Highlights, low points of the news of the week – Chico Enterprise-Record



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HIT: This week, Dr. Samia Yaqub, Superintendent / President of the Butte-Glenn Community College District, announced her intention to retire on June 30, 2022. Dr. Yaqub, who began her career at Butte College 37 years ago in as a teaching assistant in ESL and writing, was appointed superintendent / president in 2016.

Yaqub showed great leadership and strength while navigating Butte College through a series of recent disasters, including the emergency evacuation of the Oroville Dam spillway, the campfire, the bear fire, numerous PG&E power outages and the current COVID-19 crisis. She has overseen J-Measure construction projects, including the completion of a new welding and fabrication building, renovations to other facilities, and the current construction of a new Glenn County center. Yaqub has led efforts to ensure fair and inclusive practices across Butte College.

Through it all, Yaqub has been an accomplished professional, keeping students, faculty, and staff as his beacon. It didn’t hurt that she had a reputation for being welcoming, caring, kind and approachable.

The board will soon be launching recruiting efforts to find its next superintendent / president, but Yaqub will be a tough act to follow. We wish her a happy retirement and thank her for her job well done.

MISS: The toll of COVID-19 on our students – both on student health and the impact of missing classroom time – will undoubtedly be felt for many years and decades to come.

Typically, however, one group of students might suffer even more than others: those with special needs. From statewide budget issues to staffing issues, people with disabilities are too often the first to have their needs ignored.

Case in point: A class action lawsuit has been filed claiming that the California Independent Study Framework is excluding thousands of students with disabilities who need special in-person services to learn.

According to an EdSource article written by Carolyn Jones, the complaint alleges that students at high risk of COVID, such as those with immune disorders, weakened lungs or an inability to wear a mask, cannot attend the in-person school for security reasons, but districts do not provide the help these students need to participate in independent studies.

At a time when the state threw out COVID funds like Halloween candy, it’s inexcusable.

About 13 percent of public school students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 in California are in special education. They deserve and need well over 13% of the attention.

HIT: As the lake levels continue to dip into unexplored water levels, it is good to see some steps taken so that the people who paid for this water storage – whether you are yourself – can still enjoy it. .

The news that the Department of Water Resources is using this opportunity during the drought to repair and extend the Loafer Creek boat launch on Lake Oroville is fantastic.

Construction has already started at the launch with excavators and bulldozers preparing for the extension. Many roads near the boat launch as well as the Loafer Creek Campground and ramp accesses were blocked and boarded up, mainly due to the gap between the edge of the ramps and the water itself.

Construction will continue until the fall and winter rains raise the lake level. Obviously this part can’t come soon enough – but good on DWR to extend the boat launch while he has the chance.

MISS: Look, we know all teams play by the same rules, and that’s what can happen because of the wildcard game setup, but that doesn’t make it all look right.

Why do the two most successful baseball teams in the world go head to head in the first playoff round?

That means the San Francisco Giants (107 wins) or Los Angeles Dodgers (106) will be watching from home in a week’s time while a team with a comparatively lower record will play in the National League Championship Series.

We understood. These are the rules. You cannot change them now. But the end result could be that the World Series looks almost anticlimactic; it’s hard to imagine a more anticipated clash than the Giants versus the Dodgers.

In the meantime, have a good walk. It has been a fantastic baseball season for two of America’s oldest sporting rivals.

Successes and failures are compiled by the editorial board.

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