The memorable thing for me about tonight’s board meeting was that school music made two gains: high school marching band students have a path to a PE waiver (to help fit music in their schedule) and Tolenas is set to become a music-themed K-8 school (more on these below).
This was the second regular board meeting I have attended since being elected. The agenda (and the entire archive of agendas, information handouts and minutes) is available from this link, but the navigation controls take a little getting used to.
One high point of the meeting was recognizing the district classified employee of the year, which spotlighted a dozen or so exemplary employees who are non-teachers but vital to the welfare of the district. I don’t have the list, but it should appear soon in the newspaper or district website – watch for it. Also recognized for outstanding achievement were students Madison Foster of Cleo Gordon Elementary, Dulce Bernal of Sheldon Academy of Innovative Learning, and Christian Carrion of David Weir K-8 Preparatory Academy. Each shared a speech.
Next on the agenda was an overview of how marching band came to be included in the PE waiver policies. Director of Secondary Education Kristen Witt described the work done starting in October of last year, with involvement of several principals, teachers and staff to look for a solution for students whose schedules did not easily include a place for marching band. She recognized and credited several individuals. (Notable to me was the role played by community member Diane Ball, who initially helped draw attention to the issue and has spoken on it several times, including tonight.) This culminated tonight with the later adoption of a modified board policy, adding a single clause to an existing statement of students who qualify for exemptions. (See the existing policy here.) Added to provision three of “Other Exemptions” was this phrase: “When the student is in high school and is engaged in a regular school-sponsored interscholastic athletic program carried on wholly or partially after regular school hours provided that the student has satisfactorily met at least five of the six standards of the FITNESSGRAM in grade 9. (Added part in bold.) This, together with a change of which activities constitute “interscholastic athletic programs,” will allow marching band students who demonstrate proficiency in physical fitness in 9th grade to obtain the waiver on the same terms as student athletes on sports teams.
This may not be an easy bar to clear (only 260 ninth-grade students clinched the “five out of six standards” during the last year), but it’s a path and an incentive for physical fitness at the same time. Hopefully, time will show it to be a win all around – both for physical fitness teachers who feared it might reduce enrolled students, and for band teachers who were limited by students schedules, and most of all for students, who will now have more choice.
The next item of interest, designating the “thematic configuration for Tolenas Elementary,” contained a report describing parent, student and staff surveys showing preferences between the choices of multimedia, farm-to-table/agriculture, and music. This was also considered at the last meeting, but sent back for more information. Tonight the choice for the board was whether to select either farm-to-table/agriculture or music as the school theme. I was leaning toward farm-to-table because of the survey results, but board member Joan Gaut said the school district already has a K-8 school with that theme, but none with music. That helped sway me to board member Judi Honeychurch’s motion to select music. Board member John Silva dissented, wanting to respect the survey results, but the motion carried. Maybe this sounds boring, but to me it was exciting. I think it marks a big step, where the school will provide a stronger music program than other K-8 schools, and some parents may well choose for their children to attend Tolenas for that reason. (Personal note: I attended the same school for two years in the early 70s. It was very much an agricultural area then, and probably still is now.) Again, I hope time will show this to be a solid decision.
The sobering part of the meeting was discussion of the likely need for $2.8 million in cuts during the next school year (equal to a little more than one percent of the budget). We’ll vote on these proposal at the next meeting, and none will likely result in any layoffs, but all will suffer a little bit as various programs are affected. The shortfall is almost entirely because of funding decreases at the state level. The following school year more cuts may well be necessary, and might involve even more positions cut. We have a great team of administrators, fortunately, to guide us through these leaner times while we work to keep the cuts as far away from student learning as we can.
The good news of the night was the chance of getting a grant for almost $2 million if we can show it would go only to help certain under-performing student groups in math and reading skills. More money from the state to educate our students is always welcome! Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Sheila McCabe gave a presentation on the grant.
Overall the night didn’t last too long (we got out by 7:45, my memory says), but a lot happened. It feels good to be part of this team of board members as they have a say in steering the district.
Normally I would summarize events at every regular board meeting, but because of funeral events for my stepmother Carolu Wilson, I missed this one (which would have been only my second regular board meeting). (You may be able to see the obituary at this link.) Note the school district maintains an archive (through a private company, “BoardDocs”) reaching back for several years containing all meeting agendas and minutes. You can view that starting from this link.
