Tehachapi News

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This coming year will present everyone in the State of California with major challenges. The Governor has told us that we face a $14 billion shortfall and he's laid out cuts for every state and local organization. Our state educational organizations have told us that school districts could face shrinking budgets and the numbers look like anywhere from a five to 10 percent reductions with likely cuts in the area of 7 percent in the near term.

In addition the state has told us they intend to postpone payment dates on the money they do send us. So we'll have to scrimp and save until those payments come in, and that could be as late as next school year, sometime in September of 2008.

We won't be letting budget constraints place constraints on excellence. The good thing is that the District does have sufficient reserves to make it through, if we are careful. On the plus side the district is developing an ongoing relationship with the new UC campus in Merced and will be starting a UC Passport program to help students qualify for admittance to the UC campuses. We are also developing programs with UC Merced and the UC President's Office to begin to increase the flow of eligible scholarship dollars for our Tehachapi Students. 

We've got one of the best district's in Kern County and our students all should have the opportunity to go on to higher education. 

Golden Hills Elementary School mourns dedicated kindergarten teacher
The Golden Hills staff would like to thank the community of Tehachapi and Tehachapi Unified School District staff for their tremendous outpouring of support and understanding during our recent loss of beloved kindergarten teacher Mrs. Dory Nelson. 

Mrs. Nelson taught kindergarten in room K-1 at Golden Hills for over sixteen years! She was responsible for directly impacting students' educational careers since she was the first teacher to lead them down the path of learning.

Staff members and students remember her fondly dressed as a cowboy, a pilgrim, Winnie the Pooh and a host of other crazy characters throughout the school year. More importantly people have paid her the ultimate compliment by saying, “She was a teacher.” 

Although we all miss Mrs. Nelson tremendously, her lively spirit and dedication to students has inspired us to continue offering the students at Golden Hills the best educational experience possible.

— Pat Thomas, Principal