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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Driver found dead in van linked with mass shooting Los Angeles Times

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic file (2022)

Students of all ages gather in the courtyard after the last class on their first day of the new 2022-23 academic

year at Vanden High School off Markley Lane in Fairfield, Aug. 11, 2022.

Travis trustees hear highs, lows of student progress, well-being Susan Hiland

SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Trustees of the Travis School district last week received information about how students are faring both academically and socially, along with an update of what the district is doing to help both students and their parents. Sue Brothers, assistant superintendent of Educational Studies, presented an update Tuesday on the midyear Local Control and Accountability Plan. Brothers covered student performance and district progress on both school board goals and state-mandated Local Control and Accountability Plan goals in the areas of basic services, family involvement, student social-emotional wellness and academic achievement.

Third- through eighth-graders and 11th-graders last spring tested higher than the state averages in English-language arts and math at 99% for both subBROTHERS jects, Brothers reported. The graduation rate for all students was at 96.7% compared to the state average of 87%. “Travis School District did very well,” Brothers said. The dropout rate was low with five dropouts in 2021-22 for a rate of 1.2%. The Solano County dropout rate was 7.8% and state dropout rate was 5.6%. Travis School District’s high school students did not fare nearly as well in the 15 courses needed for seniors to gain college admission, with 51% meeting the A-G course

requirements. “It was not a complete disaster,” Brothers said. The district is working to address several issues to reach these college admission requirements: identify and remove systemic barriers; implement a high school guidance program and increase use of the Naviance College and Career Readiness Curriculum; monitor student progress and encourage students with A-G completion gaps to take or repeat needed coursework; provide academic supports for ninth graders enrolled in A-G courses; and fund AP tests for low-income students, English learners and foster youth. The staff did a study of the social-emotional health of students and they found the number of students feeling down or anxious fell See Travis, Page A7

Fairfield-Suisun board considers implications of governor’s budget Susan Hiland

SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield-Suisun School District – along with public schools across the state – is feeling the pinch of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2023-24 budget, with the likely end of pandemic-driven one-time funding and no no relief provided as CalPERS retirement rates increase and CalSTRS retirement rates remain high.

The situation is such that schools will likely see most – if not all – spending for recent programs curtailed just to maintain baseline programs. That was the GRINDLE gist of the message provided Tuesday to trustees of the Fairfield Suisun School District by Laneia Grindle, assistant superintendent of Business Services, who presented

the governor’s budget plan and resulting budget year projections for the district. It looks like the focus for the budget has shifted from pandemicrelated issues to more business-as-usual funding, she said. “Business as usual comes with a softening economy,” Grindle said. “This means . . . no new

programs and they are looking at maintaining the same programs.” The governor’s budget is focused on maintaining programs where possible while trimming others, she said. As the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, other crises receive more attention – homelessness, housing and extreme weather. All of these things will affect the See Fairfield, Page A7

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See Shooting, Page A7

Covid deaths in China top 12,600 in week before Lunar New Year Bloomberg News China said more than 12,600 people died of Covid-related causes in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year holidays, with a a health official saying about 80% of the population was infected with the virus in the current outbreak. There were 12,658 Covid-linked deaths at hospitals between Jan. 13-19, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement dated Saturday. The country reported 59,938 such deaths between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. The center’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said separately in a Weibo post that 80% of the country’s residents were infected in the current round. While Lunar New Year travel may lead to uptick in cases in some

WEATHER 58 | 37 Sun and wind. Forecast on A8.

regions, Wu said there is “very little chance” for large-scale infections or a second round of an outbreak nationwide in the next two to three months. China had a population of 1.41 billion at the end of 2022, suggesting more than 1.1 billion people had the virus recently in the world’s biggest Covid-19 outbreak. Wu didn’t elaborate on how the infections were derived. A sudden dismantling of "Covid-zero" restrictions in December meant hundreds of millions of people headed home for the Lunar New Year holiday for the first time since 2019. President Xi Jinping singled out Covid-19’s rural spread in a nationwide video address he held before the holiday, saying he’s especially See China, Page A7

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Dr. David P. Simon, MD, FACS.

Sandra Ritchey-Butler Expires 1/31/2023

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. — Authorities have breached a white van in Torrance that they believe is connected to the gunman who opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 10 people and injuring 10 others. Just before 1 p.m. Sunday, a SWAT team swarmed the vehicle and smashed its windows in the parking lot of Tokyo Central, a Japanese grocery store near the southwest corner of Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards. At least two bullet holes had been visible in the driver’s-side window in the moments prior to their approach, and the driver appeared to be slumped over the steering wheel. Multiple law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles

Times that the driver had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna did not immediately confirm whether the individual in the van was the suspected shooter. “Could it be our suspect? Possibly,” Luna said. “But at this point, if we’re doing our jobs correctly, we’re not only looking at that situation or scenario, but we’re making sure that we’re looking at any and every possibility.” The Monterey Park shooting, about seven miles east of downtown Los Angeles, occurred on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Luna said it was too early to tell whether the festival was connected to the shooting. Some witnesses described a white cargo van, which Luna said

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