by Juliana Birnbaum Fox
Swine flu fears led authorities to close a San Jose high school and quarantine a sick Marine at a Southern California base Wednesday as the number of confi rmed cases statewide grew to 14. A small group of public and private schools have closed in California because of confirmed swine flu cases or investigations into illnesses.
Teachers at Highlands Elementary School in the eastern San Francisco Bay area city of Pittsburg contacted parents Tuesday night to tell them the school will be closed for a week after tests from Contra Costa County health offi cials revealed three probable cases among fourth-graders, Superintendent Barbara Wilson said. The cases had yet to be confi rmed by the state.
The Mexican Consulate General has a telephone line operated by Health Window personnel in this diplomatic office for consultations re- garding the swine flu – (415)-354-1725. Likewise, the web site of this Consulate (www.consulmexsf.com) contains important hyper-links that we recommend you consult regarding this issue, including a telephone directory of the diverse County Department of Health offices in Northern California.
Oakland city council votes unanimously to enable affordable home ownership
On Tuesday night, residents of East and West Oakland celebrated when the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to use the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds – $5.025 million – to fund to Oakland Community Land Trust and create permanently affordable home ownership.
Last year, on May 7th, community leaders and foreclosure victims in East Oakland took to the streets to demonstrate the need to stabilize neighborhoods devastated by the Foreclosure Crisis. For a year, concerned citizens have been working with the Urban Strategies Council to develop a plan for the Oakland Community Land Trust.
Mission District Head Start teachers gain their degrees in innovative program
Mission Neighborhood Centers (MNC) is celebrating the graduation of four dedicated staff members who started as Head Start parents in the preschool program. Later, they were hired as teachers, and recently all four graduated with Bachelor Degrees from the San Francisco Head Start Dual Language Program at San Francisco State University.
The four MNC graduates were part of the first of two cohorts working on their BA degrees at SFSU. The Soy Bilingüe approach (which means “I am Bilingual”) was created to meet specifi c workforce demands of the Latino community preparing preschool teachers to work with bilingual and monolingual children and their families.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors holds budget hearings on funding for families and youth
Activists organized to bring their voices to Wednesday’s public hearings on the city’s proposed budget and how it will affect programs for children and families.
“The Mayor’s proposed budget will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors on June 1 and it is critical that the community lets the Board know what they should be fi ghting for,” advised organizers from Coleman, an advocacy group for children.
There are over $10 million in proposed budget cuts to services for children, youth and families for the next fi scal year, including programs for violence prevention, recreation, youth employment, after-school, education, and public school wellness.
