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Volume 8 Issue 206
Santa Monica Daily Press THE TALE OF BAY CITIES SEE PAGE 3
We have you covered
THE BABY STEPS ISSUE
Overhauling homework guidelines a tough sell
HOMELESS ISSUES
BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
Volunteers went out in the early morning hours and interviewed 222 homeless people over three consecutive days in May, taking their pictures and noting their general demographics, employment history, institutional abuse and health risk factors. Those who completed the interview were given a coupon to McDonald’s. “Once you’re out there and you see the people and look in their face, you just can’t turn around,” Va Lecia Adams, the executive director of St. Joseph Center, said. The surveyed homeless were evaluated on a vulnerability index consisting of several
SMMUSD HDQTRS Despite months spent overhauling the district’s homework policy, a new set of guidelines might not be ready in time for the start of the school year after a concerned Board of Education on Wednesday sent a draft version back to its staff for more tinkering. The board had issues with a number of areas, including a formula for the number of hours that students should spend on assignments, and certain verbiage that was reportedly removed by the Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association over issues of academic freedom. A committee of school administrators, teachers and parents have spent the past several months reviewing and modifying the existing policy after the district received concerns from parents and the Health and Safety District Advisory Committee that students receive an inordinate amount of homework, arguing that it takes children away from valuable time with their families. School board members directed staff to facilitate more meetings with the homework committee, placing an emphasis on a collaborative process between teachers and parents to address concerns over several specific areas that were originally included in a draft revision but removed in the most recent iteration. That included language which emphasized quality over quantity when handing out assignments, and that teachers may receive training in designing relevant, challenging and meaningful assignments that reinforce classroom learning objectives. Board members asked that the committee consider adding the language back. Several parents at the meeting expressed concerns that the language was taken out.
SEE HOMELESS PAGE 7
SEE HOMEWORK PAGE 11
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com
IN NEED: A homeless man sits on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard in Venice Thursday afternoon. St. Joseph Center on Thursday unveiled a new project aimed at securing housing and supportive services for 40 of the most vulnerable homeless people.
Housing Venice’s most vulnerable homeless BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
VENICE Somewhere on the streets lives a 59-year-old man who once served his country in the armed forces, today fighting a different kind of enemy — cancer, hepatitis C and kidney and liver diseases. Out of all the homeless individuals living in Venice, he’s considered to be the most at risk of dying. He is just one of 98 chronically homeless men and women recently identified by St. Joseph Center and New York-based Common Ground as being the most medically vulnerable, needing both shelter and
social services to have a chance at surviving. St. Joseph Center on Thursday unveiled a new project aimed at securing housing and supportive services for 40 of the individuals over the next two years, using approximately $724,000 in funds from L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s office, The Venice Chronic Homeless Intervention Project follows in the footsteps of the supervisor’s Project 50, aimed at finding housing for the most vulnerable in Skid Row, and a similar initiative in Santa Monica to take the top 10 most at-risk homeless individuals off the streets. The county’s project has been replicated in more than a dozen cities across the county.
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