Blog Entries - Julie's Board Blog

Last night's, January 26, SDUSD Board Meeting had a very lengthy full agenda. The meeting lasted from 5:00 until 10:00 and I missed about an hour of it.

Following are some highlights worth noting. You can always get more detail from the SDUSD website by clicking here. Another good resource is The Voice of San Diego reporter Emily Alpert. She puts the info out on Twitter during the entire meeting. You can read about San Diego education at The Voice of San Diego website.

Public Testimony: Many parents and teachers from Serra High School complaining about parent Sally Smith.

Point Loma Cluster budget pilot program: The Board voted to allow the Pt. Loma Cluster to continue their work with the 10 schools on developing a budget in collaboration. Both Members Nakamura and Jackson want to hear from the school principals. Member Evans is excited about the community involvement and would like other clusters to follow suit. The Pt. Loma cluster represents 6,000 students and has an email list of 5,000 people. The Pt. Loma Cluster Executive Board assured the SDUSD Board that this was not a move for community takeover nor a move to implement Charter schools. Parents, community members, teachers, and principals are working together to spend their monies effectively and synergistically.

Parcel Tax Measure: A consultant, Larry Reamer, is helping staff evaluate the possibility of placing a parcel tax measure on the November ballot. A tax measure requires 2/3 voter approval. The first step was to conduct numerous surveys and the results showed a 64% approval (just shy of 2/3) of a $98, 5-year, temporary, emergency parcel tax. The staff will continue to study and present a recommendation to the Board in May/June. Member de Beck made it clear that it will be absolutely necessary to negotiate with employee groups and get agreement with how the money will be spent prior to placing the measure on a ballot. Four parents/teachers from four different schools (McKinley Elementary, SDHS, SCPA, and Rosa Parks) spoke during public input in support of the parcel tax. California Charter Schools representative also supported the parcel tax as long as Charter schools receive 10% of the revenue.

Sponsorship and Advertising: The Board discussed with the staff the possibility of advertising on the SDUSD website as well as on school websites. There was no consensus other than continuing with the research. Staff expects that $100,000 per year could be raised which is basically enough to pay for website expenses. The Board members agrees that a district wide policy would have to be established with design guidelines and acceptable advertisers. The two student representatives that attend the Board meetings both said they don't necessarily agree that kids need to be bombarded with more advertising (i.e. at school properties). The SDUSD website gets 1.5 million visitors per month.

Timeline for Superintendent Selection: President Barrera suggested that a committee be developed to filter through applicants and narrow down to 15 qualified candidates. I understand that the candidates would be determined by June 15. Some Board members are concerned that qualified outside San Diego applicants will be cast aside because they are not known locally. I heard a comment that the staff would like to integrate community outreach, but I didn't understand what that meant

High Performing Schools: A team from San Diego Unified looked at high performing schools and what they're doing right. You can watch the slide show here.

2010/11 Budget: The CFO gave an update on projected shortage based on the Governor's first budget round. I believe its estimated to be $62 million. Followed by another shortfall in 2011/12. Public speakers asked for support of music education.

The staff will present the first 2010/11 budget at the February 2 meeting. Please attend this Board meeting if possible. It is important that the Board and staff know that parents and the community are listening and paying attention to the decisions they are making for next school year.

Until February 2,

Julie Moore