Those Clever Charterites!

Posted on April 30, 2009 by admin

Chris Mahoney, the instructional leader at Charter Learning Center, sent me an email the other day describing a very clever fund-raising/awareness-raising endeavor at the CLC: a fun(d) run to Sacramento! The goal is to raise money for the CLC, and raise awareness about California’s dismal level of education funding.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the effort’s website at <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Helvetica; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.apple-style-span {mso-style-name:apple-style-span; mso-style-unhide:no;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
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http://run4funds.scclc.net/.

Now I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed for pleasant running weather from the 16th thru the 18th…

Posted in budget, kudos, money | Leave a comment

A Plea for Reason and Tolerance

Posted on April 27, 2009 by admin

Concern is continuing to grow over how to accommodate the surge in kindergarten enrollments for next year. The Board had a discussion of the issue last Thursday, although it took no action, instead asking staff to evaluate certain options. Recommendations on how to proceed are expected in mid-May.

For those who are just tuning in, here’s a snapshot of the situation: around 80 more children enrolled for kindergarten than expected, causing Arundel, Brittan Acres and White Oaks to be impacted, with White Oaks seeing the biggest surge (i.e., 53 more children than what the school typically enrolls).

Naturally this resulted in a lot of unhappy people, particularly in the neighborhood around the White Oaks school, some of whom have banded together to seek an outcome other than having their kids attend Heather. Being action-oriented, they have proposed a number of ideas for increasing White Oaks’ kindergarten capacity. Which, in turn, has sparked negative reactions among the White Oaks, Brittan Acres and Heather school communities, for different reasons.

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Posted in capacity, crisis, enrollment | 1 Comment

Don’t Forget the Beam

Posted on April 22, 2009 by admin

I’ve always liked this biblical quote:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own?

It’s applicable to the District’s and Board’s current handling of the unusually high level of kindergaren enrollment for next year.

For those who may not be aware of the issue, next year looks to have the largest kindergarten enrollment in San Carlos in a long while. Three of the four elementary schools will be under some strain, with White Oaks being far and away the most difficult situation.

That school has a “normal” annual capacity of somewhere between 70 and 80 kindergartners. This year 133 students enrolled there. To say that this represents a major challenge for the District would be an extreme understatement.

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Posted in capacity, enrollment, parcel tax | Leave a comment

A Surplus of Deficits

Posted on March 31, 2009 by admin

Being both a trustee and volunteering on the Measure B campaign gives me an interesting perspective on questions that, from time to time, swirl around the community. One of those involves the answer to the question “So, just how big is the financial problem the District is facing?”

You’d think there should be just a single answer to this question. And there is. But because staff is evaluating lots of potential fixes for the problem the portion of the deficit that will have to be addressed through program cuts varies. It’s like talking about the shortfall in your household budget before and after you start making adjustments to your spending decisions: the starting point is the same, but the left over portion of the problem fluctuates.

In this posting I’ll try to show how all the District’s numbers are related to each other.

But let’s keep one thing perfectly clear: we have a big problem. If Measure B doesn’t pass we’ll lose the kind of San Carlos education we’ve come to know and expect.

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Posted in budget, capacity, contract, crisis, money, parcel tax, teachers | Leave a comment

Enrollment and Charters

Posted on March 19, 2009 by admin

I’m seeing questions about why the District serves so many out-of-district charter students if space is so tight at our schools. Here’s the explanation.

The primary reason San Carlos adopted the charter school model years ago was financial: the State gives us more money per pupil when our schools are charters than when they are traditional schools. That’s because charter schools are funded based on State-wide averages, and historically San Carlos’ schools, on their own, were funded below average. So converting to charters made great financial sense.

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Posted in capacity, enrollment, money | Leave a comment

Enrollment and Boundaries

Posted on March 19, 2009 by admin

With our record-breaking kindergarten enrollment for next year the issue of school capacity and boundary changes has leaped back into the limelight. Here’s my take on it.

White Oaks is the District’s smallest school, in terms of acreage, and it has essentially no ability to add new classrooms, either portables or newly-constructed ones. It also serves the area with the most school-age children per home. While it’s true that White Oaks enrolled 80 kindergarteners in certain recent years, the “real” long-term capacity of the school is closer to 70. The additional enrollment was made possible only because grades 1 through 4 were, at the time, a little smaller than average. That’s not something that can be counted on in any given year.

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Get Mad. Then Get Involved

Posted on February 4, 2009 by admin

This post was written as an article for this month’s Arundel PTA newsletter by Heather Mannion, a “…1st grader’s mom, entering 2010 kindergartener’s mom, and volunteer”. She was gracious enough to allow me to post it on my blog.

I think Heather’s article does a great job of summarizing in one place just what’s at stake, and what every San Carlos parent should do about it.

This is a personal editorial and does not officially reflect the views of either the PTA or the San Carlos Educational Foundation.

I’m mad. I’m angry at what the state of California has done to our schools. You may have heard this statistic: California currently ranks 47th in the nation in per student funding. Yet California is the tenth largest economy in the world. That’s quite a disconnect. And with these budget cuts, it’s likely we’ll be at the bottom very soon. Our schools are being utterly and systematically dismantled. Every parent with a child in California should be profoundly angry.

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Posted in budget, crisis, parcel tax, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Parcel Tax Polling Results

Posted on January 26, 2009 by admin

You can view a PDF of Godbe’s polling analysis here. I’ve inserted some personal observations and comments throughout the presentation.

Godbe’s recommendation is to put something in the $70 – $80 range — with a five year term — on the ballot in May or June. The Board will discuss this recommendation at a meeting on February 4th, and decide whether or not to put a parcel tax measure on the May ballot.

The Board could also opt to put the measure on the June ballot. The two ballots are not equivalent because voting for the May ballot is done exclusively by mail while the June ballot is a traditional go-to-the-polls (if you don’t vote absentee) ballot. The June ballot would also cost the District more to do. And, just to make things more complicated, there may be other statewide revenue enhancement initiatives put before voters in April or May which could potentially conflict with a District parcel tax measure.

Posted in crisis, parcel tax | 10 Comments

Improving Special Education and Saving Money

Posted on January 23, 2009 by admin

At last night’s Board meeting Tom Green, the Director of Student Services & Curriculum Instruction, explained how the District can improve its special education program by establishing additional classes to address the needs of kids who are currently educated outside the District.

This is potentially wonderful news, as few parents like the idea of bussing their kids to distant sites for their education. Educating students within our community makes them more a part of our community.

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Posted in kudos, special ed | 2 Comments

Response to Crisis: Initial Discussion

Posted on January 21, 2009 by admin

Last night staff presented its initial analysis of the cost reduction and revenue enhancement opportunities developed in the Board’s December brainstorming session. Many members of the public and the teaching staff attended the meeting, which was held in the Central multi-use room (aka “the old gym”…although it’s not very old since it’s been modernized).

The first presentation detailed the current outlook for the State’s budget. I won’t reproduce it here, because the key takeaways from it are simple, and well-known to readers of this blog: the State’s in a fiscal crisis; it’s getting worse, not better; it’ll last for at least a couple of years; and education is one of the areas of spending in the crosshairs.

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Posted in budget, capacity, city, contract, crisis, enrollment, money, parcel tax, teachers, Uncategorized | 4 Comments