Table Talk: A La Mesa Podcast

ICE in East County

What is ICE doing in our region? What can we do to speak out? For answers, we turn to a longtime community activist here in La Mesa, Mejgan Afshan of Borderlands for Equity. Here are links to some of the organizations mentioned: borderlandsequity.org [borderlandsequity.org] instagram.com/borderlandsequity [instagram.com/borderlandsequity] unipopular.org [https://www.unipopular.org/] uniondelbarrio.org [uniondelbarrio.org] instagram.com/uniondelbarrio [instagram.com/uniondelbarrio] instagram.com/sdbikebrigrade [instagram.com/sdbikebrigrade]

Grossmont Union - More shocking every week

After repeated attempts to help the Grossmont Union High School Board come to their senses and reconsider eliminating over 60 positions across the district, the board members persisted and finalized these cuts. Undeterred by the school board's resistance, community members - including the producers and host of this very podcast - have rallied and shifted their focus to recalling the four board members who put forward and followed through with these cuts. All of this came to a head when a bombshell dropped exposing the true nature and mindset of the board members in question. To discuss the current path of recall and the new bombshell of information, we've reached out to our teacher librarian at large Stephanie Macceca. To learn about the recall, visit RecalltheTrustees.com

The Hot Mic

If you have a child in the Grossmont Union High School District or just like staying in the know, you are probably aware of the recent uproar over cuts made by the school board. Parents and students alike showed up in full force to the March 11th board meeting to voice their concerns and plead with the board to reconsider their decision. In spite of this public outcry, the board appears to be hell bent on proceeding with the proposed budget cuts. Today we are very excited to continue our discussion of the GUHSD board's decision with local journalist Jakob McWhinney, the Voice of San Diego's education reporter.

GUHSD - What you can do

Every librarian will be fired next year in the Grossmont Union High School District, along with 40 other teachers.  Over 600 concerned students, parents, faculty members, and citizens showed up to the school board meeting to oppose these cuts - the auditorium at El Cajon Valley High School was full to capacity and people were filling the overflow room and standing outside as well.  But still, without explanation from a single school board member speaking in support of these cuts - and a budget surplus of $46 million, roughly 4 times the amount required by the state - the board voted to approve the firings, with only 1 member, Chris Fite, voting in opposition to these cuts.  So what exactly are our kids going to lose as a result of these job cuts?  And what can you do about it by showing up to the next meeting on March 11?   To answer these questions, we're talking with a teacher librarian from the school district who is also the vice president of the Grossmont Education Association: Stephanie Macceca from Valhalla High School. The next meeting you can attend is on Tuesday (March 11) at 4:30pm at Grossmont High School. For more details, visit bit.ly/save-guhsd-librarians

Firing the Librarians?

The Grossmont Union High School District is voting to make serious cuts to the budget - including cutting all nine teacher librarians in the district. We talk to Jay Steiger to find out what's going on. There are two meetings you can attend on this issue - one tonight (February 27) at 4:30pm and the other on March 11. For more details, visit bit.ly/save-guhsd-librarians