While the investigation just started, a neighbor said he thinks the blaze might be related to graffiti that appeared overnight.

And what graffiti! Take a gander at this masterpiece:

It looks like an illiterate giant was using finger paint to play a game of Hangman. Anyone have a clue as to what SKORE HTF IMG means?

In other news, I will be off next week so you might see a longer gap than usual between HayWord posts. Play nice, everybody!

So it wasn’t that big of a surprise when he selected the one question he wanted to ask all candidates at Wednesday’s interviews:

 “It’s a simple question, but it means a lot, at least to me. Where do you believe the superintendent should sit during board meetings, and why?”

Turned out to be a pretty good question in terms of gauging who has been observing the board at work. Six of the 10 candidates clearly knew what he was getting at, while a couple were ambiguous  and another two definitely went off-roading with their answer.

No need to name names — no one’s up for a public vote at this time, and, as former schools trustee Gloria Grant-Wilson said, “It takes a lot of courage to stand up there and apply, even if you don’t win, and especially if you don’t win, it takes a lot of courage to keep coming back.”

We’ll have to wait and see if the seating question comes back to the fore in the run-up to the November election.

As for answers, most of the candidates who addressed the issue agreed with Reynoso that to mix the superintendent in with elected officials can be confusing.

Appointed trustee Jesus Armas ventured the following reply while acknowledging his answer might be a black mark in Reynoso’s book:

 “The district has more significant issues in front of it than where the chief sits. The district allows the protocol to be directed by the presiding officer, and I honor that decision.”

It’s not the biggest crime news to strike Hayward, but KTVU has an entertaining video clip of how it went down. It’s worth a watch.

And if you happen to recognize the backwards-baseball-hatted accomplice, police would like to hear from you at 510-293-7000.

Former City Manager Jesus Armas was appointed to serve as an interim Hayward school board member Wednesday, and said he intends to seek a permanent seat in the November election.

That will pit him against outgoing City Manager Greg Jones and Councilwoman Anna May, who each are leaving their positions to run as a slate for two of the three slots available on the board.

School board members chose Armas from a field of 10 candidates in a 3-1 vote, with Luis Reynoso dissenting.

Reynoso was wary of the appointment because he felt district staff members were “less than transparent” in divulging the fact that Armas’ wife works as a human resources manager in the district, which he said creates potential for a conflict of interest.

In other news, today was the filing deadline for June’s election. All six of the City Council contenders mentioned in this story filed.

Hayward City Manager Greg Jones will give up his position as the city’s top administrator to run for school board because of conflict of interest perceived by state Attorney General’s Office. Story in tomorrow’s Review, but here’s the letter that he sent to city staffers this afternoon:

Hello, All.

As you likely know, I have recently been exploring the possibility of running for Hayward Unified School District board in November.  Part of that exploration has included an evaluation as to whether my participation would create a legal conflict of interest due to my position as City Manager.  Based on recent information provided by the State Attorney General, a previous decision on a similar situation indicates it does in fact create a legal conflict and that I cannot serve in both capacities.

With mixed emotions, I have decided that the condition of HUSD and the impacts the schools have on our overall community compel me to pursue the HUSD board position in November.

This is a very difficult decision for me, as I have grown to have deep respect and admiration for the employees of this organization.  I believe that we have worked together to accomplish some incredible things for the community even during very difficult financial times.  The passage of Measure A was the culmination of a great deal of work by many, many people, none more important than the men and women who serve the community on the front lines, day-in and day-out.   The bargaining groups that have stepped up over and over again to help ensure our budget situation is manageable; the Council developing a clear set of five key priorities to focus resources; the improved connection we have with our citizens and neighborhoods and businesses; the development of a budget that identifies the real needs of the organization, even as we struggle to find the money to fund those needs; development of new leaders that have changed how we deliver services to the community; the list of great work could go on and on.  We should all be very proud.

I will be working with the City Council over the next few weeks to determine how best to manage the transition.  I will keep you posted on the transition plans as they become more clear.  I know each of you will continue on the path of excellence, and that your passion and enthusiasm for the services we provide the community (the only reason we exist as an organization!) will further the efforts of the City.

The last two and a half years, while incredibly difficult, have also been incredibly fulfilling, thanks to you all.  Thank you sincerely for your hard work, support, encouragement, and professionalism.  I am quite certain that our paths will continue to not only cross, but converge, in what we need to get done as a community to continue its improvement.

Regards,

Gregory T. Jones
City Manager, City of Hayward

 Ten applicants for the temporary schools trustee position were announced at last night’s school school board meeting. They are:

Carolina Abatayo

Jesus Armas

Rick Bartholomew

Regina Brooks-Day

Audie Bock

Lawrence Fitzpatrick

William McGee

Kelly Rocchio

Monica Schultz

Cathy Stegall

An 11th candidate also turned in an application, but because the person was under 18, it was considered ineligible.

The board will hold a special public meeting from 1 to 5 p.m. on March 17 at the district offices to interview the candidates, and they are expected to make an appointment afterward. The temporary trustee will be sworn in on March 24 and serve until the board election in November.

The California Department of Education released its list of “Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools” today, meaning those in the bottom 5 percentile, and Hayward was well represented.

Here are the lists, in two sections: Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Hayward Unified was the only district in Alameda County to have high schools on the list, and all three were on it — Hayward High, Mt. Eden High and Tennyson High.

