Monday, May 03, 2004
Monrovia School Link ~ Number 80 ~ April 25, 2004
Thank you,Todd Sams, for the excellent report below on the April 28 meeting! Some pretty good news. A few highlights: Three Monrovia schools achieved Distinguished School status. Great! Plus, Elizabeth Tapia was selected as adult ed Teacher of the Year, the budget situation may not be as grim as earlier thought, and the board instituted a retire-early plan that may save the district a few bucks.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Todd Sams
AVID ~ The board honored this year's AVID "Write-Off" winners. Jamie Kemerer, who is an 8th grader at Santa Fe, won the award for "Most Outstanding Middle School Essay", and Vincent Partain, a 10th grader at Monrovia High School, won the 10th grade bronze medal. The two competed against students across Los Angeles County.
$1000 ~ The Rotary Club presented a $1000 donation to the Pro-Active Tutoring Program.
TOUCHSTONES ~ At the request of Betty Sandford, the director of marketing for "Touchstones," a non-profit youth "treatment" facility, presented basic information to the board about its facility and its programs. Although it was not explicitly stated, it appears that this is a drug/alcohol recovery center which is available to all troubled youth and their families.
BOARD REPORTS ~ All of the board members attended the Canyon Oaks open house and were impressed with various aspects of the school and its approaches to teaching and learning. Monina Diaz was the most complimentary and described the methods and results as "phenomenal." She added that the structure and approach of many of the classes are similar to those seen in gifted classes.
Both Claire Chesley and Bruce Carter attended the presentation of "Pippin" at Monrovia High School. While both praised the performance, Carter was disappointed by the low turnout.
Bryan Wong commented that one of the unique aspects of the district is the individual character of each school. He said that this is evident in the way the schools present their open house. He mentioned Mayflower's "School Days" open house, which lacks the fanfare of the traditional open house. He did not appear to be too impressed.
Claire Chesley also commented on the open houses by expressing her concern that they have become a means for "impromptu parent-teacher conferences." She said that the true purpose of the open house should be explained to parents prior to the event.
KEEPING PROS ~ Betty Sandford will be attending a California student support services conference in San Diego. The goal of the conference is to find the ways and means to ensure that school psychologists, nurses, counselors, and librarians are retained, as they are vital to the growth and well being of the students.
DISTINGUISHED ~ Superintendent Louise Taylor reported that Bradoaks, Mayflower, and Monroe achieved "Distinguished School" status and that Bradoaks, Mayflower, and Plymouth were recognized as "Achieving Schools". She also praised Elizabeth Tapia for being recognized as the adult education Teacher of the Year for the State of California. Finally, she said that the board's request for a discussion of the report on Monrovia High School test scores would be tabled until the next meeting due to Dr. Shawn's absence.
SPRINKLERS ~ The board awarded a $45,811 contract to Link-Nilsen Corporation to install automatic fire sprinklers for the Clifton building "F" basement area. This is a required renovation which will be completed over the summer.
RETIREMENT ~ The board adopted Reolution No. 04-23 for a "PARS" Supplementary retirement plan. This voluntary plan would provide incentives for eligible district employees of retirement age to retire sooner than they may have planned. While the new retirees would receive a financial benefit for retiring, the district would save money by being able to fill their vacancies with younger employees who would command a lesser salary. The plan will only go into effect if 17 of the 79 eligible employees decide to participate, as this is the minimum number necessary for the distict to save any money.
BETTER BUDGET ~ Linda Dempsey reported that, at the time of the meeting, the budget outlook is not as dreary as initially believed. Her numbers show revenues of $33,077,729, expenditures of $30,868,456, with a revenue-over-expenditures balance of $2,209,273. Additionally, she said that the district can tentatively project a balanced budget for the next three years. There were concerns that the district's worker's comp premiums would increase significantly this year, but that will not come to pass for another two years. Other points of interest were an anticipated slight decrease in enrollment (6 students) for the 2004-05 school year and that the district will be using the current ADA (average daily attendance) number next year, just as they are using last year's ADA this year. There was not much discussion/questions from the board regarding the numbers. I assume they understood them better than I.
A LETTER ~ In a recent newsletter I [Brad now] said that instead of sponsoring students to run laps to raise money for the schools, I'd prefer to sponsor weed pulling or wall painting or something else more productive. I ran one response to that comment in the last newsletter. Here's another I recently recieved, from John Pentecost: "Actually, we just completed a Mayflower beautification day where 20 families shoewed up to weed gardens, plant new flowers and clean up the campus. We didn't have a fundraiser, but hundreds of dollars of plants were donated by friends and nurseries to help us clean up our act. We have numerous resources that are available when asked. It is fun to work hard with the parents we see dropping off their kids."
