaborations. Funds
are now available to build the facility required to house the combination of
recreation, health and pre-k through grade 16 education services that comprise
our community school partnerships. I am proud that the Measure J Bond
Oversight Committee recently reported that all Measure J funds are being spent
appropriately and responsibly, and that Moody’s recently gave us a very high
bond credit rating.
I am confident that the District’s
transition dream team of past superintendents John Quinn and John Sugiyama will support our extraordinary
professional staff and teachers to continue building on our progress to date.
With the support of EUSD’s amazing staff, I have great confidence in the
continued improvement of our school district.
The board intends to discuss the process for filling my
position at the February 26th School Board meeting. I regret that I will
not be at that meeting due to work travel, but I look forward to continuing to
serve the community until the end of March.
Most of all, thank you for being a community
that consistently supports safe quality schools for the Emeryville community.
Joshua Simon
