Last week, the Tulare County Board of Education welcomed two new board members — Ruben Macareno and Mike Waters. “We are delighted to have Mike and Ruben join our board,” said Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Tim Hire. “Collectively, the men bring administrative and governance experience in public education that add to the strength of our board.”

Representing Trustee Area 2, Ruben Macareno has served as a school board trustee for Farmersville Unified School District and a Farmersville City Councilmember. He is a graduate from Farmersville schools and Exeter Union High School. He is an alumni of California State University, Los Angeles, where he studied political science. A media and political consultant, Macareno has previously written for the Visalia Times-Delta, the Mineral King Publishing Company, and had a 20-plus year career at the Los Angeles Times in its public relations and newsroom divisions.

Trustee Area 2 includes all of the area embraced in the following school districts: Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified, Farmersville Unified, Lindsay Unified, Monson-Sultana Joint Union, Outside Creek, Stone Corral, Strathmore Union, Three Rivers Union, Woodlake Unified, and portions of Exeter Unified and Visalia Unified.

Representing Trustee Area 5, Mike Waters joins the Board having served as a middle school teacher, high school teacher, high school varsity coach, middle school principal, high school principal, and district office area administrator for Visalia Unified School District. Waters holds a Bachelor of Arts in management from Fresno Pacific University and a master's in secondary teaching from Chapman University. Waters attended elementary and secondary schools in Porterville, graduating from Monache High School. He and his wife have three children and eight grandchildren.

Trustee Area 5 includes all of the area embraced in the following school districts: Buena Vista, Oak Valley Union, Palo Verde Union, Pleasant View, Rockford, Saucelito, Tipton, Waukena Joint Union, the southwest portion of Visalia Unified, and the northern portion of Pixley Union.

Photo above:

~ Ruben Macareno (left) and Mike Waters (right) are two new board members for the Tulare County Board of Education.

Last week, Earlimart School District held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new classroom wing at Alila Elementary School. The construction project, which began in November 2023, includes nine classrooms for preschool, transitional kindergarten, and kindergarten. The classrooms feature sliding whiteboards to help spark creativity and critical thinking, and multiple high-definition monitors for broadcasting educational content instantly from handheld devices. The modern, flexible learning environments help promote collaboration, communication, creative thinking, and problem solving, which serve as a valuable asset for instruction.

Editor: Robert Herman, Communications Director
Contributors: Nayirah Dosu, Marlene Moreno, Jennifer Fisher

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