With America awash in guns and gun violence, the shocking fact is that school shootings have become the “new normal.”

In 2018 and 2019, the country suffered through a combined, record-breaking total of nearly 200 school shooting incidents.

When teachers and the community stand shoulder-to-shoulder, marching in support of school kids, good things usually happen.

This story is worth re-telling, because it is a powerful lesson all of us should remember: Citizen activism works! When the City proposed a 20 percent cut in City support for our schools, teachers, and students, the Irvine community responded, and leaders listened.

Important Update: Citizen engagement in Irvine has stopped a proposed 20 percent cut in annual City funding for our schools, teachers and students.

Each weekday morning, Monday through Friday, there is a crush of traffic: teachers and staff driving to school; teenage high school drivers; and parents driving to school to drop off their own kids, while dodging young pedestrians and bicyclists.

Some months ago, I watched a televised IUSD briefing on school security, describing available security measures that include installation of reinforced doors and lockdown hardware, video surveillance, and other protective measures.

The Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) is transitioning from “at-large” elections of School Board members to a system of five geographically distinct, smaller “Area” elections.

As I have reported previously, starting with this November’s election, voters in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) are going to be electing School Board members in a new manner.

The Irvine Unified School District (IUSD), with nearly 200,000 Irvine residents, is transitioning from a single, district-wide, “at-large” election system to a system of five sub-districts, known as “Areas.” 

This November 6th, voters in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) are going to be electing two School Board members in a new manner.   Instead of voting for candidates who are running district-wide — in a so-called “at-large” election — IUSD is now divided into five smaller geographic voting areas.