West Contra Costa Unified School District

Last updated
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Location
United States
District information
Type Public
GradesK-12, Alternative Education, Adult Education
EstablishedJuly 1, 1965 [1]
SuperintendentChris Hurst
BudgetRevenue: $338,673,000
Expenditures: $425,711,000 [2]
Students and staff
Students32,197 [2]
Athletic conferenceJamela Smith-Folds
Other information
Website www.wcc-usd.com

The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD; formerly known as Richmond School District) is the school district for western Contra Costa County, California. It is based in Richmond, California. In addition to Richmond, the district covers the cities of El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, and Hercules and the unincorporated areas of Bayview-Montalvin Manor, East Richmond Heights, El Sobrante, Kensington, North Richmond, and Tara Hills.

Contents

History

The district currently has six neighborhood-assignment high schools, six neighborhood-assignment middle schools, and thirty-six neighborhood-assignment elementary and primary schools along with various continuation and alternative schools. The district website offers a graphical interactive tool for figuring out the boundaries and locations for neighborhood-assignment schools. [3]

The WCCUSD incurred $42.5 million in debt when the then-named Richmond Unified School District went bankrupt in 1990 under Superintendent Walter Marks and the state, under court order, financed district operations. The bankruptcy affected the credit rating of the City of Richmond, therefore the name was changed. In 1991 the district had to be bailed out by the state. [4] As of Fall 2005, the school district is $7 million in debt. The district has been lobbying IBM to forgive 5 million dollars in debt from obsolete computers purchased in 1989. [5] To decrease expenditures, the district planned to close schools over the following two years.[ when? ] [6]

Boundary

The district includes, in addition to Richmond: Bayview, East Richmond Heights, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Kensington, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond, Pinole, Rollingwood, San Pablo, and Tara Hills. It also includes the majority of Hercules. [7]

ACLU lawsuit

In 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the district for the "decrepit" conditions at Community Day School. [8] The alternative school was reported to have no electricity, heating, or bathrooms in addition to rampant rodent and feline excrement. [8] Furthermore, the roof was leaking, there were insufficient seats or desks for students and mushrooms were found to be growing from the floor. [8] Two-thirds of students were also reported as being chronically truant. [8] It was also noted that there was not usually a math or science teacher available. [8] Students needing to use a bathroom facility needed to be escorted by staff to Gompers Continuation High School. [8] The stated goal of the suit was to improve the learning conditions and available supplies and opportunities for the small school body. [8]

High schools

Charters

Continuation schools

[9]

Middle schools

Charters

K-8 schools

Elementary schools

Charters

Notes

  1. WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: BASIC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT: YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2004
  2. 1 2 Search for Public School Districts - District Detail for West Contra Costa Unified U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Data from 2004-2005. Accessed on 2007-09-16.
  3. "SchoolSite Locator by Davis Demographics". 2010-06-20. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  4. "Incumbents do well in Contra Costa". San Francisco Chronicle. November 5, 1997. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  5. "Cash-Strapped Richmond Schools Ask IBM To Forgive Debt". foxreno.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2020-07-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "Potential School Closures". abclocal.go.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2009-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Contra Costa County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved 2022-12-25.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "ACLU sues West Contra Costa school district over conditions at Richmond alternative school". East Bay Times. 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  9. "School Directory" (PDF). wcc-usd.com.
  10. "Betty Reid Soskin, Groundbreaking Park Ranger, to Have East Bay Middle School Renamed in Her Honor". KQED. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  11. 🖉 "East Bay Middle School Renamed for Pioneering Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin — on Her 100th Birthday". KQED. 23 September 2021.
  12. "News Detail". ktvu.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2004.

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