 Jim Shoemake has been selected to serve as the Superintendent of Schools by the Rescue Union School District’s Board of Trustees. Rescue is a transitional kindergarten through eighth-grade district that serves 3,600 students spanning Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Rescue and Shingle Springs. Jim took the helm of Rescue on July 1 after outgoing superintendent Cheryl Olson retired.
Jim discussed: recent bright spots in the Rescue USD; Outdoor Education initiatives; and COVID-related updates. The recent happy moments were the welcome back to schools of students that had been away for about two years. Red carpet walks and festivals made the return fun. Since kids can't go out for many field trips, they are bringing the field trips to the schools. The district spent $150K to allow more classes to meet outdoors without masks -- purchases included plastic bucket seats and rubber mats for dry sitting on the ground.
The COVID updates included describing the July 12, 2021 mask mandate requiring universal masking of CA K-12 students and staff when indoors. This has caused little to no issues with staff and students. COVID testing has found 159 positive cases among students which generated modified quarantines for 2000 students. Only one case was traceable to an infection from attending school. The governor's vaccination mandate by 7/22 is causing issues. Many parents say they won't be sending their kids to traditional RUSD schools if that is in effect -- this adds up to 30% of RUSD students. Statewide student walkouts as protest are happening one day per month. The fiscal impact of 2 of these walkouts (Oct. & Nov.) exceed $110,000. The club warmly thanked Jim for his timely and important presentation. |
