A new formula proposed by the governor to radically change the way school districts are funded is creating a buzz statewide, as officials look at projections released Wednesday that show some would get big revenue boosts, while others would receive far less per student.

The rationale for the funding overhaul is that disadvantaged students cost more to educate. So, districts that have a higher percentage of English learners and students who quality for free and reduced priced meals should get more money than those that don’t, the governor argues.

He would also do away with dozens of “categorical” funding streams that were created to funnel money into specific programs. Instead, the governor wants to give local control to school boards to decide how best to spend their dollars.

While most school officials praise the local control part of the proposal, some that would get less money under the plan are critical of the funding formula, which would provide supplemental grants equal to 35 percent of the base per student revenue for each English learner, economically disadvantaged student or foster youth.

Contra Costa County districts would see a wide variety of funding increases, ranging from a low of 12 percent growth in the tiny Canyon district to a high of nearly 71 percent in the Pittsburg district.

Although the state says Canyon has no English learners or low-income students, Superintendent Gloria Faircloth said that’s a mistake and she estimates about 12 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches. In Pittsburg, 80 percent of students are low-income and 32 percent don’t speak English fluently.

Officials in these and other districts said they are waiting to see what the final outcome will be.

“It should change a little bit, but it still doesn’t look good for us,” said Faircloth, whose district educates about 66 K-8 students. “We’re so small, but with our operating costs, there’s a lot of things we have to do, so we’re not crazy about the new funding method. I understand why the governor wants to do this. It seems equitable for other districts, but we were all low, so it would be nice if we could go up (more).”

Canyon’s funding would rise by $857 per student, from $6,945 in 2011-12 to $7,802 when the plan is fully implemented. Pittsburg’s per student funding, on the other hand, would grow by $4,813 per student, rising from $6,799 in 2011-12 to $11,612 with full implementation.

Enrique Palacios, Pittsburg’s Deputy Superintendent of Business Services, said more money will mean more accountability.

“The challenge is, OK, we’re getting all this money,” he said, “but now the expectation is we have to bring the performance of students up and the decisions are going to be left to the local level.”

For districts that believe they will need more money, Palacios said the governor is also proposing to lower the threshold for passing a parcel tax from two-thirds voter approval to 55 percent.

The San Ramon Valley Unified District, which currently receives about $6.6 million a year through a parcel tax, would get a funding increase of about 39 percent under the local funding formula, based on a relatively low number of needy students, including 4.5 percent English learners and 2.5 percent who qualify for free and reduced price meals.

“The concept of local control is something that I think all school districts have wanted back for a long, long time,” said district spokesman Terry Koehne. “But, the devil’s in the details. That comes with a certain level of disparity. It’s going to mean that our district will most likely not receive as much money as other districts, so it’s a double-edged sword.”

Orinda Union Elementary would see a bump of about $2,027 per student when the formula is fully implemented, going from about $5,753 in 2011-12 to $7,780 per student, or a 35 percent increase.

“We’re very disappointed in the formula,” said Orinda Superintendent Joe Jaconette, “There shouldn’t really be winners and losers.”

Moraga Superintendent Bruce Burns agreed, saying the state should strive to raise all districts to the national average.

“There’s going to be some push-back from communities like Lamorinda,” he said. “They pay higher property taxes and income taxes and would expect a return on their tax dollar investment.”

A breakdown of all the projections is at www.dof.ca.gov/reports_and_periodicals/district_estimate/view.php.

Do you support the governor’s funding proposal?

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At the Jan. 28 board meeting, Board President Cheryl Hansen reported out some of the performance targets for Superintendent Steven Lawrence, which were discussed during his Jan. 18 closed session performance evaluation.

Since many people on this blog have expressed an interest in seeing those performance targets in writing, Hansen sent them to me in an e-mail today.

Here is what she wrote:

“On January 18, 2013, here is what the Board determined were some of the priority areas for the remainder of this school year based on the Superintendent’s performance targets, all of which he is still responsible for accomplishing:

1. High Quality and Effective Staff – Target 3: Climate Survey

· General Counsel completes and reports out his evaluation of any legal implications of conducting a climate survey (February 25 meeting).

· Create and actually conduct a district and school climate survey this school year, piloting it with at least one elementary, one middle, and one high school.

2. Supportive Family and Community Involvement – Target 2: External Communications

· Improve and update district and school web sites to be informative and current. Archive information and documents prior to August 2011.

· Create a Superintendent’s page with current messages and links to up-to-date communications, events, and reports.

