Cathy Campbell

To address the need for distance learning support, Berkeley Schools Volunteers launched a “Tech Wellness Check” team in April.

Wednesday night’s emotional Berkeley Unified School District meeting marked the end of many things — the end of student director Arvin Hariri’s yearlong term, recognition of the retirement of four BUSD employees and community members, and the revocation of REALM’s charter.

Berkeley Housing Opportunities for Municipal Employees, or BeHOME, was formed to advocate for and develop a plan to expedite the development of workforce housing.

District finances and programs like the Green Dot and the African-American Success Project were discussed at Wednesday’s Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, board meeting, where a crowd of district teachers spoke during public comment, including several who called for payment increases.

Amanda Moreno always knew she wanted to be a teacher, and four years ago, after working for some time in Contra Costa County, she took a job as an English teacher at Berkeley High School.

At the meeting, the board officialized new positions, instituting Judy Appel as the board president, Beatriz Leyva-Cutler as vice president and Ty Alper as the clerk. The board also heard an update on the 2020 vision for Berkeley’s youth and approved the first interim budget for 2019.

Six candidates — Ty Alper, Norma Harrison, Dru Howard, Abdur Sikder, Julie Sinai and Ka’Dijah Brown — will be vying for the three open board seats.

Demonstrators held signs advocating for a “living wage.” One recurring sign read, “We protect, cook, clean, drive, repair and help students succeed. We also need to eat.”

Citing worries about the standardized testing mandated to start next week, members from the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, or BFT, addressed the Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, school board at its Wednesday meeting — its first meeting of the school year.

At a Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD Board meeting, union members voiced dissatisfaction about their wages on Wednesday.