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Morgan Hill Unified School District’s superintendent sent out a March 7 letter to all “employees, parents, guardians and students” regarding the district’s strategy to allow for student participation in planned school walkouts and protests.

At 72 years old and one week removed from being struck by a car while walking his dogs on La Crosse Drive, Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee Gino Borgioli was determined to attend the March 6 meeting.

With the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s board of education set to convene March 6 for a regularly scheduled meeting at the 15600 Concord Circle headquarters, three of the seven board members will participate via teleconference for varying reasons.

A board of education trustee for Morgan Hill Unified School District is in the hospital Feb. 27, recovering from serious injuries one day after being hit by a car while walking his two dogs in the Paradise Valley neighborhood.

Live Oak High School student Sarah Ann Leal recently placed fifth in Public Speaking at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Bay Section Leadership Conference, according to the chapter’s advisor.Leal was in competition with some powerful Bay Area schools such as Monte Vista, Lynbrook, Homestead and Dougherty Valley.Meanwhile, the local FBLA chapter delivered 528 teddy bears to all first graders in the Morgan Hill Unified School District for Valentine’s Day.Member Kai Leong spearheaded the special Valentine’s Day deliveries to Jackson Academy of Math & Music, El Toro Elementary School and Nordstrom Elementary School.

Students at the Charter School of Morgan Hill celebrated Valentine’s Day in a unique way Feb. 14 as they successfully collected enough cans to go around a 1/8-mile track for a schoolwide “We LOVE our community” canned food drive.The canned food will be given to Second Harvest Food Bank for distribution to those in need.Students used critical thinking skills to calculate how many cans it would take to go around the 1/8-mile track, and then demonstrated personal and social responsibility with their donations, according to CSMH staff. They also were given the challenge of collecting enough canned food donations to do so.“I am happy to report that our CSMH community was able to demonstrate how much we care about our larger community by meeting the challenge of donating enough cans to go around our 1/8-mile track,” said Diana Gill, CSMH Community Liaison and Outreach Coordinator.

If you have ever considered running for local office in Santa Clara County, now is your chance.Monday, Feb. 12 kicked off the nomination period for the June 5, 2018 Statewide Primary Election. The nomination period ends Friday, March 9, but can be extended to Wednesday, March 14 for contests where the eligible incumbent doesn’t file.And while local Morgan Hill offices won’t appear on the ballot until November, City Council incumbent Rich Constantine has signaled he might run for mayor, and former two-term Councilwoman Marilyn Librers has tossed her hat back into the ring.Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Shannon Bushey urged candidates running for office in June to call the Candidate Services Division at (408) 299-8639 or come to the office in order to review forms and requirements for successful filing.“There is no leeway in the filing deadline,” Bushey said. “It is always best to file nomination papers as early as possible so that any incorrect forms may be corrected before the filing deadline, which in most cases cannot be extended.”District 1 Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents Morgan Hill, said he intends to run for reelection.“It’s been my privilege to represent South County on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors,” Wasserman said. “I am seeking reelection in June 2018 and have been honored to receive a strong outpouring of support from local leaders in education, public safety, business, agriculture, and community members who share my passion for improving our county.”The following federal, state, and county offices are up for election in June:GovernorLieutenant GovernorSecretary of StateControllerTreasurerAttorney GeneralInsurance CommissionerSuperintendent of Public InstructionState Board of Equalization, District 2U.S. SenatorU.S. Representative District 17 (incumbent Ro Khanna)U.S. Representative District 18 (incumbent Anna Eshoo)U.S. Representative District 19 (incumbent Zoe Lofgren)U.S. Representative District 20 (incumbent Jimmy Panetta)State Senator District 10 (incumbent Bob Wieckowski)State Assembly District 24 (incumbent Marc Berman)State Assembly District 25 (incumbent Kansen Chu)State Assembly District 27 (incumbent Ash Kalra)State Assembly District 28 (incumbent Evan Low)State Assembly District 29 (incumbent Mark Stone)State Assembly District 30 (incumbent Anna Caballero)Santa Clara County Supervisor District 1 (incumbent Mike Wasserman)Santa Clara County Supervisor District 4 (incumbent Ken Yeager)Assessor (incumbent Larry Stone)District Attorney (incumbent Jeffrey F. Rosen)Sheriff (incumbent Laurie Smith)Judge of the Superior Court, 24 officesThe City of Morgan Hill will not participate in the June primary, and instead will hold elections for local offices in November. The nomination period for the Nov. 6 election opens July 16 and closes Aug. 10.This will be the city’s first council election in the district format. Candidates will need to reside in the districts they are seeking office in. The mayor’s seat will still be elected at large.Three seats will appear on the November ballot, including Mayor Steve Tate, District B Constantine and District D Councilwoman Caitlin Robinett Jachimowicz.Jachimowicz is currently nine months pregnant and said she hasn’t decided if she’ll run to retain her seat later this year. She was appointed to her council seat in January 2017 to complete the unexpired term of former Councilmember Gordon Siebert.“I want to make sure the baby is healthy,” Jachimowicz said by phone Tuesday. “After that, I’ll be able to make some more decisions.”According to City Clerk Irma Torrez, Constantine has already filed a Form 501, candidate intention statement, to run for mayor in 2018.Constantine said that he opened a committee to explore the possibility of a mayoral run, but paperwork for a possible campaign wouldn’t be filed until June.“I think I have a lot to offer Morgan Hill in the higher capacity than just as a city councilmember,” Constantine said by phone Tuesday.Former Councilwoman Marilyn Librers also filed a Form 501 to seek an open council seat in the November 2018 election. Librers served two terms on the council from 2008 to 2016, but was defeated in the November 2016 election.Additionally, the Morgan Hill Unified School District will hold their election in November. Four trustees are up for reelection, including Donna Ruebusch, Ron Woolf, Gino Borgioli and David Gerard. Also, Claudia Rossi’s seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Trustees is also up for election in November.Candidates are encouraged to make an appointment and begin the nomination filing process as early as possible to ensure all paperwork is completed and submitted on time.For more information, contact the Registrar of Voters’ Office at (408) 299-VOTE or toll-free at (866) 430-VOTE, or visit sccvote.org.

Fifty-five high school seniors spent a day on the job Feb. 2 as they took advantage of the inaugural Job Shadow Day, which was organized by Morgan Hill Unified School District and the Chamber of Commerce.

Morgan Hill school officials did not receive encouraging news from a second parcel tax poll conducted this month, as the results revealed a $75 parcel tax would not pass voter approval on the June ballot.

Nearly $7 million in upgrades to the outdoor athletic facilities at Gavilan College are in full swing. The end result will put the local community college in a league of its own.