3. High Schools – Target 4: Other Critical Measures (High School Rigor)

· Complete an assessment and present a recommendation regarding increasing graduation requirements and credits.

· Increase high school students’ completion of A-G requirements so graduates have more post-secondary opportunities.

4. All K-12 Students – Target 1A and 1B: English Proficiency

· Implement and monitor the English Learner Master Plan.

5. Middle Schools (and High Schools) – Target 1: API and Target 2: Mathematics

· Create more effective math pathways and successful course completion, particularly at the middle and high school levels.

· Evaluate and improve effectiveness of programs and intervention at Year 5 Program Improvement schools.”

Do you agree that these performance goals should be priorities for Superintendent Steven Lawrence?

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In response to a Public Records Act request by the Contra Costa Times’ editorial department, the Mt. Diablo school district recently released a letter from the law firm Gagen McCoy that disputed the Brown Act violation allegations raised by Wendy Lack and Alicia Minyen.

Here is the letter: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3cLD5zizbLtR0JuTFBjQTc3dGs/edit

Here are the Cure and Correct letters from Lack and Minyen: http://esbpublic.mdusd.k12.ca.us/public_itemview.aspx?ItemId=6231&mtgId=394

Although the Gagen McCoy letter disputes the Brown Act violation allegations, it fails to address the fact that the revised contracts signed by four board members did not take into account the legal questions raised by Lack with regard to AB1344 or board bylaws, which were discussed by Board President Cheryl Hansen at the Jan. 18 meeting. It also fails to address substantive changes made to the contracts without board approval for Superintendent Steven Lawrence and CFO Bryan Richards.

The board agreed in a 4-1 vote that the contract extensions were valid and it was not necessary to cure or correct the April 23 board action. However, trustees also agreed to seek advice from outside legal counsel regarding possible deficiencies in the contract language.

That contract language is expected be addressed Feb. 25 by another outside attorney: http://esbpublic.mdusd.k12.ca.us/public_itemview.aspx?ItemId=6269&mtgId=371.

Do you agree with the arguments made in the Gagen McCoy letter?

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According to a CAC update sent out last October, Mt. Diablo school district Superintendent Steven Lawrence told Chairwoman Lorrie Davis that the FCMAT Special Education Report would be released in December or January. Since it wasn’t released by the end of January, I sent Lawrence an email Feb. 4 asking when he intendended to make the report (which the district received July 26 from FCMAT) public.

Here is his respoonse:

“Our goal was to complete the review/editing process by December or January. However, with Dr. (Kerri) Mills being new coupled with the review/edit process that FCMAT goes through the process has taken a little longer than expected. We are working with FCMAT to make the study public in the near future.”

That night, I attended the CAC meeting and asked Board President Cheryl Hansen about the report. She sent me the following email the next day:

“As a follow up to our conversation last night at the CAC meeting regarding the status of the Special Ed FCMAT report, I emailed the superintendent the following four questions this morning and asked for his response today:

1.  What is the status of the SpEd FCMAT report?

2.  When will it be released to the public?

3.  Why has there been such a long delay in this process?

4.  What does the district intend to do with this report?  How will it use it?

I just received a reply from the superintendent which added nothing of substance to the general response he sent you. Here’s what he offered: ‘The question is when will FCMAT be available to present the findings to the Board. They are busy working with several districts and we are trying to get on their calendar. Once presented to the Board we will get Board direction on which parts of the report they would like us to work to implement.’

So here’s my response: I’m putting the Special Ed FCMAT report on the February 25th agenda so the Board and the public can finally get some information on something that should have been dealt with and made public a long time ago. The public paid for this report yet they aren’t getting any of the information that they paid for.

The only way to achieve transparency and accountability is if everyone involved acts with transparency and accountability, and that’s not what’s happening with these FCMAT reports.”

This is not the same procedure followed with the FCMAT Transportation report, which was never presented to the board by FCMAT. In that instance, district staff began implementing recommendations before they even presented the report to the board. And when they did present it, staff didn’t ask for direction. Instead, staff just explained what they were doing with the recommendations.

Although a date for a FCMAT presentation to the board has still not been finalized to my knowledge, a blog reader who attended the superintendent’s Wednesday feeder pattern meeting at Mt. Diablo Elementary has informed me that Lawrence told that group the report was with FCMAT for corrections and would be released as soon as it is returned next week.

So, now it appears that Lawrence doesn’t plan to wait until FCMAT has time to present the report to the board before releasing it, as he told Hansen.

