In the first of what most likely will be a series of special meetings to discuss the search for a new superintendent, the Fremont school board on Tuesday decided it would look at external candidates as well as current district employees (at least for now). The last time the board conducted a full search was in 2002, when it eventually hired John Rieckewald, an outsider, as schools chief. The two superintendents after him were hired from within the district.

Milt Werner, the current superintendent who’s retiring in June, said he favored a thorough search. “Without question, we have excellent internal candidates, but it’s healthy” to do a search, he said. “It looks long; it looks arduous, but you have more than 32,000 kids on your hands. You have an awesome responsibility.”

During the meeting, the head of the district’s management association said the group would like the board to conduct a full search to ensure it was not overlooking qualified candidates. Meanwhile, the president of the California School Employees Association said an internal candidate was preferred and singled out Parvin Ahmadi, assistant superintendent of instruction, as “excellent.”

Neither Ahmadi nor the other two assistant superintendents have said if they’ll apply.

It’s not clear yet how much hiring a firm to conduct a search would set the district back. The board tentatively is scheduled to vote Monday (during its joint meeting with the City Council) whether to advertise that it’s looking to hire a search firm.

UPDATE (8:18 p.m.): The school board voted 3-2 not to transfer Curtis from MSJE. Trustees Ivy Wu, Lily Mei and Larry Sweeney voted not to move her. Trustees Bryan Gebhardt and Lara York were the “no” votes.

The regular board meeting also started nearly 1.5 hours late — a new record! I don’t know if the hold-up was due to the board not coming to an agreement over this decision or if it had to do with another issue.

(ORIGINAL ENTRY): Here’s a photo that someone submitted from Tuesday’s picket at Mission San Jose Elementary. A group of parents say their principal, Bonnie Curtis, is being forced to transfer to another campus, even though the administrator said it ultimately was her decision. Read the full story by clicking here.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the possible reassignment tonight.

What was supposed to be a united rally against state budget cuts and a push for local school funding turned into an attack on the Fremont teachers’ union and the no-layoff clause for permanent teachers in its contract during last night’s education/budget forum.

Overall, the event was a tame affair. Three or four dozen people attended — about half of which I recognized as elected officials, school administrators or the super-involved parents who serve on various school committees. A couple of the organizers said after the event that they had hoped for a larger turnout and agreed that perhaps they had been preaching to the choir. Nevertheless, they’re hoping those who heard their message will pass it on to others in the community.

That message being that the fiscal crisis the district finds itself in (about a $20 million deficit) is the fault of the state Legislature which keeps making cuts to education; that there needs to be a Constitutional amendment so that state budgets no longer need two-thirds legislative approval to pass; and that it behooves everyone in the community to support a local schools parcel tax. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, the state Department of Ed released its report about the number of sophomores who passed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) this year. Students who did not pass have several more opportunities to retake the test their junior and senior years.

The exam tests students in their English and math skills. Students must pass the test to receive a high school diploma, although some special ed students may be exempt.

Click here for a chart showing the passage rate of first-time test-takers (i.e., sophomores) in each Tri-City school over the past three years.

Tonight, teacher Jaime Richards spoke before Fremont school board members, asking them to change a district policy that prohibits educators from using YouTube in the classroom. Richards said teachers should be trusted to use their judgment as to what materials are appropriate for students. I haven’t had a chance to confirm that this is the district’s policy or to get the district’s position, but Jaime raises an interesting point if it’s true:

Should teachers be allowed to show YouTube videos as part of their curriculum? Anyone know what the policy is in other districts?

Newsweek’s annual list of top 1,500 high schools in the nation includes two from Fremont: Mission San Jose (No. 226) and Irvington (No. 373).

Here’s the list: www.newsweek.com/id/201160

Word on the street is that a bunch of school library employees will dress in black and head to Wednesday’s Fremont school board meeting to show opposition to the planned program cuts next year.

The board in February approved cutting the district’s library staff by half. Tonight, trustees are expecting to hear from the superintendent how the library program will work next year with a reduced staff.

I guess employees are choosing this week to descend upon the board because of the aforementioned report on next year’s program. But additionally, the district will be presenting library awards to schools.

image from Amazing Tito’s site at flickr.com

The state ed department released 2007-08 high school dropout rates today. To compare how things look among Tri-City schools, click here.

If you want to check out the ed department’s database yourself, click here.

A reader brought to my attention the fact that last week, the county health department reported that six students at one Fremont school tested positive for the flu. The health department’s daily H1N1 flu update mentions the Fremont incident on page 1, under “New Information,” and at the top of page 4.

I asked the district’s spokeswoman, Nicole Steward, about this. She said that it was actually five students, not six, from Irvington High and that they tested positive for the regular seasonal flu. However, the district kept eight other students (a total of 13) home as a precaution because these other students had been in contact with the ones that exhibited the flu symptoms. About four of the students who had no symptoms tried to return to class early last week, but the school refused to let them back until they had been cleared.

All the students were cleared to return to school today, Steward said.

The person who brought this to my attention expressed concern that the public was not made aware of the potential H1N1 outbreak, saying that parents of kids with asthma, diabetes or other health conditions would want to know.

Steward said the district did not send out a schoolwide notice to parents about what happened because no one’s tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Sherri Willis, spokeswoman for the county’s public health department, would not comment specifically on the Fremont case, but said that generally speaking, individuals who are past the infectious stage are allowed to return to school or work.

She also warned against public over-reaction to news that a cluster of students from one school are ill.

“We’re careful to wait until the results (are in) because even if it is a cluster, it’s not necessarily swine flu,” she said.

She added that the county has seen few schools with a cluster of potential H1N1 cases.

UPDATE: The lockdowns have been lifted. Police caught the suspect more than a half-mile from the nearest school. No incidents were reported at the schools.

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(ORIGINAL ENTRY:) American High, Thornton Jr. High, and Oliveira and Cabrillo elementary schools are in lockdown, as police search for a suspected armed robber in the Cabrillo neighborhood. There’s been no report of injuries or suspicious activities at the schools.

We’ll have an online story soon, so check our Web site.