CUSD board honors kNOw MORE club, discusses new school

a 3D rendering of Clovis Unified’s newest elementary school. Located in the Clovis East area on Shields and Locan Avenues. (Courtesy of Clovis Unified School District)

Student members and advisors of the kNOw MORE Club gave a special presentation at the Clovis Unified School Board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The kNOw MORE Club shared information about the “Wear Orange 4 Love Day” coming up on Feb. 12 in honor of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.

The club is established on all five CUSD high schools with funding support from the Foundation for Clovis Schools.

Fresno County Department of Public Health initiated the kNOw MORE Teen Dating Violence / Domestic Violence Education and Prevention Program in 1998, aiming to provide knowledge and resources to teens and students affected by domestic violence.

After it was cut due to lack of funding, the Marjaree Mason Center adopted the program in 2009 to continue the peer education program in partnership with Fresno-area high schools.

“It educates students on components of healthy relationships. The statistics are staggering. One in three teens experience some type of teen dating abuse,” said Katie Harding, club advisor at Clovis West. “Currently the kNOw MORE club is in 14 schools throughout the county in five districts. Five of those schools are in Clovis Unified.”

The CUSD board also honored nine athletic teams for taking Valley Championships during the fall season, including the Clovis East gymnastics team which had league championships for the first time ever.

Wednesday’s meeting also included an update on the process to prepare for Clovis’ new elementary schools near Shields and Locan avenues.

Clovis assistant superintendent of facility services, Kevin Peterson, discussed the boundaries adjustments for the new school.

Peterson said part of the goal is to create long-lasting boundaries, making sure the district doesn’t have to make many boundary changes in the future.

He added that it is important to establish communication during the process to make sure they can express any concerns.

“We want to make sure they are heard,” Peterson said. “Nobody wants to make a boundary change, but certainly I think most of our community understands that in order to build a new school and to create a new environment, we have to make some adjustments.”

Peterson said the community has been involved in many ways so far, including meetings at every school site and online feedback forms.

Peterson said the proposed boundary changes can affect Reagan and Freedom elementary schools.

The boundary changes would be effective in August, 2020.

“The changes would affect the current fourth graders, so the current fifth grade students would stay at their elementary schools next year,” Peterson said. “No secondary students will be moved.”

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