This piecemeal dribbling of information is one reason it made sense for the superintendent to hold ONE Parent Advisory Council meeting so everyone got the same information at the same time. If he doesn’t want to do that, he should send out TIMELY messages to the community informing the public about what he’s telling parents at various feeder pattern meetings.

Do you think the superintendent should inform special education parents about when he plans to release the FCMAT special education report?

March 1 update: Here is the link to the FCMAT special education report: http://www.mdusd.org/NewsRoom/Documents/FCMAT-special-education-report.pdf

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Every week, Pleasant Hill City Manager June Catalano provides the Mayor and City Council with a “weekly update,” which is posted on the city’s website.

Last week, the first item in the update was related to Mayor Michael Harris’ new Education Initiative, announced at his Feb. 7 Mayor’s Breakfast.

Here’s what Catalano wrote:

“Pleasant Hill Education Initiative – The Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce hosted the ‘Mayor’s Breakfast’ event on Thursday, February 7th during which Mayor Michael Harris launched a new program: The Pleasant Hill Education Initiative. The intention of The Initiative is to establish a community-wide volunteer effort to enhance the quality of education for students in Pleasant Hill. The Initiative would include programs such as mentoring and tutoring students, volunteering in schools, career counseling, job shadowing, community teaching labs and afterschool enrichment programs. Mayor Harris is seeking to form a Steering Committee to plan and oversee The Initiative. This committee would be comprised of representatives from various organizations including City Commissions, the Pleasant Hill (PH) Recreation Park District, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, PH Library, Foundation for PH Education, PH Chamber of Commerce, Construction Trades, and the PH Community Foundation.

Those interested in being on the Steering Committee or wishing to be a volunteer in the program can sign up online at www.pleasant-hill.net/phei. For more information on The Initiative, contact Martin Nelis at mnelis@ci.pleasant-hill.ca.us.”

Here is a news story by Pleasant Hill reporter Lisa P. White about the breakfast and education initiative: http://www.contracostatimes.com/contra-costa-times/ci_22542234/pleasant-hill-mayor-launches-education-initiative-during-state.

It says that the district superintendent and principals of Pleasant Hill schools support the initiative. However, to my knowledge, this hasn’t been publicly discussed at a school board meeting.

How do you think Harris’ initiative could affect K-12 district schools?

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The Mt. Diablo school district’s Community Advisory Committee for special education will hear a presentation on infant services tonight.

Here’s the agenda:

“COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
AGENDA
DATE: February 5, 2013
TIME: 7:00 – 9:15 p.m.
PLACE: Dent Center – Board Room

1. Call to Order 7:00

2. Introductions (7:02 – 7:05)
Please notify the audience during introductions if you are recording the meeting
Please let us know if this is your first time attending a CAC meeting

3. Adoption of Minutes – December 4, 2012 (7:05 – 7:10)

4. Presentation – “Mt. Diablo Infant Services” – Shamahl Nolan (7:10 – 7:40)

5. Chairperson’s Report – Lorrie Davis (7:40 – 7:50)

6. Old Business (7:50 – 8:20)

6.1 Interim Assistant Superintendent’s Report – Dr. Kerri Mills

6.2 Board of Education Report – Lynne Dennler and Barbara Oaks

6.3 Board of Education Comments – Dorothy Weisenberger, Denise Lambert

6.4 Budget Advisory Committee Report – Tricia Tamura-Li

6.5 Equity Advisory Team – Dorothy Weisenberger

NETWORKING BREAK

7. New Business (8:30– 9:00)

7.1 QIAT – Christian Patz

7.2 Autism Task Force – Vi Ibarra

7.3 DELAC Committee – Denise Lambert

7.4 Advisory Commission on Special Education – Morena Grimaldi

7.5 Parent Liaison – Hilary Shen

7.6 Sub-Committee Updates – Next report in March
Parent & Community Education Committee – Julie Nibblett
Membership & Publicity Committee – Vi Ibarra
Legislative Committee – Denise Lambert
Blog Committee – Autumn Green

8. Public Comment (9:00 – 9:10)
Public comment is an opportunity to share concerns and comments with the CAC. In the interest of time, speakers are limited to three (3) minutes each with a total of fifteen (15) minutes for all speakers. Please respect student and personnel privacy. CAC members and district staff might not be able to respond to individual concerns in this forum, but will take your contact information and follow-up with you.

9. Information Items/Announcements/Adjournment (9:10 – 9:15)

DON’T FORGET – - BRING A FRIEND TO THE MEETING!!”

