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Students reflect on Civil Rights Movement trip Features, Page 1 Volume 140, Number 9 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Beverly Watros
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Trustees approve 2023-24 Transporation Services Plan, summer school stipends By Jacob Hoffman Express staff writer
Courtesy photo
Winters Robotics Inc. high school Team 39599A members Madeline Archibeque, Kiana Miller, Ben Nelson and Jesus Cruz are heading to Dallas in April for the 2023 VEX Robotics World Championships.
Winters Robotics team heading to Worlds By Aaron Geerts Express staff writer It’s official, Team 39599A of the Winters Robotics Club is heading to the 2023 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas next month. Although Winters may be just a blip on the map, these hometown Warriors are poised to make an impact on a global scale in their second appearance at Worlds. On March 11–12, five
Winters High School teams and three Winters Middle School teams competed in the VEX Robotics State Tournament in Silicon Valley. Team 39599A performed well enough to secure a spot at the world competition in Dallas taking place from April 25–27. With 1.1 million students (elementary through college) from over 70 countries participating in VEX programs, it’s a little more than
City seeks pool manager Express staff
EXPRESS
In her March 24 update, City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa announced “The pool opening is delayed until a qualified pool manager is selected.” Trepa said the City had yet to receive an application from someone who had the qualifications for the role. The City Pool Manager is in charge of managing the life-
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guard program and deck operations. The role also works with the Swim Team and Swim Lessons program organizers to coordinate times that work with the City’s recreation and lap swim time spots in the schedule. Trepa’s post said the City is looking for a candidate who has supervisory experience, can obtain a lifeguard certification (if one is not already held), and will manage the program with industry norms and best practices. The link to the application and job details is available on the city website, www.cityof winters.org.
impressive that this team from Winters has advanced to the world finals. “The top two percent in the world make it to this championship event and I want to say there are around 22,000 teams worldwide. Team 39599A’s skills were ranked 118th in the world, too,” said robotics teacher and mentor Dianne Halsey. “This event is also great because the kids get to meet
Classifieds ................... B-4
By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief Winters Joint Unified School District reported that a Winters Middle School student was hit by a car on Thursday morning in the area of Anderson Avenue and Apricot Avenue. Winters Police and Fire Departments posted an update on social media that the area had been closed while they investigated the incident. The area was later reopened that afternoon. Winters Police Chief John P. Miller told the Express in a phone call that the student was alert
We at he r Date
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By Jacob Hoffman
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Express staff writer
Eventos hispanos ....... A-2
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Rain for week: 2.27 in. Season’s total: 34.93 in. Last sn. to date: 17.57 in.
During its March 16 meeting, the Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees heard a presentation on the second of two Interim Reports made each school year detailing district budget expenditures made from November to Jan. 31.
Community .................. A-2
Sports ........................... A-6
See TRUSTEES, Page 3
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/22. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
day stated “Traffic safety is a community concern and a priority for the Winters Police Department. Our Officers patrol around schools during school hours, as staffing and calls for service, allow. Today, unfortunately, our Officer was monitoring traffic at Waggoner Elementary School when this collision occurred.” Miller said he recently started a conversation with Winters Joint Unified School District about pedestrian safety at the schools. Winters PD has also been working with WMS administrators to update school zone
signage on Anderson Avenue and reviewed the area for any additional traffic safety measures. Miller encouraged families to have conversations with their children about pedestrian safety and advised all pedestrians to “look both ways before crossing the street — regardless if there’s a crosswalk or not a crosswalk. And if there is a crosswalk, utilize it.” He also encourages drivers to slow down when driving through school zones and have extra caution and be aware of student pedestrians crossing the streets during school hours.
School District dependant upon levels of state funding
Mar. 24
Chief Business Officer Jonathan Feagle presented the Second Interim Report, described by the Board Agenda Item description as, “report(ing) actual expenditures and changes to the budget through Jan. 31 of the reporting year” which must “use multi-year projections to certify” whether the district
will be able to “meet their financial obligations for current and two subsequent fiscal years” by certifying positive, qualified, or negative certification for meeting financial obligations. The staff report concluded that “the District’s Second Interim report demonstrates
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and conscious on the scene and complained of pain in the leg. Winters Fire and EMS personnel rendered aid and AMR transported the juvenile to a local hospital for further treatment. According to Miller, subsequent to the investigation, speed was not a contributing factor. The juvenile was crossing diagonally outside of the crosswalk markings across the intersection of Apricot and Anderson Avenues and stepped in front of the vehicle, which was traveling eastbound on Anderson Avenue. A Winters PD Facebook post on Thurs-
Mar. 23
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See WORLDS, Page 3
Student hit by car near middle school
Index Features ........................ B-1
kids from across the world. It’s a celebration of a whole year of hard work, and now they get to reap the benefits of qualifying. Making it this far means not only are they in that top two percent, but that they’ve also learned a lot to get to that level.” Beyond the competition, this weekend-long event will also feature
The Winters Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees heard two proposals from WJUSD staff regarding a Transportation Services Plan and a stipend increase for summer school administrators at its March 16 meeting. Student Services Director Jenny Pinedo presented a 2023–2024 Transportation Services Plan as part of reimbursement of the school district’s transportation costs by the state. The plan contains with “a description of the transportation services we offer, a plan for transporting students with disabilities, Foster Youth, and students experiencing homelessness, feedback from the community, and Transportation Department budget information.” “Together this information effectively outlines the ways that Winters JUSD Transportation Department works to support our community.”
Pindeo provided some clarifications to community feedback the school district had received regarding transportation. This included clarifying to several community members’ concerns who expressed that transportation should be at no cost, that this is already the case in Winters where students are not charged for transportation services. Another theme in community and staff feedback sought to have Winters JUSD drivers have more training for working with students with disabilities, to which Pinedo noted that the school district began providing drivers with three training sessions for students with disabilities this school year. Finally, parents asked the school district for more direct clarification with students regarding transportation expectations, to which Pinedo said Winters JUSD agrees with this concern and they “plan to do an in-depth
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