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Eisenhower High School Is Entered Into The NFL High School Honor Roll

05 Feb 2016 2 Comments

“The golden football represents accomplishment,” said Terrell Davis. “It validates a lot of hard work that I put it in. The fact that no matter where you come from … it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.” http://www.nfl.com/sbhonorroll

As part of the nationwide Super Bowl 50 celebration, the NFL started the Super Bowl High School Honor Roll program to acknowledge schools and communities that have directly influenced Super Bowl history and impacted the game for the better.

High schools across the country, and around the globe, will be given a Wilson Golden Football for every player or head coach who graduated from the school and was on an active Super Bowl roster. More than 2,000 high schools and roughly 3,000 players and coaches will be recognized this season.

Eisenhower High School was lucky enough to be able to receive three of these coveted balls. Rialto has been the launching pad for three NFL players that reached the big game the SUPER BOWL.

David Lang – Lang was drafted in the 12th round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. On April 27, 1995 he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent. On April 27, 1995, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent. That season he was named the special teams captain and set the franchise single-season record for special teams tackles with 30, until it was broken the next year by Jim Schwantz (32). The Cowboys started keeping the stat in 1990. He was part of Super Bowl XXX winning team and retired at the end of the season. Lang founded the nonprofit organization “Legends by Lang” to mentor urban youths. He was shot and killed on May 21, 2005.

Ronnie Lott – Lott was born May 8, 1959, He attended Frisbee Junior High and Eisenhower High School in Rialto where he played football under Coach Bill Christopher and graduated in 1977. Lott considered his time at Eisenhower High School the best years of his life. It is commonly thought that he was the best player on his team, he started as a wide receiver in 1975 as a sophomore, started at wide receiver and safety in 1976 as a junior, and in 1977 he started at quarterback and safety. Lott played football for USC and played in the NFL Lott played for the San Francisco 49ers, LA Raiders, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. The football stadium was recently named after Lott, even though he never played in the stadium. Lott was also the winner of the 1977 Ken Hubbs Award, given to the greater San Bernardino, California area’s top male high school athlete. Lott was part of Superbowl’s XVI, XIX, XXIII and XXIV.

Here is a great Ronnie Lott highlight video

Craig Newsome – He was born August 10, 1971. He played for Eisenhower High School and attended San Bernardino Valley College and later transferred to Arizona State University. The Packers drafted Newsome with the 32nd pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. He was the starting cornerback on the 1996 Green Bay Packers championship team. He also had a forced fumble and an interception in Super Bowl XXXI. On September 19, 1999 the Packers traded Newsome to the 49ers. Now he coaches pee-wee football for Holmen Youth players, where his son Craig Newsome Jr. plays. Newsome played in Superbowl XXXI

Here is Newsome’s Interseption in Superbowl XXXI

More footage of Newsome along with some color comentary

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First round of Rialto Police Area Command meetings for 2016 review

04 Feb 2016 Leave a comment

So 2016 is underway and with that comes the first round of Area Command meetings held by the Rialto Police department. With recent retirements and promotions the program has gone through some major changes. Normally change would be bad but these changes have moved key people into great leadership roles. The Area Command program is now anchored once again by to great and passionate leaders in Lt. Kurkusky in the south and newly promoted Lt. Smith in the north.

We missed the first Area Command Meeting on the south end but covered the Area Command meeting in the north and since they share the same info this is a great breakdown of what happened.

Over 50 residents filled up an assembly room at the Sunrise church on north Riverside Ave. The program began with newly promoted Lt. Smith introducing himself.

After Lt. Smith’s introduction he had officer Wilson come up and talk about the Operation Lifesaver Program. Though the programs ideas sound good some are leary of it. One reason that people are leary of this program is the fact that we’re tracking people and creating a regular access point into someone’s home (“to change the battery”). Second is the style of equipment used it’s very old tech and reminds us of what was innovative back in the 80’s. Finally getting grants are good but with every grant comes a long list of rules you must follow and some out there don’t trust Washington at all.

Next up was Cpl. Marquez who had the original task of overseeing the Rialto Reentry Program but now has a long list of other programs that have been added to his plate. The Reentry program is the first thing Cpl. Marquez spoke about:

Next Cpl. Marquez spoke about the next program that he oversees which is the Crime Free Multi Housing Program. This is a program that is aimed at keeping multi housing projects safe:

Next Cpl. Marquez spoke about the Nixle Program a program where you can get direct information from the police department. He also goes over the Text to Tip portion of the program.

