Lady Gaga Donates $11K To Gilroy Schools

GILROY, CA —Lady Gaga is teaching a lesson of love and compassion in respect to the victims of the recent mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. The mega singer-actress has partnered with DonorsChoose.org and her Born This Way Foundation to fully fund classroom projects in each of those cities.

In Gilroy, the donation benefits projects spearheaded by 16 teachers in district elementary and high schools.

"My heart goes out to those who were taken from us too soon and to their families, loved ones and communities who are left to grieve," Gaga wrote on her Facebook page Friday. "Everyone has the right to laws that make them feel safe in their communities. In this moment, I want to channel my confusion, frustration and fury into hope. Hope that we are there for each other and for ourselves."

Gilroy, in particular, suffered the loss of three young people at its famed Garlic Festival. With the outpouring of support, donors have expressed sympathy and support to the loved ones of Stephen Romero, 6, and Keyla Salazar, 13, both of San Jose, and Trevor Irby, 25, of Santa Cruz. The gunman, 19-year-old Santino Legan, was rushed by police officers before he shot himself, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner reported.

Since then, the close-knit agricultural town has shown a range of emotions ranging from shock and sadness to resilience and empathy. With that comes olive-branch gestures of support from varying sources.

With Lady Gaga's latest gesture, Gilroy's 23 projects at five Unified School District schools were fully funded on the Friday the star performer made the announcement, district spokeswoman Melanie Corona confirmed.

This means the 16 teachers at three elementary and two high schools — El Roble, Antonio del Buono and Las Animas Elementary as well as Gilroy High and Christopher High received $11,717 in funding to pay for classroom books, alternative seating options for students, art supplies, games, IT support for College Signing Day, culinary arts resources and even a new rug and bookshelf.

"We continue to be amazed at the outpouring of support for our staff and students in the wake of the tragedies that occurred at the Gilroy Garlic Festival and we are so grateful to Lady Gaga and her organization, which supports mental health resources for people, for the generous gifts to our students, schools and community," Corona wrote on behalf of the school district.

A few notes of other Gilroy school news following the tragedy:

The school district has provided a ground-zero response to the tragedy in various ways.

• Reunification: Las Animas Elementary, Gilroy High School, Christopher High School remained safe havens for Garlic Festival attendees on July 28; and 14 of the district bus drivers provided transportation for evacuees to the reunification site. Christopher High School also became the American Red Cross shelter for stranded vendors from July 29-August 1.

• Retrieval of Property: In the days that followed the shootings, Antonio Del Buono Elementary served as the site for people to be shuttled to an Federal Bureau of Investigations intake location in order to retrieve vehicles left behind in Christmas Hill Park. The Family Assistance Center, located at Rucker Elementary, was also used by the FBI to return belongings that were left behind at Christmas Hill Park.

• Counseling Services: Since July 29, the Gilroy Unified School District has provided crisis counselors to staff, students and community members at a number of school sites. From July 29-Aug. 2, crisis counselors saw hundreds of people impacted while housed at Christopher High School. Rucker Elementary School was utilized by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies as the Family Assistance Center between July 29 and Aug. 4.

During the week of Aug. 5, counseling services were provided to the community from 4 to 8 p.m. at Brownell Middle School and Gilroy High School. Going forward, Gilroy Unified School District will provide training to all staff members on Aug. 12 on trauma and behavior as children return to school.

Counselors will be available at all sites Tuesday for all GUSD staff members. Rebekah Children’s Services, Community Solutions and the Santa Clara County Department of Behavioral Health, will have two counselors present at all 15 sites as well as existing GUSD staff for the first days of school from Aug. 14-16.

• Security: School resource officers will be onsite at Gilroy and Christopher High Schools. There is increased security at the Gavilan College campus provided by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Campus supervisor hours have been extended at Mt. Madonna High School. District office staff will be deployed to all of our elementary and middle school sites and will be highly visible at drop-off and pick-up at least through the first week of school.

• Traffic: Miller Avenue, at Uvas and Luchessa, and Christmas Hill Park will be closed until further notice. The Gilroy Unified School District and city of Gilroy expects this closure to impact traffic flow at most school sites and along the Santa Teresa corridor. Parents dropping off and picking up children at Solorsano should use Club Drive. Families with students at most other school sites can expect to have their commute times impacted due to the Miller Road closure and Christmas Hill Park closure.

• Shooting victims: The Gilroy Unified School District remains legally and ethically committed to maintaining the privacy of each and every student and staff member in our district and will maintain their privacy to the letter of the law.

See also

• Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting: 3 Victims, Suspect Identified
• Candlelight Vigil Pays Homage To Victims Of Gilroy Shooting
• Gilroy Garlic Festival Vendor Decompressing From Loss
• Duo Injured In Gilroy Festival Shooting 'Happy To Be Alive'
• 3 Heroic Gilroy Officers Who Took Down Suspect Identified
• Candlelight Vigil Brings Gilroy Together
• El Pollo Loco Donating All Aug. 12 Sales To Victims' Families
• Sharks Donate $10K To Gilroy Fund, Host 1st Responder 'Puck Drop'