I’m writing this a bit in retrospect, so I’ll summarize more than usual.
January 15, 2019 – Facilities Subcommittee: received an update on construction projects (a two- or three-page list), reviewed and approved creating an annual budget allocation for playground maintenance of $500,000 per year, and heard a report on how the Proposition 39 grant has been used for energy upgrades around the district. We also decided to forego the following month’s meeting. The larger issue not handled here, I thought, was at what level of playground facilities does our community want us to maintain: A cadillac, buick or chevy level. You may be able to view the reports at this link; the official minutes might be accessible through this link.
January 23, 2019 – Governance Subcommittee: We reviewed and approved (sent on for consideration to the whole board) changes to the policies concerning charter schools, “Communication With the Public,” liability claims, and terms of office. Each of these consisted of technical updates following either changes at the state level, or boilerplate language suggested by the state school boards organization. Two other policy changes approved (local-only, not derived from CSBA) were physical education standards (allowing for sports or marching band students to receive exemptions from PE if certain requirements are met) and homework/makeup work, which sets “reasonable” limits. You may be able to view the policies and proposed changes at this link.
I took the chance to be present at the “Winter Recruitment Fair” at the district office this morning.
I learned a lot about the kinds of vacancies the district is looking to fill, from teachers (several were signed on today) to cafeteria to maintenance to bus drivers and other departments. A list of current vacancies was posted at several tables, and you can see the current lists by clicking on a tab for which type of job: https://www.fsusd.org/jobs
I saw many people circulating at the information tables; some then proceeded to interviews in other locations, and I was told that people who had been signed on the spot left with a certain backpack that also served as a signal for “Yay – there’s another success!”
I’m well familiar with teaching jobs, but I also got a sense of some of the jobs in other departments that I hadn’t known much about. For instance, bus driver jobs usually have a two- or three-hour shift in the morning, then another in the afternoon. If you have some free time on your hands but don’t want full-time employment or like mid-day breaks (and you like youth), consider applying there (although there is quite a delay while licensing and safety requirements are being met). Likewise, most cafeteria service positions are only a few hours in the middle of the day. For some people, part-time work is not enough. For others, it might be ideal. If you’d like to inquire, call the main number and say, “I’d like to talk to somebody about jobs in (such-and-such) department.” You may have to wait for a return call, but persist until you reach someone who can give you a good description of what it’s like to work there (probably one of the managers). If I weren’t already a substitute teacher (for other districts now), I think I would myself enjoy being a regular in one of these work environments. I’m a social person, and these look like good places to be while earning a modest income.
I also got to visit with (or meet) many people who work in the backbone of the district; principals, managers and other administrators. I didn’t retain many names, but I’ll be learning these one at a time. I’m gaining confidence that this is a solid, well-run organization. Not that there aren’t any problem areas, but as I was saying to someone I visited with, if you focus on building on (and expanding) the strong areas, the problem areas usually shrink, without even having to focus on them very much.
That kind of mirrors my experience as a teacher in the classroom.
I’d like to make a practice of reporting my involvement in board meetings, but I haven’t figured out how I want to do it. The meeting three days ago (Jan. 7th) I listed under the “Meetings” menu, and this is under the “What’s New/Blog” menu. I’ll probably move it later to the other menu, but I haven’t got it set yet and I want to get my recollections down when they’re fresh.
The highlight and main event was the Teacher of the Year awards presented by the teachers association. Look elsewhere for a list (and pictures) of honorees and celebrators but seeing and hearing briefly about each nominee made me feel proud to be associated with those people, and they’re also a stand-in for the hundreds of others who serve this community (and helped raise my three kids as they went through the local schools). A few of them I knew personally, but I admired all of them. (Fellow board-member John Silva got a group picture I envy. I’ll try to acquire it.)
Other items on the agenda I either voted on or noted:
- A closed session item about a settlement with the California Office of Administrative Hearings (confidential, but you might be able to look it up using the public case number: 2018110330, I think it was; I voted in favor, and it was approved).
- Approved the minutes of the last meeting (see them at this link, but you’ll have to navigate to the particular meeting – you can also get all the details on this meeting at that link).
