Uncertainty at EC High
- Livable El Cerrito
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
This report covers the status of the block schedule, a power outage, radio station KECG, and other news items.
Block Schedule Approval Delayed
After strong protests over delays in approving the high school’s block schedule for the 2025-26 school year, Interim Superintendent Dr. Kim Moses responded on March 26 with a reassuring letter.
Moses wrote to parents that the West Contra Costa Unified School District administration supports the block schedule and would work to get it through the approval process, which involves agreeing on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Moses promised action by April 18.
However, there has been no progress on the MOU since last month when a draft was approved by El Cerrito High teachers and sent to both Moses and the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR).
Answering a question at a school district Town Hall on April 21, Moses said she could not consider any MOU that was mailed to her directly from a site or school. “I can only consider an MOU from the executive committee of the labor union.”
She said there have been no meetings so far with the United Teachers of Richmond union on the matter. However, a meeting with UTR is tentatively planned for Thursday, April 24. Working out an agreement is likely to take more than one meeting, she said, declining to give a revised timeline for when the issue might be resolved.
Power Outage
At 4:28 p.m. on March 18 an outage knocked out power to El Cerrito High and the school is currently operating using rented generators.
Associate Superintendent Melissa Payne said she is working with her staff and PG&E to identify the problem and develop a plan for repair.
Initial evaluation indicated that moisture in the electrical panel where PG&E’s transformer brings in power to the site may be the culprit.
“We don’t know that for sure,” Payne said. “As soon as we have more information we’ll provide a timeline.”
Meanwhile, pretty much everything that runs on electricity is working fine.
Radio Station KECG Is Off
The school’s radio station, KECG, is the exception.
Not only has the station been off the air, but all the studio equipment is turned off and cannot be used by students in the radio broadcasting class. Communications Director Raechelle Forrest communicated the decision.
Initially, the radio teacher Jeanne Marie Acceturo and Station Engineer Ernest Herrera came up with a plan to operate the station using power from the generators. They were confident the station could be safely operated using Uninterruptible Power Sources (already in the studios) and a new surge protector for each studio.
Acceturo said she is still confident that the station could operate safely with these precautions. To check that, she contacted Greg German, Chief Engineer at KALX Berkeley and Dave "Buzz" Barnett, Chief Engineer at KVMR-FM in Nevada City, for their advice.
“They both responded that it should be fine to run any radio station equipment on generator power, especially with Uninterruptible Power Sources and the surge protectors that Ernest suggested purchasing,” Acceturo said.
In an interview after a school district Town Hall meeting on April 21, Communications Director Forrest said she had not been told about the advice Acceturo obtained from other stations.
“We’ve spoken to some professionals about surge protectors and we are not sure whether or not it’s safe to operate radio station equipment on generators,” Forrest said.
Acceturo said she has requested documentation of any safety information or data that justifies telling her not to plug in or turn on any studio equipment.
Acceturo acknowledged not sending the opinions she gathered from station engineers to Forrest, saying she believed the communications director did not want to hear any more from her on the subject.
She said that with less than two months left in the year, it would still be possible for students in radio broadcasting to at least use the studio equipment, even if their broadcasts could not go out on the air.
“We’re working on podcasts that we can deliver online not using any broadcast equipment but there are limitations to that,” Acceturo said.
Students See a Unique Opportunity
Students Zachary Sparks and Isabela Chan, both juniors in Radio 2, said they are disappointed that the station is off the air and they can’t use the studio equipment. The students are able to use a small device in the studio with their computers to record. They are creating a podcast called Local Legends.
“I signed up for this class because I think it’s a unique opportunity," said Chan. "Not a lot of high schools have radio stations like ours.”
Sparks said he knows the kinds of projects and radio management that radio students did last year and he wants to do the same.
“It’s hard to find someone with as much professional experience as Ms. A,” he said. “The final project has been for you to run the radio station for the entire day and keep everything going,” Sparks said. “That prepares you for Radio 3 but I’m not sure that’s going to happen next year.”
Last year and the year before, radio students also rolled out a mobile unit to broadcast some varsity baseball games live. That's not happening this year. However, creative writing students were able to work with El Cerrito’s Poet Laureate to record and sometimes write poems. They won't be able to broadcast their poetry on KECG but Acceturo has lined up some opportunities for some of their work to be broadcast on KQED radio.
Said Acceturo, an experienced radio broadcaster who started as the El Cerrito radio teacher three years ago, “I really hope these students get the opportunity this year to use the equipment the district has invested in -- at least in class during the school day."
New Principal Interviews
Principal Malcolm Norrington has resigned, and the search is on for a replacement. Interviews will be conducted by a committee on April 25.
Production of Arsenic and Old Lace
Theater students are building a set and rehearsing for their production of Arsenic and Old Lace on Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10.
School District Town Hall Meeting Planned for EC High
Interim Superintendent Moses and her cabinet plan to hold a Town Hall meeting next month at El Cerrito High. Moses said the meeting will be on Monday, May 12. A different date was posted on the WCCUSD website but that will be updated, she said.
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