Next Cpl. Marquez talks about the Homeless Outreach program and explains what him team will do in this program.

Next up Councilman O’Connell goes over his first quarter Rialto Rap Up. This is where he talks about what is important to the community and he makes himself available to questions from the community. Here is a copy of the Press Release he is reading from:

Officer Anderson was next up to talk to the community about the Inland Regional Center Terrorist Attack in San Bernardino. Officer Anderson is a longtime SWAT Officer and former K9 Handler. He and his team were in the main fight when the two ISIS Terrorists were shot and killed.

Rialto Fire on scene at the San Bernardino Terrorist Attack.

Officer Anderson also talks about the Foundation that makes the Rialto Police K9 program possible The Friends Of Rialto Police K9 he invites the community to interact with the K9 program through their Facebook Page.

Next the Terrorism Detective from Rialto Police gave us a terrorism threat assessment training of some sort that was a little confusing. We have heard this Detective give presentations before and they seemed to flow better. The title of the powerpoint and a lot of the information that was given didn’t seem to match up.

Run Fight Hide

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Rialto High School Cheer Squad Wins 1st Place At State

25 Jan 2016 1 Comment

by rialto-now in Andy Carrizales, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, City of Rialto, Coffee Nutz, Colton, Fun, Inland Empire, Rialto, RUSD, San Bernardino, youth

The students of Rialto High School put our city on the map today and it was for something positive.

Rialto High Cheer just placed first at the CheerPros State Championships today which were held at the Citizens Bank Arena. They also won a full paid bid to the “Best of the West” Invitational in Long Beach. The Best of the West is on March 6th at CSULB and Nationals is March 18-20th at the Anaheim Convention Center. Below is a tweet from the Cheer Pros Twitter account that shows the top five finishers.

The team has placed first at their regional competitions for the past four years and will once again be representing Rialto at the USA Nationals Cheer Competition this March. The team is made up of incredible athletes and students.

More than just the first place team they support at every football and basketball game, pep rally, Rialto Family Festival, other community and school events all while training and competing in their own right.

Join us in recognizing this awesome team and their ability to represent for the city of Rialto.

Go Knights!!!!!!!!!

Young Rialto Resident Shows The True Spirit Of Christmas

26 Dec 2015 4 Comments

Tyler and his family as they drop off the boxes of toys at the Rialto Fire Station

Via the Rialto Fire Department Facebook Page we came across a young man who took his own time to plan a party that not only showed that he understands the meaning of Christmas but he took the time to share this with his classmates as well.

Tyler Nguyen is a 4th grader at Simpson Elementary School in Rialto. He comes from family who does volunteer work locally and in Downtown LA’s Skid Row district. His Christmas party was a toy drive also to benefit SoCal Firefighters’ Spark of Love. Tyler’s Mother coordinated with Rialto Fire to have Tyler visit the station and collect a box for his drive. Instead of getting presents for himself, all guests brought toys and sports equipment for undeserved kids for the holiday. Tyler and his friends enjoyed holiday crafts and home-cooked Vietnamese food. He helped with decorating, cooking, and entertaining his guests. With the generosity of family and friends, Tyler was able to collect 3 boxes full of toys. This was his first community service project and his family were very proud of him. On Monday, after his party, Tyler, his mom, and grandma went to deliver the toys to the fire department. The goal was to introduce Tyler to serving others and we brainstormed to find a creative way. This was also a great way for Tyler’s friends to get involved. Tyler and his family plan to continue this new tradition because they received great support from friends and family.

Tyler is just one of the many young people that are part of our community. This young man and his family are part of what makes Rialto great. It is people like these that show us what is of value and proves it is up to us the people in the community to support our fellow man.

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College and Career Fair will be held at the Rialto Community Center

11 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, Child Care Careers, City of Rialto, Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Rialto, rialto unified school district, RUSD, San Bernardino, youth

The City of Rialto and the Rialto Unified School District, College and Career Fair will be held at the Rialto Community Center. This event takes place Saturday, November 14 from 11:00am to 3:00pm. For more information, please contact us at (909) 820-2540.City of Rialto Rialto Unified School District

Rialto Now “Spotlight” on Former Rialto Unified Student Anahi Velasco

23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

Covering Rialto one story at a time Rialto Now on Facebook “LIKE” us!