- Heard a report on the “Intensive Intervention for General Education Students” program, which is in the middle of its second year. It’s showing itself as an effective prevention tool for some of the youngest students at serious risk of failing in school
- Heard a presentation responding to last month’s meeting “Student Voices,” where several specific complaints were given; we heard formal responses given by several top administrators, and I learned a lot.
- Voted to approve these items: all of the routine agenda business items (“consent calendar”); a grant application for a Kindergarten program; a bid award for HVAC upgrades at Laurel Creek school; two teachers to teach on an “intern” credential; a slight increase in the substitute teaching pay schedule; and the creation of a position for a “family engagement coordinator” and a “coordinator of educational services”.
- Heard and/or accepted reports on the local control and accountability plan (“LCAP”); some new high school courses for next year; some upcoming bids for vehicles for vocational programs; a review of financial statement for the month ending November 2018; the facilities subcommittee minutes; and reports on participation in the California School Board Association.
It was a two-and-a-half-hour meeting, and instead of boring (as many board meetings in the past have been for me, before I was elected) I was interested in just about all of it!
I had to put several hours ahead or time into preparing for it (reading all of the briefing materials, and even meeting once with the superintendent for more information), and I plan to spend another hour or two reviewing the materials so all of this information doesn’t quickly fly away out of reach of my memory.
The personal high points were looking out at all the teachers during their part of the program, and then later hearing the meeting adjourned in memory of many people who have recently passed away, including Theo Dean, with whom I had a connection from childhood; I visited with his son Michael after the meeting. That was the other high point.
I updated a few of my site pages yesterday. I added a “Disclosures” main menu item, and moved my campaign files under that (I renamed it from “Campaign” to “Campaign 2018”), and created a “Personal” item under Disclosures, as well as a “Post-Campaign” item. This gave me a place to put some small items I’d had but not yet posted, such as my first pay stub, my conference reimbursement forms, and my updated “Statement of Economic Interest” form.
I also created a “Meetings” menu, but haven’t added anything for that. But since this week holds my first two official meetings, I expect to have something there by the end of the week.
Event: Institute for New and First-Term Board Members, held at Sacramento County Office of Education, Jan 3 and 4, 2019
Drove down; began at 8:30am, a roomful (more than 100 people – sold out, the website said) of mostly new board members, with some administrators from all over Northern California.
First session, 8:30am-12pm: “Effective Governance,” presented by Luan Burman Rivera, former board member and consultant with CSBA. Topics: Introductions, Facts About Education, Why Think About Governance, Effective Trustees: Six Essential Characteristics, I to We, Effective Boards: Four Essential Conditions, Summary.
What stuck out for me: Several of the diagram models caught my attention; one was an diagram of all the agencies that have a hand in school governance, through the board, down to the recipients. Another was of trifocal glasses, for sometimes seeing through the “vision lens,” sometimes the “issue lens” and sometimes the “governance lens.” Another showed axes of board members (“value driven”) versus administrators (“skill driven.”)
A quote that caught my eye: “The role of the board is to ensure the values, beliefs and priorities of the community are transformed into documents that serve as a driving force to focus and align all district efforts.”
I decided to re-read the handouts again in the future, to re-interpret, remember and reinforce the ideas.
Second session, 1-4pm: “School Finance,” presented by Sheila Vickers and Debbie Fry of School Services of California. Topics: History/timeline of school finance change points in California since Serrano v. Priest in 1971; LCFF, goals and target funding factors; budgets, LCFF calculations and ADA; areas of flexibility in school budgets; comparative budgets between similar districts; budget development process; reserves and long-range projections; “12 Key Points to Remember to Maintain Fiscal Solvency”; bargaining considerations; and the current state of school finance.
I was overwhelmed by most of this, but am determined to re-study and at least grasp the fundamentals of school budgets. (I also brought my copy of our district’s budget on Friday.) I was visiting with some board members from another district, and in my mind prioritized board member responsibilities: solvency above nearly all else; students safety; and academic achievement next. (Of course they all go together.) I look forward to tomorrow, day 2. A distinct pleasure was visiting with Executive Director of Administrative Services and Community Engagement Tim Goree, who also attended – we drove together. I also enjoyed visiting with CSBA staff members Michael Anadon, Deanna Fernandes and Myel Jenkins.