Do you think the committee should inquire about the status of the draft FCMAT special education report, which the district received in July, but has not yet publicly released?

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In December, Kaiser Permanente teamed up with the Mt. Diablo school district’s food services department to present a program at Mt. Diablo High focused on healthy eating and living called “Weight of the Nation.”

Many local leaders attended and were asked to make commitments to further the goals of the program in their communities.

Marianne Balin, Kaiser’s community benefit manager, recently sent a follow-up letter to participants, nudging them to keep their commitments. Her letter also included recipes for vegetarian chili and ranch dressing that were part of the December luncheon.

Here’s what Balin wrote:

“Dear Colleague,

I am writing to remind you that on Dec. 11, we had the pleasure of your company for movies and lunch at Mt. Diablo High School. At that time, 110 of our guests for the Weight of the Nation screening and lunch at Mt. D’s Serendipity Restaurant made commitments to work within their own lives, communities, schools, and workplaces to encourage healthy eating and active living.

If you are one of these commitment makers, our Community Benefit team at Kaiser Permanente is taking your commitment seriously. We will be contacting a number of you in February and March to inquire after your success. If you haven’t gotten started, please do. You can do it. Make a small change in your sphere of influence to make the right choice the easy choice. Serve fresh cool water. Bring the basket of tangerines. Have a walking meeting.

Here’s another gift for you to sweeten the work we hope you’ll do:
Mt. Diablo High School Vegetarian Chili (recipe attached)
Wellness City Challenge Buttermilk Salad Dressing (recipe attached)

Looking forward to catching up with you soon,
Marianne Balin”

Here are the recipes:

“Mt. D’s Vegetarian Diablo Chili”

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
1. 3 large tomatoes from MDHSs garden
2. 1 red onion (diced)
3. 1/2 heads of celery (diced)
4. 1 zucchini (diced)
5. 1 bell pepper (diced)
6. 1-2 Serrano peppers (diced) * optional, adds spice
7. 1 cup cooked kidney beans
8. 1 cup cooked pinto beans
9. 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
10. 6 oz. can of mild chiles (diced)
11. 1/8 cup chili powder
12. 1/2 tablespoons cumin
13. 1 tablespoon crushed red peppers (or as much as you like!)

Directions:
Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to a stock pot. Saute tomatoes until translucent. Dice ingredients from 1-6 and add to pot. Stir constantly and let items simmer together on a medium simmer for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for an hour. FYI: Add crushed red peppers to desired range of hotness!”

“Wellness Challenge Ranch Dressing”

Ingredients:
¼ teaspoon dried chives
¼ teaspoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely diced red or sweet onion
2 cups mayonnaise
2 cups buttermilk

Directions:
1) Mix all ingredients well
2) Serve over green salad

For more information or to order “Weight of the Nation” screening kits, DVDs and guides, visit www.kp.org/weightofthenation.
Additional details about the Wellness City Challenge are at www.wellnesscitychallenge.com.

What kinds of commitments might you be willing to make to model and encourage healthy eating and active living?

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The Mt. Diablo school board tonight will hear an update about an effort underway at Ayers Elementary to provide volunteer crossing guards to replace those that were cut from the city of Concord’s budget.

Trustees first discussed this issue Jan. 14. Here’s what the agenda report for that meeting said:

“Some municipalities have reduced traffic control support in these difficult budgetary times. Accordingly, some district employees and parent groups have offered to provide crossing guard support at our elementary sites. Consequently, in order to create a consistent policy the Board shall discuss the merits and implications of providing either District based or volunteer crossing guards.”

Here are video links to the board discussion:

Part 1: http://youtu.be/iGCgwzW5ee8

Part 2: http://youtu.be/eHHbRNARTBY

After this meeting, I received an email from an Ayers Elementary parent that was also sent to the board, a response to the parent that was copied to everyone else on the distribution list, a response from the parent, a follow-up email from the parent, and a response from the Ayers Office Manager that was copied to everyone on the distribution list.

Here is the sequence of emails:

Jan. 15 email from Ayers parent Kristi Buchholz:

“Dear Concord City Council Members, City of Concord Administration, MDUSD Board Members, and MDUSD Administration,

I have been a city resident for almost 20 years. I have two children in the MDUSD, one in second grade, and one in seventh grade. I have been a very active parent at Ayers Elementary School since 2006. I have sat on School Site Council, am a member of the Ayers Safety Committee, held multiple positions on the Ayers PTA, Pine Hollow PTA as well as the Mt. Diablo Council of PTA’s. I am fortunate enough to be able to volunteer many hours a week through these worthwhile organizations.

