Next week Berryessa students will once again enter our campuses, eagerly awaiting the new year of school, ready and excited about learning. District staff has been working hard all summer to make sure the campuses are ready for all the activity they will be seeing.
Our new Superintendent, Mr. Will Ector, started on August 1, and has been getting to know our campuses, staff, and community. He has hit the ground running and will be a tremendous leader for our district. 
This morning, the district welcomed back all employees with a reception and kickoff event. Today is the first official day back at work for teachers. They, and all the staff, are what make our district a special place. Some employees have been with Berryessa for over 40 years, showing an amazing dedication to the education of our children. At the kickoff event, this year's employees of the year were recognized. They were nominated by their peers for doing exceptional work at their sites. There is one honoree from each of the employee groups. This year's teacher of the year is Marsha Yee, a resource specialist at Northwood Elementary School. The classified employee of the year is Judy Kling, who works in the special education department. Linda Talmage, a classified administrator in the Education Services Department, was honored as administrator of the year. Congratulations to these three dedicated employees.
Thanks to all the employees who work so hard for our children and our community. And welcome to an exciting new school year.
The Berryessa School District has been putting together plans for an innovative solar installation at each of our school sites. The plan is unique in that the installation will not cost the district anything, and the district will benefit from savings in electricity expenses as well as from sharing carbon credits in the future.
The project would be in partnership with a venture capital firm that would pay for all the design and construction and would own the solar panels. They would then sell electricity back to the district at a rate below the rate PG&E charges.
The project is financially viable as long as all construction is complete by the end of 2012, so that the funding party can take advantage of tax credits that are scheduled to expire at that time.
The district's contribution is the land at each site where solar would be installed. The Board has decided that we should not risk damage to our new roofs and therefore all solar installations will be ground mount or parking lot cover styles.
The Board will vote on August 23 to get the process moving. The next step after that will be a series of public hearings so that the public has a chance to view the designs and give feedback before designs are finalized later this fall.
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