When it comes to what types of stories drive traffic (people reading our blog) negative or stories of gloom and doom are the ones that drive people to your site. Even the larger media sources know that a hard hitting story of corruption or illegal activities will be very highly seen. What I love about our audience is that these “Spotlight” stories are all positive and you guys and gals read them just as much as the latest scandal to hit a local area here in Rialto.

We met Anahi Velasco through the personal Social Media post of Rialto Unified School District Public Relations Director Syeda Jafri she took a picture of some former students at Coffee Nutzz in Rialto and spoke about how Rialto grads are effecting and changing the world we live in. Well we reached out to Anahi and asked if she would participate in our “Spotlight” and she jumped at the chance.

Here you go:

Rialto Now – Who raised you? What were the occupations of your parents/caregivers?

Anahi Velasco – My parents worked hard to provide everything they could for us to succeed. My mom has generally worked at factories and my dad has been on disability since I was like 10 years old or so. We also created our own family-run business in San Bernardino to be able to afford a roof on our heads, food on the table and clothes on our back. I started working there when I was 12 and stopped when my school load increased dramatically during my junior year in high school.

Rialto Now – Pets? Are you a dog or cat person?

Anahi Velasco – I’m definitely a dog person!! I have my eleven-year old Chihuahua named Mini-Mi who had a very difficult time understanding that I wouldn’t be home anymore. When I moved out my first year of college, my mom told me that she would hide under the BBQ grill and wouldn’t come out to eat. My mom had to literally put food and water under the BBQ in order for her to actually eat. It was very sad! To my surprise, she somehow got pregnant (I am saying somehow because I thought she was too old to have more puppies), and had three puppies. One of those puppies looked identical to her when she was a puppy. I decided to keep her and name her “Bella” because she was as beautiful as her mother.

Rialto Now – What schools did you attend?

Anahi Velasco – Dunn Elementary School, Kolb Middle School and Eisenhower High School!

Rialto Now – What was your favorite year of school? What was your favorite subject?

Anahi Velasco – My favorite subject was chemistry because the teacher challenged us. Her goal was to prepare us for college, not for high school graduation. She was a great mentor for me who taught me the real value of family time. It’s because of her that I began to strengthen my relationship with my parents and opened up more conversations with them about what I’m doing at school and what I plan to do for my future.

Rialto Now – What are you passionate about?

Anahi Velasco – This is probably the most difficult question to ask me. I am passionate about so many things which is my biggest problem. If I had to choose one area that I’m passionate about though, it’d be education. In order to change the world, we need to be educated. I’m not only referring to our educational system though, I’m also talking about the education we receive at home. That education is the most important education that we’ll ever receive.

Rialto Now – What did you love about living in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I loved knowing that we have people from different cultures who get along. We have respect for each other’s cultures. I especially love the community-wide events because that’s when you see everyone come together.

Rialto Now – Where did you hang out in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I think I spent most of my time at Eisenhower! I had honors classes, AP classes and I was also enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College. I was at Eisenhower for most of my day to catch up on my homework, attend meetings, tutor other students, listen to my mentors or lead workshops. I had created a student-run organization with my friends and Mr. G, the former Career Center Technician at Eisenhower HS. So a lot of times I was running around on campus doing something for that organization. I also had an internship at Channel 3 with Gabriel Felton and an internship at the Rialto Unified School District, so I’d be there too throughout the week.

Rialto Now – Where was your favorite place to eat in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I can’t decide between George’s Burgers or a small taco place near the liquor store and the laundry mat. I love George’s Burger’s Swiss Burger and fries, yet I also loved the small talks that I had with the wonderful lady at the taco place. My mom would leave money with her so that I can stop by and eat quickly if I was going to stay at school late. She was always very kind and asked me questions about my future. She doesn’t work there anymore, but I’ll never forget her!

Rialto Now – Who are the top 2 people that influenced you here in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I can’t name 2 because there have been so many people in my life that have had a huge impact on my life and it wouldn’t be fair. They know who they are.

Rialto Now – Tell us about college. What school are you at? What is your major? Best thing about college & worst thing about college?

Anahi Velasco – I’m double majoring in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and Radio – TV – Film at California State University, Fullerton. The best thing about college is the amount of support professors and staff offer me. They are my best resources and always make time to meet with me if I need their guidance. They have experience in their fields and have lots of connections. The worst thing about college is parking and finding a nice affordable place to live (finding roommates too!)