I am writing to you all out of sheer frustration and desperation at this point. The crosswalk directly in front of Ayers Elementary has been a very dangerous problem for years. This particular crosswalk was never staffed at city or MDUSD expense. Up until last year, a MDUSD noon supervisor staffed the crosswalk, and Ayers PTA reimbursed MDUSD for the expense at roughly $2500 per year. As you are all aware, PTA’s and other parent groups are scrambling to raise precious funds to supplement the thousands of dollars cut by the State of California. Ayers PTA was happy to fund this, considering it a small price to pay for the safety and well being of our hundreds of students. We were informed at the beginning of this school year, that employees were no longer permitted to act as crossing guards, regardless of who was paying for it.

I then approached the City of Concord Police Department, on behalf of the Ayers Safety committee, to inquire about codes and rules regarding acting as a crossing guard. We were aware of Concord Municipal Code 106-39 which reads: “Sec. 106-39. Persons other than authorized officials not to direct traffic.

No person other than an officer of the Police Department, members of the Fire District, a person authorized by the Chief of Police, or a person authorized by law shall direct or attempt to direct traffic by voice, hand, or other signal, except in an emergency and except that persons may operate any mechanical pushbutton signal erected by order of the Director of Public Works.0

(Code 1965, § 3211; Ord. No. 743; Ord. No. 818″

We then were contacted by Officer Bill Roche who informed us that the Police Department was putting together a volunteer crossing guard curriculum, thus allowing trained volunteers to act as crossing guards. On Wednesday, January 9th, a small but dedicated group of volunteers attended the training. Finally, a solution!

Now, this morning, I received an email from the Ayers Principal, Ms, Charla Hernandez informing me that she had attended the MDUSD School Board meeting last night (January 14th) where the School Board stated that no volunteers may act as crossing guards. Ms. Hernandez also informed me that we can no longer act as crossing guards in front of Ayers. The children are now left to their own devices to get safely across the street. This is completely unacceptable.

I am now appealing to a broad group of you, administrators, elected officials and local media to help get this issue solved. Enough is enough. I realize that this all comes down to liability. There must be a way to make this work. This must be corrected immediately to insure the safety of the hundreds of children at Ayers. I am sure as more budget cuts loom, the City of Concord may consider eliminating all paid crossing guards, as they attempted to do in June of 2012.

Sincerely,
Kristi Buchholz
Ayers Parent
Ayers PTA Executive VP
Ayers Safety Committee Member”

Jan. 15 district response:

“To all concerned:

Trustee Brian Lawrence contacted me concerned about possible misperceptions about the Board deliberations regarding volunteer crossing guards. The Board docket information item 14 .9 entitled ‘Crossing Guards’ read:

‘Some municipalities have reduced traffic control support in these difficult budgetary times. Accordingly, some district employees and parent groups have offered to provide crossing guard support at our elementary sites. Consequently, in order to create a consistent policy the Board shall discuss the merits and implications of providing either district based or volunteer crossing guards.’

The Board agenda item demonstrates an understanding that many public entities are having to make difficult economic decisions. The Board was briefed on their legal responsibility with regard to District based in volunteer crossing guard support. The Board members all praised the volunteers at Ayres Elementary School for being part of the solution. The Board and staff uniformly stated that the District wished to participate in a collaborative solution with the municipalities, namely the City of Concord, in order to go the extra mile to protect our students. Although the Board was mindful of its fiduciary duty to protect the District from liability, they directed staff to do whatever we could to work with the City to protect our students, reduced legal exposure, and help the City provide this service. Specifically the Board directed Dr. Lawrence and me to meet with the City of Concord staff to discuss this collaborative solution. Dr. Lawrence will be contacting them today.

Greg Rolen

Greg Rolen, Esq.
General Counsel
Mt. Diablo Unified School District
1936 Carlotta Drive
Concord, California 94519
Telephone: 925-682-8000 Ext. 4001
Fax: 925-680-2505″

Buchholz’ Jan. 15 response:

“Dear Mr. Rolen,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I am sure you can understand my frustration of fighting this battle for over six years now. My worst fear is that a child will become injured, or worse. I am sure you share those same fears.

I fully understand that liability is at the center of the issue now. Has anyone from MDUSD inquired with your insurance company regarding employee’s acting as crossing guards? If so, what was the reply? Is this specifically excluded in the insurance plan? What would it take to get coverage for this? I can only assume that the City of Concord is going to pass the buck on liability as well. What then? I refuse to accept that this is an impossible feat.

