Category: Education

By JW August / Special to the OB Rag

Billy Hunyady, a popular girls softball coach for nine years at Point Loma High School, has been fired by the school’s Associate Principal. Not only was Hunyady fired, but the entire girls’ softball coaching staff of nine individuals were abruptly fired on July 29.

A veteran coach with 28 years experience, Hunyady calls it an unjustified termination.  More concerning to him, though, he says, is the potential for gossip and speculation in the community and among his players and their families wondering about why he was fired on at the end of July. He worries that some may believe he was fired for “horrible actions, such as a secret relationship with a player or stealing money or abusing any of the athletes in any kind of way,” Hunyady told the OB Rag.

Unfortunately those kinds of actions are not entirely uncommon, but that isn’t why Associate Principal Monika Montiel Turner fired him and the others, says Hunyady.

Hunyady said Turner told him he was let go because there was “too much chaos going on” surrounding the girls softball program, involving players and fans.

Although there were some warning signs, the firing still came as a devastating surprise to the Hunyady. Recognized as the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) coach of the year in 2025, Hunyady is a graduate of Point Loma High, class of 1981, having played on the same baseball team as the school’s famous sports alumnus, pitcher David Wells, of New York Yankees fame.  “I was excited to be coaching  teams from my school, ” Hunyady said.

Junior varsity head coach Chris Ghio, who was a longtime friend of Hunyady, having graduated the same year from Point Loma High as Hunyady, said that when his friend told him the entire coaching staff of nine individuals was fired, “I thought he was joking. They had seen many administrations come and go, and “we have always been treated with respect and appreciation.”

Ghio said he thinks the entire community should be put on notice that they were “disrespected and discarded” by the current administration.

Neither the high school principal, Michael Santos, nor Turner have responded to numerous requests to tell us their side of the story.

Safe Harbor Marina

By Angelo Haynes

On a balmy, calm August afternoon, budding sailors-to-be, met with an energetic and fatherly sea captain, to “learn the ropes” of sailing. That captain is Robert Capita, the current head coach of the UCSD sailing team and President and CEO of Project Bluewater Racing  (PBWR – or simply “the Project) — an environmental non-profit in San Diego that aims to connect a new generation with the water through competitive sailing, education, marine science and environmental activism.

The Project’s mission statement is to “cultivate the next generation of offshore sailboat racers as the sole non-profit in San Diego providing adults access to offshore sailing education and training while upholding the values of environmental stewardship.”

In addition to instruction on sailing, the Project integrates marine technology to perform a critical environmental monitoring role, using data loggers, hydrophones and Lagrangian drifters to study the flow of the ocean’s currents.

PBWR’s unique vessel allows them to monitor what they refer to as nontraditional places — shallow areas of San Diego’s near shore environment and restricted waterways inaccessible to larger, motor-powered vessels. In this way PBWR fills in valuable gaps in oceanographic data painting a better picture of San Diego’s nearshore environment for scientists.

Currently, the Project is collaborating with the Deheyn Lab at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, where the water samples their DK46 boat, named Maasai, collects water samples that are being used to generate data on concentrations of microplastics and microfibers in San Diego Bay.

by Phoebe Huss / Cal-Matters /  July 31, 2026

Summary: Following a CalMatters investigation, students and faculty at UC San Diego protested against campus police for collaborating with Border Patrol through a federal grant program. The university will stop participating in the program and aiding patrols, sources and internal documents confirm.

A California public university cut ties with a federal program that paid for campus police to aid Border Patrol, within weeks of CalMatters revealing the decade-long partnership.

Operation Stonegarden, a grant managed by the Department of Homeland Security, allocates an average of $11 million each year for California law enforcement agencies to work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its subagency Border Patrol on border security missions. Dozens of police forces throughout the state receive the grant, including campus police at UC San Diego, a recipient since around 2012.

On Feb. 10, a CalMatters article explained how UC San Diego police used the grant to patrol sections of the coastline near campus, which quickly set off an uproar among students who felt it placed undocumented and international students at risk. By Feb. 26, after students emailed complaints and threatened to hold a public rally, student Aryan Dixit said the campus police chief, Lamine Secka, agreed to leave the grant program in a one-on-one meeting.

By Gabriella Rubio

We’re in Ocean Beach, California, where the grey sky looming overhead begins to burn away, the air is well… earthy, and our eclectic bubble fills with vacationers.

This time we zoom back into the beloved Template coffeehouse on Niagara, a cornerstone and home for many in the community. This summer, this colorful portal hosted a few small, silly and playful creatures in its back garden, looked after them and took them on wild adventures in the great outdoors of OB. This was all by the enchanting and mythical guardian, Miss Chula, accompanied by her magic bus, Rover.

Chula, or more fondly known as ChuChu to the lively kids attending her camps, is the sole founder of Down to Earth Nature School. At the heart of it all is what she calls “Kids Empowered” — a school where radical self-expression is a core value, a place kids feel safe to be their pure, authentic selves and applaud others for doing the same. Where “Odd-Ball” behavior is welcomed, embraced and encouraged, while learning environmental impact and the importance of taking care of the planet. Speaking with her about her vision, you can see the passion bubbling up from within, which makes learning from her all the more fun.

To understand where this vision comes from, let’s go back in time a bit, to Chula’s past. She grew up nannying and being around kids her whole life, surrounded by the support of her parents and sisters. Along the way, she gained entrepreneurial influence from her dad. This led her to San Francisco State, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies with a complimentary degree in Holistic Studies. She went on to earn her teaching credential in 2025.

