SLV School District Perspectives |
|
|
School Board Meeting Synopsis January 20, 2004 Link To SLVUSD Web site Agendas and Minutes Page (Note: These are PDF files - read this if you have trouble opening them). Minutes are posted after they are approved, usually at the next regular meeting. Note from Laura About These Synopses (Basically, I report on what I think will be most interesting to community residents. Consult the minutes for a more complete listing of what happened in the meeting.) Closed Session The board had no report out of closed session, which was listed on the agenda as follows: Confidential Student Issues (Ed. Code 35146) Labor Negotiations Compensation for Represented and Unrepresented Employees (Government Code 54957.6) Conference with Legal
Counsel - Pending Litigation Reports Transportation Budget Presented by Eric Mandel. Fees of 65 cents per ride constitute about 19% of the transportation budget. The SLV District was one of the first to do this, although at this point our fees are below many other other districts. 10-12% of the students ride free. The rest of the money for bussing has come from various state programs and our general fund. Currently, about 274K comes out of the general fund, and 193K of that is for special ed transportation. 81% of the transportation budget goes to salaries, 16% to maintenance and fuel, and 3% for payments on one bus. This year, with the school consolidations, ridership is up 10% over last year. Some cost-cutting measures were put into place, including reducing driving to outlying areas. Other proposals under consideration are increasing fees (probably to 75 cents per ride/$200 year), increasing the walking distance for students and increasing the Junior High ridership. Special Education Report (2nd of 3) Currently, about 500 students in our District get Special Education services. Because many students receive more than one service, there are 923 "student services" provided. We get a certain amount of funding for this from the state (Individual Disabilities Education Act - based on ADA) and from Federal Funding (which never has been funded at the promised level). We get some money from Medi-Cal and MAA. However, Special Ed services still cost the District about 1.5 million dollars, not including the transportation costs mentioned above. Action Items All-Weather Track Next phase approved. Updates Legislative Update Governor's budget is tied both to a 2/3 approval of the legislature and bond measure on March ballot. At this point, the schools are supposed to be funded at last year's levels if all goes well. There was a sleight-of-hand deal where it looked like schools were getting more, but almost all of it was taken away again. Construction Update Rain has been setting things back, but with a few more days of sun, it will be to the point where rain won't matter. Two years of lab science is now mandated for high school graduation. This means we need another science room. Room 13 will be renovated for this purpose. Construction is slated to start at SLE next year. Strategic Planning Timeline Timeline set out for first part of the strategic planning process - values statement, mission statement, vision statement. These will be worked on in concert between the Board and parent groups, and should be finished by June. Work on the overall plan will recommence in the fall. Tennis Courts/Boulder Creek Recreation Update For a long time there has been a verbal agreement about the community use of the tennis courts at BCE, but no written agreement has been found. The District has maintained the courts since they were built by the community (in the late 60's? Not sure about the date). In 1986, 8 portable classrooms were placed on the tennis courts for four years, until Redwood was built. During that time, use of the tennis courts was suspended. Now, portables have been placed on one of the courts for two years, until BCE renovation is complete. The District will continue to maintain the other one for community use. The board of Boulder Creek Recreation would like an agreement obligating the District to continue this on a permanent basis. Although a vote was not taken, there was some discussion, and the District Board of Trustees did not seem to be comfortable with this proposal. Meeting was adjourned at 8:35 PM. |