I have spoken to many different MDUSD officials and administrators over those six years and have never gotten a clear, definitive answer. When Ayers PTA began reimbursing the district for noon supervisors acting as crossing guards, Julie Braun Martin told me that employees could not act as crossing guards because their contracts forbid it. When I pointed out that noon time supervisors are not under contract, I never heard back. I have asked to see any policy regarding this, in writing, multiple times. No one ever returned my inquiries.

I believe that six years is an unacceptable amount of time to get a problem solved.

I look forward to getting anwers to my questions soon.

Kristi Buchholz”

Buchholz’ Jan. 23 follow-up:

“I would like to pass on that while observing the crosswalk this morning, two children came within a foot or two of being hit by cars. I am at a loss for words as this is allowed to continue.

I am aware that Dr. Lawrence is meeting with Chief Swanger and Valerie Barone soon, and eagerly await a quick decision, as the current situation is unacceptable.

Thank you,
Kristi Buchholz”

Jan. 23 response from Ayers Office Manager Sarah Strong:

“Please, please stop!!

This very important issue is tearing our community apart. Our students are expecting all of us to model the spirit of collaboration to solve problems. If we don’t show it to them now, how will they ever learn it?

Sarah Strong
Office Manager, Ayers Elementary
Phone: 925 682-7686
District Extension: 85701
Fax #: 925827-2521″

After attending the Jan. 14 meeting, CC Times columnist Tom Barnidge weighed in with this column: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_22436832/barnidge-how-solve-case-missing-crossing-guards

How do you think the district should resolve this issue>?

JAN. 30 UPDATE: Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Monday meeting, so I did not hear the crossing guard update (and there was not written staff report). However, I am posting a Jan. 29 follow-up email that was sent by Buchholz to her original distribution list, thanking them for their work on resolving the issue:

“To all involved in our Ayers Crossing Guard situation,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I was so very pleased at the outcome presented at our MDUSD School Board meeting last night. This has been a glowing example of the good that can come from all the stake holders in our community coming together to solve a problem.

I thoroughly appreciate the collaboration from all involved, it could not have happened without each and every one of you participating in some way!

I would like to give a special thanks to both Brian Lawrence and Edi Birsan for going above and beyond. I am very grateful to be part of a community who has leaders such as them at the helm.

I honestly expected some push back, and some red tape, but I am so happy that all I got was support, and declarations of ‘We will get this done’, from everyone!

Thanks again,
Kristi Buchholz”

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Due to a special project I’m working on, along with a planned vacation, I will not be able to attend tonight’s board meeting. It’s possible that Trustee Brian Lawrence may livestream it at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/briantlawrence. (I haven’t yet been able to reach him to confirm this.)

For those who want to comment on the topics to be discussed, I am posting the agenda below. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. in the district board room at 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord:

1.0 Call to Order

1.1 President will call the meeting to order Info

2.0 Announcements

2.1 In closed session, the Board will consider the items listed on the closed session agenda. Info

3.0 Public Comment

3.1 The public may address the Board concerning items that are scheduled for discussion during closed session only. These presentations are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers or the three minute limit may be shortened. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

4.0 Adjourn to Closed Session at 6:00 p.m.
4.1 Negotiations – The Board may discuss negotiations or provide direction to its representatives regarding represented employees, pursuant to EERA (Govt. Code Section 3549.1) Agency negotiators: Julie Braun Martin and Deborah Cooksey. Agencies: MDEA, CSEA, Local One M&O, Local One CST, MDSPA, and Supervisory. Action
4.2 Expulsion Info
4.3 Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release/Complaint – Four Certificated Employees Action
4.4 Readmissions Action
4.5 Anticipated Litigation – Two Potential Cases Info

5.0 Reconvene Open Session

5.1 Reconvene Open Session at 7:30 p.m. Info

6.0 Preliminary Business

6.1 Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call Info

7.0 Report Out Action Taken in Closed Session

7.1 Report of Special Closed Session – January 18, 2013 Info

7.2 Report of Closed Session – January 28, 2013 Info
7.3 Negotiations Info
7.4 Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release/Complaint Info
7.5 Readmissions Info
7.6 Anticipated Litigation Info
8.0 Expulsion Recommendations
8.1 Expulsion Recommendation – Student #07-13 Action

9.0 Consent Agenda: Action
9.1 (Item #1) Items listed under Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved/adopted by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately. Action