Rialto Now – If money wasn’t an issue what would be your dream forever job?

Anahi Velasco – I don’t think I’ve ever realistically thought of money as being one of the biggest factors of what my “dream job” would be. I’ve listened to so many high-level executives say over and over again that we need to follow our passion and money would come after. So without saying any position titles or specific occupations, I’d say my dream job is to interact and engage with the youth to listen to their stories and share their triumphs. Everyone has barriers that keep them from moving forward, but only a few are successful in overcoming their barriers and using it as a motivation for their future.

Rialto Now – What would you tell young people today that you wish you would have known when you were young?

Anahi Velasco – I wish I would have been able to recognize all of the sacrifices and huge efforts my parents make for me to succeed. I didn’t notice all of the little things until my second semester of sophomore year in high school. I sincerely wish I would have invited my parents to all of the parent meetings they held at school or back to school nights. I always felt like they were too busy or would be tired to attend, so I didn’t invite them.

During my junior and senior year in high school, they took me everywhere. If I had a meeting, they were the first to offer to take me even though I told them I could walk. I was also enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College program, so they took me to school as early as 6:30am and picked me up as late as 10:00pm.

My mom also tried her best to always provide me with snacks and food. Many times I would be so busy that I forgot to eat, but I would always be able to count on one of my backpack pockets to have some sort of snack. I didn’t expect it, but it was always there. Even to this day, when I visit my parents on the weekends, I drive back to Orange County and find snacks hidden throughout my car. I absolutely love my parents!

I know that some youth have trouble recognizing the efforts our parents back and sometimes even feel like our parents don’t understand us. Well, how could they possibly understand us if we don’t talk to them? If we don’t communicate with them and share our struggles and successes with them? It’s all about communication. We need to communicate with each other and value each other for who we are. I’m not ashamed to say that I love my parents and although I excluded them from certain events throughout middle school and high school, they were my main motivation to succeed.

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Rialto Unified School District Hears Parents Concerns and Responds With Help

09 Oct 2015 1 Comment

Dollahan Elementary gets a RUSD Public safety Officer

Parents at the local school of Dollahan Elementary watched school drop off and pick up times become a major issue. The issues were wide spread out on the street Etiwanda Ave, in the City Park that is in front of the school (Flores Park) and inside the enclosed oddly shaped parking lot. We have covered numerous stories of issues that almost led to dire consequences and we fielded a lot of calls from the city, school district and police.

Well the school district has had the appropriate reaction to our pleading for more safety at this Elementary school. Monday September 28th Rialto Unified School District Public Safety Department has had a Public Safety Officer on site keeping things safer inside of the school parking lot. You may ask what has changed by adding a Public Safety Officer? Well here are the changes:

No longer do parents double and triple park bringing the traffic flow to a dead stop.
The angry pushy bus drivers no longer come into the parking lot blaring their horns.
Areas that are labeled for buses or Day Care Vans no longer have parents parking there.
Staff and District vehicles are no longer driving on the side walks while kids are preparing to leave for the day.
Parents and children are now safer inside the parking lot.

What hasn’t changed is the total disregard for parking rules in Flores Park and traffic on Etiwanda Ave where the issue of angry parents and fighting over traffic supremacy and the ZERO enforcement of traffic by the city or police. Parents still speed up and down local neighborhood streets, road rage controls Etiwanda Ave, the crossing guard is nearly taken out on a daily basis and the city should remove all of the red curb paint and handicap markings because nobody pays any attention to them and Rialto PD seems to have an issue enforcing the CVC code.

One of the latest issues that sits solely on the shoulders of the city is the sidewalks. When Marcus Fuller was the Public Works Director residents complained about the 1000’s of lifted sidewalks in the Flores Park Area. Mr. Fuller’s remedy was to grind some of those sidewalks and the others they used black asphalt to create ramps. So like everything else Mr. Fuller did in Rialto it was a halfway attempt to fix a problem and now things are worse than before. Here is why:

When the asphalt was laid down it was allowed to spill over and damage residents lawns and properties.
The asphalt didn’t fuse together correctly so it has began to fall apart and denigrate.
Since parents that don’t want to fight the traffic that the police can’t get under control they walk their kids and there has been a recent spike in people falling and injuring themselves.
With speeding up and down residential streets at an uncontrolled high, the neighborhood street that should be a safe place for kids to ride bikes and skateboards isn’t an option so the kids have been pushed onto sidewalks. The pitted and uneaven sidewalks have left local children with an increase in injuries.

