AUSD congratulates AHS girls golf on CIF title

By Michael Chaldu · Fri Nov 07 2025

AHS theater group plugs upcoming “Twelfth Night” production, and board OKs hirings and increases for Attendance Recovery program

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Unified School District Board held its regular meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, hearing from the Atascadero High Theater group and congratulating the AHS girls golf team for its recently won CIF championship. Information below is mostly from a staff summary of the meeting after audio problems in the video of the meeting on YouTube.

The board also discussed a Consent Calendar item involving the state’s Attendance Recovery Program during the approximately hour-long meeting.

During public communication, Atascadero High performing arts instructor Shawna Volpa brought a group of her students in to tell the board members of the school’s upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” of which Volpa is the co-director, along with Kris Bell and Amanda Thayer.

The play, thought to be written in 1601 or 1602, centers on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (disguised as a page named 'Cesario') falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her, thinking she is a man.

The AHS theater department will put on five showings over the next two weekends at AHS’s Black Box Theater: Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.; two showings on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 2 and 7 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at ahsblackbox.ludus.com.

As part of his Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Tom Bennett congratulated the AHS girls golf team for their CIF Central Section Division II championship, which it won Oct. 27 in Tulare.

The Greyhounds posted a team score of 489, beating out second-place Justin Garza High of Fresno by five strokes. AHS and Garza were the only teams in the Division II tournament with team scores under 500.

Greyhounds head coach Joe Davis and assistant coach Jay Salas brought in the members of the championship team, including Olivia Swindell, whose scored of 90 in the tournament was the second-lowest among individuals. Other members of the team include Priscilla Allison, Brooke Baldwin, Evie Billes, Rosalyn Gibbons, and Grace Grimes.

After approving the minutes of the previous meeting of Oct. 21, the Consent Calendar came up for approval.

There were only three items on the Consent Calendar, but the first one, Item 11A, Certificated Personnel Order / Authorization to approve routine personnel additions, deletions, and replacements was pulled for discussion. The item had to do with FTE increases and hirings connected with the school’s Attendance Recovery program.

Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services E.J. Rossi described the Attendance Recovery program, which the state approved to begin this year. The program allows school districts to offer supplementary instructional time outside of regular school hours to help students make up missed days. The primary goals are to help students catch up on missed learning and for districts to recoup lost ADA. This is done through sessions held before or after school, on weekends, or during intersession breaks.  

At the beginning of the year, school sites were provided allocations to be able to establish and offer Attendance Recovery at their site, Rossi explained. These were separate from site funds and do not negatively impact school's funding. The program will be reviewed throughout the year to determine the fiscal impact.  

Rossi added that school sites have been working to create the structure for their sessions, with each site developing a model that matches the needs of students and staff. Most elementary schools are working to establish one to two after-school sessions a week, while Atascadero High and Atascadero Middle schools have multiple opportunities during the week to help support core subjects.  

The three items on the Consent Calendar were eventually approved.

The next regular meeting for the AUSD will be Tuesday, Nov. 18; open session begins at 7 p.m.