Monrovia School Link ~ Number 104 ~ January 30, 2005
Many thanks to Brian Johnson for covering the January 26 board meeting. Take special note of Brian's comment that the budget will be on the agenda for the February 9 meeting. Considering what we heard last time about how tight money is, if you have thoughts on how it should be spent, I guess that's the meeting to attend. Also, I'm going to be interested to hear more about the block scheduling program MHS is thinking about. Also, I had a chat with Duke Freyermuth, head of the Pro-Active Tutoring program. I'll get something out to you about that next week.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
Board of Education meeting minutes for Wednesday, January 26th, 2004.
By Brian Johnson,
Mayflower and Clifton parent.
An unusually large audience waited patiently for the meeting to finally be called to order 15 minutes late, apparently delayed by the board's closed session held at 6:30 to consider three expulsion hearing cases. Of the 40 or so people in attendance, most unfortunately were not there to hear the board's business, but instead to support the four district employees that were to be awarded outstanding service awards.
Superintendent Louise Taylor was the only missing member, being excused to attend a conference for school superintendents. Assistant Super Joel Shawn pinch-hit for her in her absence.
The board passed without discussion a sizable list of routine business. This included 19 pages of personnel changes, promotions, stipends, hirings, assignments, and such, as well as the usual bills and purchase orders. In addition, the board approved the annual school Site Plan revisions for the elementary and middle schools. Also in the consent agenda was the grateful acknowledgement of $4,900 in gifts given to district schools. Of special note was the $1,400 received from 5th grade GATE parents to go toward the cost of Astrocamp.
Next came the part most of the audience was there for, the presenting of recognition awards. Awards were given to Sheila Weaver, Santa Fe School office manager; Suzette Williams, Santa Fe teacher; Sherrill Clapsaddle, Bradoaks clerical assistant; and Erin Grycel, Bradoaks teacher. After much praise, handshakes, and hugs from the board members, the awardees and nearly all the audience filed out.
The public hearing portion was lively for a change. A small but enthusiastic group of parents from the Monrovia High PTSA was on hand to address the board to show their strong support for idea of "4 x 4 Block Scheduling" at MHS. This apparently is an idea brought to MHS by new principal Frank Zepeda, and it involves students taking four classes per semester with 90-minute periods, and the lunch period would be shortened. No doubt regular readers of the School Link are familiar with the idea. A group of MHS parents paid a visit recently to Norwalk HS, from where Mr. Zepeda came, and were quite impressed to see Block Scheduling in action, and with the overall quality of the program at Norwalk. In addition to the seven parents who attended the meeting, they brought along a petition signed by 50 other parents who also support the idea. Kudos to this group of parents to take the opportunity to take their views to the board! After speaking out, this group also left the meeting.
Board Member Reports: Clare Chesley had words of praise for the gifts that were given to the schools. Bruce Carter reported on a conference he attended, and gave an analysis of the state budget as to education funding. He said that though direct funding for education is increased, when you factor in property tax money that the state will withhold from local governments and pension costs the state will no longer fund, the real increase is only two percent, which doesn't even keep pace with the cost of living. Bryan Wong and Monina Diaz both heaped praise on the MHS parents that came to address the board. Diaz called it "a breath of fresh air." Diaz also praised the recent performance of the Princeton Roaring 20s Singers at MHS. A Princeton grad herself, Diaz said she was pleased that the MHS students spoke to the college kids after the performance about life at Princeton, chances of acceptance, etc. Student Representative Ryann Blackshere will apparently be attending Stanford next year. Way to go, Ryann!
Of special note - on the agenda for the February 9 meeting is slated to be next year's budget! This might be the one meeting of the year we all should attend.
The District's auditing firm was on hand to present the audit report for the 2003 financials. In a nutshell, they found no significant problems with the district's accounting procedures and reporting. The auditors had some praise for the board in that the board had "addressed and responded properly to the past budget shortfalls," which I guess means that the board stopped spending money they didn't have. The report raised a few concerns. One was no surprise - the district needs to continue to adjust its spending to reflect the impact of declining enrollment and reduced state funding. Another was more interesting. Apparently 22 of the district's long-time employees have between them amassed over $300,000 in accrued unused vacation time. This represents money that will have to be paid out to these employees when they resign or retire. Considerable discussion ensued over the tradeoff of asking these people to take more vacation time versus having these - likely - key people not at their desks. The board asked Linda Dempsey and Debbie Collins to develop a plan to bring down the banked vacation time.
As a follow-on to their earlier closed session, the board voted on three student expulsion cases. By unanimous vote, two unnamed MHS students and one unnamed Clifton student were expelled for the remainder of the school year. The violations they committed were of sections 48900C, 48900K, and 48900A1/A2 of the education code, in case anybody wants to look them up.
Monina Diaz brought up to the board members the possibility of having a Dependant Charter School in Monrovia. Basically, the discussion was to decide if the board wanted to gather more information on the topic. Clare Chesley seems to be a major supporter of the idea, having heard about it from Caprice Young, president of the California Charter Schools Association. After considerable discussion, the board decided that the idea deserves further exploration, and Joel Shawn volunteered staff support to gather info and arrange "experts" to make presentations to the board. Possible speakers include Caprice Young, as well as Steve Barr of Green Dot Charter Schools. Bruce Carter and Bryan Wong seemed less enthused, but were willing to at least learn more, but they wanted to see a cost-benefit discussion early on. Monina Diaz was "intrigued by the potential, and possibility for getting away from bureaucratic constraints to accomplish more." Bryan Wong said that the idea should be explored not just for financial reasons, but also for the "achievement gaps" that might be addressed. Deeper down, though, the board seems to think that a charter school might help to arrest the District's enrollment slide by wooing back students who have gone to private schools, as well as possibly attracting students from neighboring districts. Look for this to reappear on the agenda for board meetings in March or April.
The final piece of business was the third-time discussion of the District's proposed regulations governing volunteers who assist at our schools. The policy will create three classes of volunteers, Visitor, Volunteer Level 1, and Volunteer Level 2. Volunteers in levels 1 or 2 will be required to submit an application to be a volunteer. Level 1 volunteers will be checked against the "Megan's Law" database, and Level 2 volunteers will also be fingerprinted for a criminal background check. This means that schools will have to recruit volunteers well in advance of need, since it may take up to a month to screen and approve the applications. The board expressed its concern about the need to encourage parent involvement, but also recognized the need to protect our children. As a parent who volunteers, I see the dilemma. The proposed regulation will come back to the board for final approval at the next board meeting.
The meeting adjourned (finally!) at 9:25.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, February 9 at 7 p.m.