9.2 (Item #2) Minutes of the meeting of December 21, 2012 Action

9.3 (Item #3) Recommended Action for Certificated Personnel Action

9.4 (Item #4) Request to decrease Full Time Equivalent (FTE) for the 2012-2013 school year Action

9.5 (Item #5) Student Teaching Agreement between Cal Teach, Berkeley Science and Math Initiative and Mt. Diablo Unified School District Action

9.6 (Item #6) Recommended Action for Classified Personnel Action

9.7 (Item #7) Classified Personnel: Request to Increase and Decrease Positions Action

9.8 (Item #8) Fiscal Transactions for the month of December 2012 Action

9.9 (Item #9) Williams Quarterly Summary Report Action

9.10 (Item #10) Contract for Architectural services for Ball Wall replacement at Walnut Acres Elementary school Action

9.11 (Item #11) Increase purchase order with Independent Contractor Evelina Villa for Spanish language interpreting and document translations for the Special Education Dept. for School Year 2012-2013 Action

9.12 (Item #12) Award Inspector of Record (Project Inspector) Contract Action

9.13 (Item #13) Contract for Architectural/Engineering Services for New Modular Gym and Multi-Use Room Modifications at Concord High School Action

9.14 (Item #14) Approval of Interagency Agreement Between Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) and Contra Costa Health Services, Mental Health Division Action

9.15 (Item #15) Approve Adjustments to Non-Public School Contracts/Purchase Orders for Residential/Mental Health for 2012/13 School Year Action

9.16 (Item #16) Resolution #12/13-28 African American History Month Action

9.17 (Item #17) Committee Assignments Action

10.0 Consent Items Pulled for Discussion

11.0 Public Comment
11.1 The public may address the Board regarding any item within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District that is not on this agenda. These presentation are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers, or the three minute limit may be shortened. If there are multiple speakers on any one subject, the public comment period may be moved to the end of the meeting. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

12.0 Communications
12.1 District Organizations – At regular Board meetings, a single spokesperson of each recognized district organization may make a brief presentation following the Consent Agenda. Items are limited to those which are informational. Info

13.0 Superintendent’s Report

13.1 Update on School Crossing Guards Issue Info

13.2 Tomorrow’s Chef’s Culinary Competition Info

14.0 Business/Action Items

14.1 Walnut Creek Sister Cities International Program Action

14.2 2011-2012 Audit Report Action

14.3 Resolution #12/13-29 of the Board of Education of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of its General Obligation Refunding Bonds, 2002 Election, 2013 Series C in an Aggregate Principal Amount not to exceed $60,000,000. Action

14.4 Budget Development Calendar 2013-2014 Action

14.5 Document Tracking Services Independent Contract Action

14.6 Mt. Diablo Unified School District Significant Disproportionality Coordinating Early Intervening Services (SD-CEIS) Plan Info

14.7 Governor’s Budget Update Info

14.8 Review of 2012-2013 Single Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) and the Academic Program Surveys (APS) Info

14.9 AB 1575 Requirements Info

14.10 Video System to Broadcast Board Meetings Info

14.11 Update on the Review Process for Administrators’ Contracts Info

14.12 Board Retreat 2013: February 23, 2013 Info

14.13 Public Input and Information Meetings Info

14.14 Meeting Extension Action

15.0 Future Agenda Items
15.1 Future Agenda Items Info

16.0 Board Member Reports
16.1 Board reports Info

17.0 Closed Session
17.1 Items not completed during the first Closed Session will be carried over to this closed session. Action

18.0 Adjournment
18.1 Adjourn Meeting Info”

On the consent calendar, the Christian Patz and Kerri Mills are asking the board to increase a translation services contract with Evelina Villa from $25,000 to $49,500. However, the board had previously asked staff to come back with contracts for four vendors: Villa, Victor Gomez, AIS and CTI. I have been told by Gomez that he subsequently received a contract for just under $25,000, which didn’t come before the board. General Counsel Greg Rolen announced that he has established an “ethical wall” between himself and AIS, due to a recent change in his marital status. Why has Gomez’ contract been extended without board review and why is Villa’s on the consent calendar, without the side-by-side comparison of all four vendors that the board requested?

Other hot topics include the crossing guard update, the district’s Significant Disproportionality Coordinating Early Intervening Services Plan, budget update, AB 1575, an upcoming Feb. 23 board retreat, and an update on the contract language for the superintendent, general counsel, CFO and two assistant superintendents.