By Lauren Fimbres Wood  / Scripps Institute of Oceanography / July 9, 2026

Following a four-year study, scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography released a new report to determine if an early warning system could potentially detect a landslide before it happens. The “California Coastal Landslide Early Warning Research” report found that a network of in-ground sensors can provide a reliable warning of impending, dangerous landslides with hours to days notice, but that more work is needed to formalize the findings into an actionable warning system.

Roughly 70% of the California coast is made up of eroding coastal cliffs. These cliffs are home to important infrastructure like highways, railways, coastal access points, energy facilities, and structures, and can be deadly to beachgoers when a cliff collapse occurs.

In August 2019, at Grandview Beach in Encinitas, Calif., three women were killed following a 30-foot by 25-foot section of a cliff collapsing onto the beach. Other fatal events have occurred throughout the state in Big Sur, Santa Barbara, Point Reyes and San Francisco. The tragedy in Encinitas inspired California Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, whose district includes San Diego’s coastal North County, to introduce a bill, AB 66, and secure funding through the State budget, to enhance coastal monitoring to better understand the timing of bluff failures and help inform recommendations towards the development of a potential early landslide warning system.

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / June 26, 2026 

The new principal of Point Loma High School, set to start this coming school year, is returning to a school where his career in education began. In 2002, veteran educator Michael Santos worked as an AVID tutor in 2002.

In the nearly 24 years since, Santos taught biology and AP biology for 10 years, followed by 13 years in administration, most recently as principal at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, where he has worked since July 2022.

He is a native San Diegan and graduated from Morse High School in 1997 before attending college at UC San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos.

A mounting wave of pushback against ed tech has sprung up recently including from some Ocean Beach parents. San Diego Unified’s board just took steps to rein it in.

by Jakob McWhinney / Voice of San Diego / June 24, 2026

San Diego Unified’s board on Tuesday, June 23 unanimously passed a resolution that places new limits on screens in classrooms and how students will be able to use district-issued laptops. It also lays the groundwork to restrict the use of AI-enabled software that hasn’t been specifically approved by the district.

By the start of the school year, students will no longer be able to access video-streaming or gaming platforms on district-issued laptops. The resolution also sets a timetable for other changes, like more comprehensive regulations on screen-usage based on grade level. Officials will create a committee to usher in the changes.

But not everyone’s stoked. Los Angeles Unified recently passed restrictions that went even further. Some of the activists who pushed for local restrictions are disappointed San Diego Unified’s action didn’t do more to limit screens.

The new restrictions are the local front of swelling, nationwide pushback against the ubiquity of educational technology in schools.

By Jillian Butler

As technology advances, it is injected into the educational curriculum for children. Naturally, many parents have questions, concerns, and convictions. A national coalition of parents and educators called Schools Beyond Screens is advocating for research and evidence-based guidelines to be put in place for educational technology.

Ocean Beach mother, lawyer, and administrative judge, Angelika Oliver, is one of the parents leading the fight in San Diego, and there’s at least one other woman from OB involved. Below is an interview with her, conducted via email.

1) I have read up a little bit on your background and why you got involved with Schools Beyond Screens. Please tell me in your own words why you got involved in the movement.

My initial concern was screen and internet use at home. I believed that if we could agree as a community to limit our kids’ access to devices and the internet, we could help safeguard childhood. This thinking came largely from The Anxious Generation, the idea that kids need more supervision online and less in the real world, so they can take on independent tasks, explore freely, and develop grit and resilience.

But then I realized even if we limit screens at home, kids are on them too much at school. At first, I hoped our school site would respond to what parents clearly wanted and make changes at our elementary school. When I kept hearing that Chromebook use couldn’t be addressed at the school level and would have to be decided at the district level, I felt obligated to push for change there.

By Madison Beveridge / Point Loma-OB Monthly / June 11, 2026

Noel Pomerleau of Point Loma High School, the San Diego Unified School District’s 2026 High School Teacher of the Year, teaches yoga, physical education and human body systems and has served in a variety of other roles, including coach, adviser and department chair.

Pomerleau, an educator for 14 years, has spent her entire career at Point Loma High.

“Students at this age often need the most support, and I love helping them understand how they learn best so they can move into the next phase of their lives with confidence,” she said.

The district annually honors award-winning teachers and other staff members at the “Stars in Education” event, which this year was May 20.

Pomerleau says the High School Teacher of the Year award is special to her because it sums up all she loves about her school.

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / June 3, 2026 

The sun shone brightly as the 100th graduating class of Point Loma High School was presented with diplomas during a 5 p.m. ceremony on May 28.

But along with the solar glow came mischievous gusty winds that sent some caps flying off the heads of Class of 2026 members.

While it was the final event for the 383 students, it was also the end of a 34-year career for Principal David Jaffe who was applauded enthusiastically by his final class.

By Katie Anastas / KPBS /  May 28, 2026 

On an April morning in downtown San Diego, Elizabeth Johnson and a half-dozen other parents with children in the San Diego Unified School District gathered to protest.

Johnson stuck letters onto a piece of cardstock to spell “teachers over tech.” Other signs read “less screens, more humans” and “ed tech is the biggest grift in education.”

The group is part of the local chapter of Schools Beyond Screens.

They stood in front of the Manchester Grand Hyatt outside of a sold-out conference, where school district leaders, college presidents, tech executives and startup founders were speaking about the latest in artificial intelligence and educational technology.

Johnson and a growing number of other parents are asking the district to reevaluate the role technology plays in its classrooms. They’re concerned about kids’ learning, attention spans, eyesight, privacy and social skills.

A resolution on the issue could go before the school board as soon as next month.