Calls and conversations with the new Public Works Director Robert Eisenbeisz have left us with no solutions. The only thing Mr. Eisenbeisz has said is that “IF” measure “I” money comes in from SANBAG then we can look at Etiwanda Ave.

Normally this is where I would tell people to speak up and demand action but that doesn’t work anymore. If your not in the political favor of Mayor Robertson or the “Liberal Park Councilman” Joe Baca Jr. or the “Pay For Me To Travel One More Time Councilman” Ed Scott your not getting ANYTHING!!!! The city leadership doesn’t seem to care about the community, the brown act or just being transparent. The city and the many departments don’t do anything all they do is point the finger at someone else.

So what is ironic about this is the School District is the only party here that had an appropriate response to issues within their sphere of influence and a level of appreciation goes out to the Public Safety Department for their quick and timely response.

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Rialto Police Department Raids Fontana NOS Shop

04 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

When you hear the word NOS what comes to mind? For most of you it probably is the illegal street racing scene or even the Fast & Furious movie series. NOS is a pressurized non flammable gas that is used to inject a high amount of oxygen into a vehicle to increase speed it is commonly referred to as the poor mans turbo. The word NOS has much more dire meanings to some local folks than a movie or an illegal activity.

NOS has medical applications as stated below:

Mixed with oxygen and used for medical purposes (using tanks and cylinders) nitrous oxide is seen as a safe product to use.

What has parents, doctors and Public Safety official’s concerned in the recreational use of this harmful chemical is the effects it can have on a persons body when used without medical approval and monitoring. The risks are below:

Short term risks can include brain damage, asphyxiation, tissue damage, lung damage, hearing loss, choking and accidents.

Long term risks may include addiction and dependency, spinal chord damage, vitamin B12/folic acid depletion, decreased fertility, decreased immunity to infections, bone marrow damage, and emotional and mental health problems.

Youth abuse this as a drug by filling balloons from pressurized canisters and inhale the substance. It has a growing popularity within the house party element and is hard for Law Enforcement to detect because it doesn’t leave a smoke or other distinct way to detect the drug use. Also training on this drug is just hitting the law enforcement main stream and with cameras and other technology needs taking center stage not many agencies have tasked officer to receive this training.

This tragedy has hit Rialto & the Inland Empire when Councilman Ed Scott’s son fell victim the consequences of this drug when the car he was ridding in was involved in a crash where the driver was found to be under the influence of the NOS chemical.

The main problem is news agencies have been stonewalled but several agencies have now agreed to provide records so we should see more data start to come in. Areas where use is concentrated is areas where teens normally gather and being in a vehicle isn’t suspicious. Some local areas where this NOS use has been seen is Inland Center Mall parking lot, Orange Show Events Center, Ontario Mills & local parks and house parties. Jerry Eaves Park on Ayala Ave in Rialto has been a hot bed of suspicious use and apparent NOS use as in random parking stalls you will find used balloons making you wonder if a random party took place there.

Anthony Ybarra from Inland Empire Youth 4 Today said “Youth are not being taught what this stuff is doing to your body and the risks involved” “Plus more and more adults in youth’s lives are too busy leaving the door open for negative people to get a young persons life and lead them down the wrong road” to reach them click here

http://abc7.com/news/fontana-auto-repair-shop-raided-for-selling-nitrous-oxide-to-minors/961638/

http://www.fade.org.nz/alcohol-and-drug-info/nos/

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/nitrous-505478-oxide-police.html

http://www.examiner.com/article/man-sentenced-death-of-councilman-s-son

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National Night Out in Rialto & the Inland Empire

09 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

Well if you were unaware National Night Out the nationwide event to snuff out crime and to foster positive relationships between the community and Law Enforcement was on August 4th. Many cities locally took part in this years event but not as many as years past.

Rialto, Fontana, Grand Terrace, & San Bernardino all had National Night Out festival events this year. Cities like Riverside & Upland encouraged their communities to hold individual block parties and public safety personnel traveled from event to event.

On the large festival side Rialto came out as a top performer with the amount of items offered all in one area. Two of the biggest draws every year are the rides in police cars (no handcuffs required) and the Gourmet Food Trucks secured by Market Solution Services.