The Monrovia School Link is also available on line at www.monroviaschoollink.com
Thank you,Todd Sams, for the excellent report below on the April 28 meeting! Some pretty good news. A few highlights: Three Monrovia schools achieved Distinguished School status. Great! Plus, Elizabeth Tapia was selected as adult ed Teacher of the Year, the budget situation may not be as grim as earlier thought, and the board instituted a retire-early plan that may save the district a few bucks.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
By Todd Sams
AVID ~ The board honored this year's AVID "Write-Off" winners. Jamie Kemerer, who is an 8th grader at Santa Fe, won the award for "Most Outstanding Middle School Essay", and Vincent Partain, a 10th grader at Monrovia High School, won the 10th grade bronze medal. The two competed against students across Los Angeles County.
$1000 ~ The Rotary Club presented a $1000 donation to the Pro-Active Tutoring Program.
TOUCHSTONES ~ At the request of Betty Sandford, the director of marketing for "Touchstones," a non-profit youth "treatment" facility, presented basic information to the board about its facility and its programs. Although it was not explicitly stated, it appears that this is a drug/alcohol recovery center which is available to all troubled youth and their families.
BOARD REPORTS ~ All of the board members attended the Canyon Oaks open house and were impressed with various aspects of the school and its approaches to teaching and learning. Monina Diaz was the most complimentary and described the methods and results as "phenomenal." She added that the structure and approach of many of the classes are similar to those seen in gifted classes.
Both Claire Chesley and Bruce Carter attended the presentation of "Pippin" at Monrovia High School. While both praised the performance, Carter was disappointed by the low turnout.
Bryan Wong commented that one of the unique aspects of the district is the individual character of each school. He said that this is evident in the way the schools present their open house. He mentioned Mayflower's "School Days" open house, which lacks the fanfare of the traditional open house. He did not appear to be too impressed.
Claire Chesley also commented on the open houses by expressing her concern that they have become a means for "impromptu parent-teacher conferences." She said that the true purpose of the open house should be explained to parents prior to the event.
KEEPING PROS ~ Betty Sandford will be attending a California student support services conference in San Diego. The goal of the conference is to find the ways and means to ensure that school psychologists, nurses, counselors, and librarians are retained, as they are vital to the growth and well being of the students.
DISTINGUISHED ~ Superintendent Louise Taylor reported that Bradoaks, Mayflower, and Monroe achieved "Distinguished School" status and that Bradoaks, Mayflower, and Plymouth were recognized as "Achieving Schools". She also praised Elizabeth Tapia for being recognized as the adult education Teacher of the Year for the State of California. Finally, she said that the board's request for a discussion of the report on Monrovia High School test scores would be tabled until the next meeting due to Dr. Shawn's absence.
SPRINKLERS ~ The board awarded a $45,811 contract to Link-Nilsen Corporation to install automatic fire sprinklers for the Clifton building "F" basement area. This is a required renovation which will be completed over the summer.
RETIREMENT ~ The board adopted Reolution No. 04-23 for a "PARS" Supplementary retirement plan. This voluntary plan would provide incentives for eligible district employees of retirement age to retire sooner than they may have planned. While the new retirees would receive a financial benefit for retiring, the district would save money by being able to fill their vacancies with younger employees who would command a lesser salary. The plan will only go into effect if 17 of the 79 eligible employees decide to participate, as this is the minimum number necessary for the distict to save any money.
BETTER BUDGET ~ Linda Dempsey reported that, at the time of the meeting, the budget outlook is not as dreary as initially believed. Her numbers show revenues of $33,077,729, expenditures of $30,868,456, with a revenue-over-expenditures balance of $2,209,273. Additionally, she said that the district can tentatively project a balanced budget for the next three years. There were concerns that the district's worker's comp premiums would increase significantly this year, but that will not come to pass for another two years. Other points of interest were an anticipated slight decrease in enrollment (6 students) for the 2004-05 school year and that the district will be using the current ADA (average daily attendance) number next year, just as they are using last year's ADA this year. There was not much discussion/questions from the board regarding the numbers. I assume they understood them better than I.
A LETTER ~ In a recent newsletter I [Brad now] said that instead of sponsoring students to run laps to raise money for the schools, I'd prefer to sponsor weed pulling or wall painting or something else more productive. I ran one response to that comment in the last newsletter. Here's another I recently recieved, from John Pentecost: "Actually, we just completed a Mayflower beautification day where 20 families shoewed up to weed gardens, plant new flowers and clean up the campus. We didn't have a fundraiser, but hundreds of dollars of plants were donated by friends and nurseries to help us clean up our act. We have numerous resources that are available when asked. It is fun to work hard with the parents we see dropping off their kids."
The Monrovia School Link is also available on line at www.monroviaschoollink.com
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