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Press
Contact: |
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cisco
DeVries (Mayor's Office), 510-981-7103 BERKELEY
TO KICK OFF YOUTH AND EDUCATION SUMMIT ON MARCH 29 Community
foundations join Mayor Bates and School Board President Rivera to launch
unprecedented collaborative effort to improve services to schools, kids,
and families. Berkeley, CA – Berkeley,
CA – Mayor Tom Bates and School Board of Education President Joaquin
Rivera will co-convene a Berkeley Youth and Education Summit on March 29.
In a sign of broad community support for this collaborative effort,
the Berkeley Community Fund and the Berkeley Public Education Foundation
will sponsor the Summit Kick-off and seek ways to support the goals set during the Summit. The
Summit Kick-off comes after months of work with community partners, school
officials, and city staff to identify where improved coordination can
strengthen services, maximize funding, and help kids. The goal is to agree upon a clear vision for Berkeley’s
youth and families – including family support services, school safety,
before and after school programs, mentoring programs, and a partnership
between the City library system and the schools – and set clear
implementation goals. “We
are all coming together to rally this community around helping our
children get the best possible education. Our children are the
responsibility of the entire community – not just the school system,” said
Mayor Bates. “In the
midst of this budget crisis, we need to pull together and mount a campaign
to ensure children don’t suffer because of funding cuts.” “We
appreciate this effort by Mayor Bates,” said School Board President
Rivera. “With the current budget situation throughout California, we
are going to need even greater community support if we are going to save
programs unique to the Berkeley public schools.” Berkeley
Public Education Foundation and the Berkeley Community Fund both voted to
join as full partners in the Summit Kick-off and to help lead the efforts
that will follow. In
addition, both community foundations agreed to coordinate with the goals that will emerge from
the Summit Kick-off work sessions. The
Summit Kick-off will be held on March 29 from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. at the
Berkeley Alternative High School at 2701 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. (Members of the public should email the Mayor’s
office at mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us
if they are interested in attending.) #
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