Probably the best music all night was the live music preformed by All Star National Anthem Performer Alexa Capelli who not only sang the National Anthem see it here but also preformed some awesome music for the crowd (see her performances on our Youtube Channel). Once she began to sing the crowd came up to the stage Leslie Parks of Rialto said “I have never heard such a powerful voice in my life” and little Stephanie Ramirez age 8 said “one day I want to be as pretty as her and sing just like her”.

Other awesome live performers brought by Lil Saint Productions were Elizabeth R Estrella and Christian Rapper Carl Fontaine. Rialto Police appear to spare no expense in putting this event together. We heard that the planning meeting was a all hands on deck type of feel.

Close on Rialto’s heels was the Lydo Apartments & ATAP After School Program that held the only large National Night Out program in San Bernardino August 4th. The San Bernardino program offered a lot of what Rialto offered and promised to step it up and put San Bernardino on the map.

Other large events were in Grand Terrace, Montclair and Fontana. Fontana held their event at Fontana Park in the area known as Summit. They had vendors, food and Mc Gruff the Crime Dog. Kids got to get there face painted and take pictures with police officer and many different vehicles. See a great photo from Edward Ornelas below.

Held on August 8th was the National Night Out event in Perris Ca. Perris Mayor Daryl Busch said residents will gain a new appreciation for law enforcement and public safety at National Night Out.

“It is a great, and I want to emphasize great, outreach effort on the part of our public safety folks to show all the varied aspects of their jobs,” Busch said. “Most people only see police on motorcycles or in patrol cars, but this event provide the chance to view the full spectrum of services they provide to our community.”

Perris officials we’re on hand to accept a plaque for their continuing support of law enforcement and public safety. The day’s activities included static displays, food and drink vendors, as well as games and jumpers for children. Taken from http://www.cityofperris.org/news/2015_stories/08-04-15_national-night-out.html

There were cities that went with the smaller block parties but Riverside had over 20 block parties going on all over the city. Upland also went the block party route and Councilwoman Carol Timm posted on Facebook pictures of her and public safety officials going from block party to block party.

Some remarked that it is vital that Upland gets in and around the community as the Pro Drug Lobby is currently working to attack the Ordnance that Upland has to ban Medical Marijuana shops in the city of Upland.

No matter what city your in one thing is true we need to stop fighting our Public Safety officers and we need to collaborate together to help make everyone’s life more enjoyable.

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School starts in Rialto with new superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila at the helm

06 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, City of Rialto, Colton, Crime, Currupt, Edgar Montes, Joe Baca Jr, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, rialto unified school district, RUSD, San Bernardino, SB Sun, youth Tags: Cuauhtémoc, eisenhower high school, Rialto, Rialto Unified School District, RUSD, Scott Sparks

Can one person really make a difference? Well, I guess it all depends on the person’s position and the scale of the change. In Rialto they made a change to the top level official in Rialto Unified School District, but what Rialto parents and community members are looking for may not happen right away if at all.

Credit RUSD twitter account

Rialto Unified has been full of scandals and challenges over the years. Some of them you can read about in the article Beau Yarbrough from The Sun Newspaper wrote about the Superintendent’s first day of school tour (a tour only some news media was informed about apparently) read his article here. What Beau’s article misses to point out is the rampant culture of abusive staff, the constant struggle between parents and local administrators, loss of thousands of dollars in local control funding to RUSD elementary sites and the issues that come with having schools that are policed by over taxed and dangerous cities like Colton and San Bernardino.

We were not able to be a part of this First Day of School tour with new Superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila but at National Night Out we were able to speak with Scott Sparks, Principal of Eisenhower High School and some of the many staff from around the district. All were ready to meet their students Wednesday morning. We asked Mr. Sparks if he was ready for the first day, he said with much enthusiasm that we’re ready and excited for the students. Eisenhower has been a shinning jewel for the RUSD. Mr. Sparks in his third year as Principal of Eisenhower High has been reaching out to the community to seek out the best learning experience for the students in his care. He is also lucky to have stories of concerned staff helping children outside of work hours. Like when Mark Steeter, a teacher at Eisenhower High School ended up saving a toddler’s life on his 30th wedding anniversary trip over Memorial Day weekend.

One statement Beau got from new Superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila was that he had changes but he wanted to move slowly. This isn’t sitting well with parents who are struggling. Many parents of special education students were looking for new Superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila to make quick changes and help them get a proper education for their children.

It looks like we are in a wait and see pattern with new Superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila. Only time will tell in we see positive changes and results for our students in Rialto Unified School District.