DAY TWO
Third Session, 8:30am-12pm: “Human Resources,” presented by Luan Burman Rivera (again). Topics: Building relationships; developing a positive climate for HR; the hiring process (superintendent, other staff); evaluation (superintendent, other staff, self-evaluation); collective bargaining.
Many in the larger group had questions about relationships with superintendents, and much of the morning was spent on details and examples of that. Little stands out in my memory; some of this was covered at the new board member workshop last month at the annual education conference of CSBA.
Fourth Session, 12:30-4pm: “Student Learning,” presented by Pam Costa, former board member and CSBA governance consultant. Topics: Curriculum, instruction and assessment; stages of team development; state priority areas in LCAP; state dashboard; common core; CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress); community leadership and advocacy; protocols.
Memorable bits:
- Easy to access LCAP (district progress) dashboard website: https://www.caschooldashboard.org/
- Access to statewide practice tests: http://www.caaspp.org/ and district results: https://caaspp.cde.ca.gov/
- List of acronyms and education terms (67 pages of them! – lots of fun homework …)
Enjoyed visiting with board members from other districts again; board pres from Amador County gave me some websites to look at, grateful. Also spent time studying our board handbook, and as with yesterday, much enjoyed visiting with Tim Goree on the way and back.
Overall: Found the training very stimulating (and challenging); looking forward to developing this knowledge by applying it, and then later (next year?) taking the advanced training classes for experienced board members.
Here are some more school holiday events I attended in December, in order by date:
- December 5 (Wednesday) at the mall: Green Valley Middle School music program (see newsletter article at http://www.musicforourchildren.com)
- December 12 (Wednesday) at Grange Middle School (see previous blog entry)
- December 13 (Thursday) at Armijo High School:
Choir Director Jennifer Hobbs leads the first holiday choir concert at Armijo in many years. Hoping to see more of these groups in coming years!
- December 17 (Monday) at Wilson K-8 School:
Music teacher Alison Mahovsky led several different groups in front of a multipurpose room full of enthusiastic parents. Great groups!
- December 19 (Wednesday) at Dan O. Root Health and Wellness Academy:
Each of the Kindergarten classes performed, and the crowds loved it!
- December 20 (Thursday) at the district office: Holiday luncheon hosted by administrators, included all district office employees.
- December 20 (Thursday) at Backyard Vines (Suisun Valley): Afternoon teacher appreciation event/reception, hosted by Kim Liew Real Estate Group; all teachers in district invited, scholarship fund started, etc.
It was a great holiday season. Hope everyone is enriched and refreshed.
Music Teacher Walter Hunt introduces the Jazz Band from Grange Middle School in Fairfield, California.
Wednesday night (12/12/18) I attended a winter school music concert at Grange Middle School (1975 Blossom Ave, Fairfield). Student groups performing were the Jazz Band, the Intermediate Band and the Advanced Band, directed by music teacher/Band Director Walter Hunt.
Pieces I recognized and enjoyed included “La Bamba,” “Theme from Mission Impossible,” “Theme from Pink Panther,” and some classical pieces such as “Eine Kleine Natchmusik (Mozart)” and “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy (Tchaikovsky)”. (I recorded one of the numbers; you can view it here.)
The gymnasium full of parents and students gave enthusiastic applause. The principal said in her remarks that this was the last winter concert by Mr. Hunt, because he will be retiring next year. The school district will have a hard time filling his shoes.
First subcommittee meeting today (12/11/18): Facilities. Ran long (two hours, unable to attend RHS PIQE event). Briefly reviewed current projects (to view list, try this link for PDF), heard details of planned safety audit at a handful of sites, and spent the bulk of the meeting learning about custodial inspection reports (detailed report at this link for PDF) and then detailed repair needs of playground equipment at the six schools with the most need (detailed report at this link for PDF).
Issue: need for long-term plan for playground equipment repair and replacement as fixed part of budget so that it’s systematic and not haphazard (which would result in large deferred maintenance needs, somewhat the current situation). Will consider more at next meeting in January.
Calendar for year’s monthly meetings approved after a few changes to proposed. (See my official calendar here.)
Craig Wilson, Board Member, Fairfield-Suisun School Board (personal website - not official, not speaking for district) 