Georgetown Gazette-April 13, 2023

El Dorado County Office of Education

On the evening of March 27, Cold Springs Country Club was buzzing with excitement as the El Dorado County School Boards Association held its annual awards gala to honor outstanding school board members who have shown exemplary service to their community. Educators, parents and community leaders from across the county attended to celebrate. The night was filled with laughter, heartfelt speeches and music provided by the El Dorado High School jazz band Modern Blue.

Dr. Ed Manansala, El Dorado County superintendent of schools, led the ceremony and afterward expressed, “The awards gala was a resounding success, a testament to the hard work and dedication of the school board members who have given so much to El Dorado County schools. Thank you for your unwavering service.”

The Divide organizations and individuals honored were all nominated by Black Oak Mine Unified School District. This included Outstanding Community Organization awarded to Georgetown Divide Public Utility District; the Dolores Garcia Memorial Spirit of Boardsmanship awarded to Darcy Knight; and Lifetime Achievement awarded to Ronald “Ronnie” Ebitson.

BOMUSD Superintendent Jeremy Meyers acknowledged all recipients. Of Darcy Knight, Meyers said, “Under Darcy’s leadership, we have gone from qualified to a positively certified budget, we have negotiated two multi-year contracts, our schools are now able to remain open without power from PG&E, our classrooms have been raised to 21st century standards, we have laptops for every student, we are engaged in a $6 million dollar energy efficiency project, we are building CTE partnerships with the community college system and we have a Community Resource Center with tremendous capacity. Darcy demonstrates exemplary leadership, service, community relations, and advocacy for public education. It is my pleasure to award the Dolores Garcia Memorial Spirit of Boardsmanship award to Darcy Knight.

Regarding the award to Georgetown Public Utility District, Meyers said, “The Black Oak Mine Unified School District is grateful for this opportunity to recognize an outstanding community partner, the Georgetown Public Utility District. The Black Oak Mine Unified School District is profoundly grateful that the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District values that kids need to be in school. Just this school year, on four separate occasions, the GDPUD has immediately responded to water main breaks at four different sites. Being committed to keeping kids in school, they did whatever was necessary to make the repairs, including working through the night — all night. We recognize GDPUD as an outstanding community partner for their commitment to keep our schools open.”

Regarding the award to Ronnie Ebitson, Meyers said, “It is with tremendous pride and gratitude that I have the opportunity to recognize Ronnie Ebitson’s eight years of service to the Black Oak Mine Unified School District as a member of our Board of Trustees. Ronnie Ebitson is one of the kindest and most well-intentioned people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. If it benefits our community, you can be certain Ronnie is eager to participate. Ronnie was an exceptional Board Member for a number of reasons and none more important than his singular focus on keeping kids first. While I am proud of our many accomplishments, I am most grateful for Ronnie’s support of me, individually.”

This annual event is also an opportunity to connect with educators and community members. EDCSBA President Jessica Rodgers expressed, “It is so important that we build these strong relationships with each other so that we can all focus on things that will benefit our students.”