For comparison purposes, here is the Pittsburg district’s PowerPoint on disproportionality: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6mS2O1_NKceSGJ3WllSQ0NUM2s/edit

And here is the Pittsburg district’s draft disproportionality plan: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6mS2O1_NKcebXhpcGRFcGlQM1k/edit

What MDUSD topics interest you the most?

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Covering the Mt. Diablo school district is never dull. But, this week, I had to stand up to Superintendent Steven Lawrence to insist on my right to attend an Equity Advisory Team meeting where a committee was discussing the district’s draft plan to address the fact that the state has found it significantly over-identifies African-American students for special education, labeling many “emotionally disturbed.”

This is an important issue that the district has been working on for more than a year. In addition, it over-identifies African-Americans and Hispanic students for suspensions and expulsions, according to the state.

I heard a report about this at a recent special education Community Advisory Committee meeting, where the presenter invited other members of the committee to attend the Tuesday Equity Advisory Team meeting.

But, when I started to walk into the Equity Advisory Team meeting, Lawrence quickly stood and said, “Ms. Harrington,” (while the meeting was in progress) and asked me to step outside.

He tried to prevent me from attending the meeting, saying that it wasn’t open to the public. I told him the CAC presentation had given me the impression that anyone could attend. He said he didn’t know who made that presentation, but that wasn’t his impression.

I also told him another district administrator has encouraged me to attend, saying it’s important for the community to know about the work the committee is doing. He said he didn’t know why that administrator would have invited me.

Lawrence said it wouldn’t be good for just any member of the public to drop in and start making suggestions, since they wouldn’t have been to all of the other meetings and wouldn’t have reviewed all of the materials. I pointed out it would be easier for the public to review the documents if they were posted online.

He said the district can’t possibly post agendas and minutes for all of the various committees online because there are so many. But, he said the public could see the finished report when it is presented to the board on Monday.

Further, the superintendent said it was a “working meeting” and it wouldn’t be good if I was there videotaping or blogging, since it might inhibit discussion.

When I saw how intent he was on turning me away, I decided to compromise. So, I asked him if I could attend the meeting if I agreed not to videotape or live blog, although I said I might blog later. He said if I just sat there and took notes, it would be all right for me to go in.

So, true to my word, I sat and took notes on my laptop. I didn’t videotape, live blog or tweet.

But, I was surprised when I looked at the agenda and saw that it was in fact a public meeting after all and that recording was allowed.

Under “introductions,” the agenda stated: “Please notify the audience during introductions if you are recording the meeting and let us know if this is your first time attending the Equity Advisory Team.” The agenda also allowed for “Public Comment” from people who were not on the Equity Advisory Team.

So, why was he trying to bar me from the meeting?

After the meeting, I happened to see Board President Cheryl Hansen and relayed my frustrations to her about the superintendent’s attempt to exclude me. She said she would ask him why he did that, since it is her hope to make meetings more transparent, not keep them secretive. She also said the district needs to change its mindset and allow the public to see how business is being conducted.

Hansen informed me today in an email that she spoke to the superintendent about his actions. Here is what she wrote:

“I followed up with the superintendent about the incident with you yesterday. I told him that we have to find ways to be more transparent and welcoming to the public and the press. It’s just better PR (Public Relations). I suggested that the district:

1. Post all meetings on the district’s online calendar and, when people click on the posting, they would be able to see agendas and other information showing the purpose of the committees and what they’re discussing. Relevant documents/reports could actually be linked there as well.

2. Take the initiative to inform and actually invite the press to our public meetings.

3. Make sure committee members are emailed information prior to the meetings so they can prepare ahead of time and make meetings more productive.

Thanks for letting me know what happened because it helps keep the focus on more transparency and accountability.”

Somewhat ironically, the need to communicate better with the public also came up during the committee meeting. The draft report stated that one of the root causes of the over-identification is that some parents don’t trust the district and may not feel comfortable discussing their children’s needs with school staff. The draft plan emphasizes the need to warmly welcome parents (and the public), so they don’t have a negative impression of the district.

Bill Morones, director of secondary education, said: “For some of our parents, visiting a school is not a positive experience. When they walk on a campus, we want them to feel welcomed and loved and part of the Mt. Diablo family. One bad experience can turn them off.”

After the meeting, I tweeted about the superintendent’s attempt to exclude me. Recently elected Trustee Brian Lawrence followed up with this tweet: “(Thomas) Jefferson: ‘Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.’”

Do you agree with Hansen’s suggestions for greater district transparency?

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