At the Dec. 19 meeting of the Los Banos Unified School District Board, the winners of the Nov. 5 elections were sworn in, and outgoing board member Gary Munoz was recognized. Additionally, a $4.9 million project to replace all lights in the district with energy-saving LEDs was given the greenlight.
Also at the meeting, FFA members and GED graduates were recognized for their accomplishments.
Luis Castro (Area 4), Lori Gattuso (Area 6) and Dr. Jessica Moran (Area 2) were sworn in after winning their respective elections. Anthony Parreira (Area 5) was chosen to continue his duties as Board President. Gene Lieb (Area 1) was chosen as Vice-President, with Lori Gattuso chosen to be Clerk.
The board approved a $4.9 million project to switch the entire district to LED lighting, which is being paid with a zero-interest loan from PG&E. The loan will be repaid over the course of 10 years, as an additional charge on the electric bill. The project will be done by Syserco Energy Solutions and comes as the state plans to ban fluorescent and incandescent light sales. The project will also save the school district thousands of dollars per school.
Additionally, a contingency budget was established for the New Early Education Center, or TK-Center, of $1.4 million. The board also approved a change order in the walk-in freezer for Los Banos Junior High School. The change order adds $54,239.06 for the refrigeration equipment. Originally the plan was to buy it separately from the construction contractor, but now it will be bought from the contractor.
The FFA students were recognized at the meeting by agriculture instructor Stuart McCullough. Pacheco High’s Cotton Judging team did a “clean sweep” of the year’s competitions, winning first place in everything including at the national convention held in Indianapolis at the end of October. The cotton judging consists of Ruby Martin (highest individual overall nationally), Erica Iniguez (second highest), Monserat Garcia (third highest) and Kaylie Bettencourt (eighth highest).
In the Agriscience Fair, Camila and Alani Rodriguez, from LBJH, teamed up on a project that studied cane and bate sugar. According to McCullough, they won first place in California, and ninth place in the nation. Riley McCarthy from LBJH placed eighth in the nation for an experiment on “the longevity of fresh cut flowers with the use of a penny.”
Ingrid Lin-Garcia won the state championship for Spanish Creed and placed twelfth in the national competition. Andrea Aguilar won the 4th place position.
The Pacheco High School’s FFA chapter was recognized as a national two-star program by the national FFA conference. Their charter has only existed for 14 years.
Jaylene Veraga, from Los Banos High Schol, was chosen to fill a spot on California’s voting delegation at the national convention, filling one of the only 28 spots.
McCullough ended his presentation with a speech about the importance of agriculture and why he teaches it. He teaches to watch students grow and do “things they never thought they’d do in high school,” from public speaking to hands-on livestock skills.
Gary Munoz, the outgoing board member for Area 4, was recognized for the work he did in two terms and his “visionary leadership” in the creation of the adult school program.
Three graduates of San Luis High’s Adult School were introduced to the board by GED instructor Mrs. McIsaac: Karen Lopez, Sandra Nunez and Rosario Valasco. With cap and gown, all three were part of a graduation ceremony at the meeting. Silvana Velasquez Bernardo, Vanessa Bojorquez and Fatima Bolano also graduated but were unable to attend.