Interim Superintendent Janis Duran said it was “very disheartening” to see them there, considering Mt. Eden and Tennyson have made significant gains in API scores over the past five years.

In order to receive federal funds to help turn listed schools around, districts must adopt one of four intervention models. They range from the very drastic — closing the school, or reopening it under a charter operator — to the not-so-drastic-but-still-significant, which involve changing the principal and either replacing at least 50 percent of the staff or increasing instructional time.

Duran said the latter has already been accomplished at high schools because of the switch from the block schedule system.

That move, approved by trustees last year, was done as a budget cutting measure to save the district $1 million. But it may prove handy, if feds agree that it could count as part of an intervention model.

Duran said they “are still getting clarity for interventions” and have not made any decisions regarding available options.

Longwood and Burbank elementary schools were also on the state’s list. Longwood has already been slated for restructuring because of unacceptable test scores, but Burbank has seen a turnaround. However, the method used in selecting schools for the list averaged scores over the past three years, putting Burbank on the list despite this year’s 25-point growth in API scores. Harder, which is the other school facing restructuring, had better scores than Burbank three years ago but they’ve since switched places.

“I would think that attention would be given to the fact that we have recently improved scores,” Duran said.

Here’s the state Web site with more information about the list and how the schools were identified.

The gist of it is that the question was asked, “May the city manager or assistant city manager of the City of South San Francisco serve simultaneously on the board of trustees of the South San Francisco Unified School District?” The answer given by then-Attorney General Daniel Lungren was no for the city manager, yes for the assistant city manager.

Greg Jones said he is looking this case over, and may ask the Attorney General’s office to confirm that it still applies.  ”It is an old opinion, so there may be a different slant on this in this age,” he said. Jones expects to make an announcement regarding his plans late this week or early next.

UPDATE 3/4: David Mora, West Coast regional manager of the International City Manager Association, said that members cannot hold any kind of political office, according to Tenet 7 of their 12 tenets. Jones is a member of ICMA, but you don’t have to be a member to be a city manager.

City Manager Greg Jones announced Wednesday that he plans to make a bid for a seat on the Hayward Unified School District board. He’s got an inquiry in with the state Attorney General’s Office to see if they would consider it  a conflict of interest, but he doesn’t think it is.

“There could be occasions, regarding specific items, where the city is providing a service to the schools, but it seems to me that I could recuse myself from a vote,” he said.

Jones also said that if state officials say he can’t hold both posts, he will have to make a “tough decision” what to drop — his current gig or the bid for the board.

“From my perspective, schools are the most important issue we have in the community,” he said. “We can do all the great work for the city, but if we don’t improve schools we keep losing families, and losing future leaders of the community. People vote with their feet.”

Ralph Farias Jr.

Sara Lamnin

Anna May (who has since said she does not intend to run)

Steven Oiwa

Marvin Peixoto

Mark Salinas

Here’s a handy Registrar of Voters site that can keep you filled in on filers. Click on “Candidate Filed Log” to access the .pdf file. Hayward races are on the last page (mayor and “counil”, oops) and are empty at the moment. But take a look at page 26, under the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools.

No, Hayward schools trustee Luis Reynoso is not considering a run for Sheila Jordan’s spot. “I was just exploring, but I’m not. There’s no news there,” he said today.

The Hayward Unified School District set up a special Web page that has a load of information regarding upcoming budget cuts. It has feedback from the community meetings held in recent months, and links to information about budget timeline, who is on the Budget Advisory Committee, statements from top HUSD officials and a feedback form, where you can rank priorities for cuts.

In addition for a chance to weigh in, it gives a good idea about how much can be saved by doing what. The format is a little confusing, however. From the survey:

Respond to the following questions by ranking each one on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being most important and 5 being least important.

Q4: Reduce or eliminate staff development for teachers (currently 3 days). Saves $400,000.

So what this means is, you’d rank it 1 if you consider it “most important.” That doesn’t mean you think staff development for teachers is a most important priority, but rather that you think it’s most important for the district to cut said development.

To see other savings, read on:

Reduce or eliminate funding for athletics: $200,000

Reduce or eliminate mentoring and induction programs for new teachers: $300,000

Cutting maintenance and upkeep to school grounds: $200,000

Cutting number of principals and assistant principals across the board: $1 million

Suspend summer school and after school programs: $1 million

Close or consolidate schools with declining enrollment: Two schools saves $400,000

Cutting school and office budgets for materials and supplies: $100,000

Reduce the work year: Each day, up to four, is $500,000 for a maximum of $2 million

Cut specialists in P.E., music, arts, etc. at elementary level: $2.5 million

Cut district administration and restructure central office: A 10 percent reduction saves $100,000

Increasing class size: $1 million saved per student increase, up to three.

Spend reserves and one-time funds to avoid program and staff cuts for the short term: $500,000

End transfer of employee sick bank days: $50,000

Reduce or eliminate school nurses: Up to $800,000

Increase employee furloughs: $500,000 per day

Support property tax increase: A parcel tax of $100 would yield $3.6 million

Reduce all employee compensation, temporarily, by 1 percent: $1 million

Shorten school year by up to five days: Each day saves $500,000

It all adds up to over $20 million. The district says $18 million needs to be cut.