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The Pleasanton school district has a little more money in its coffers, but not enough to make a significant difference in its budget.
The board learned Tuesday night that the district will receive an additional $300,000 from the state. Most of that — $200,000 — will come from a state reimbursement for a claim from the district for ADA (Average Daily Attendance) money from the 2008-09 school year; the remaining $100,000 will come because the state will pay $32 per student based on the ADA instead of the $28 estimated by the district.
That does little to offset the $3.1 million in cost-saving measures the district has put into place for the upcoming year. Pink slips are headed to employees with the equivalent of 62 full-time jobs; part-time positions are likely to be eliminated, so more than 62 workers will receive the notices. Class sizes will be increased to 25 to 1 for kindergarten through third grade and to 32 to 1 for ninth-grade English and math.
The budget, however, does not include potential money that could come in from the approval of a parcel tax, Measure E, that will go before voters in May, or potential state revenue from a state tax extension which could come up for a vote in June.
It also doesn’t include money that could be raised by local fundraising initiatives, like the CORE (Community OutReach for Education) campaign, which raised about a half-million dollars last year, and it doesn’t include potential concessions from the APT (Association of Pleasanton Teachers) or CSEA (California Service Employees Association). Both those unions are currently in negotiations with the district.
Luz Cazares, assistant superintendent of business services, has outlined similar budget scenarios over the last few weeks, and the cuts, such as those planned for elementary reading programs, have brought out parents and teachers to defend them in the hope of getting money restored.
Tuesday night was no exception, as school health clerks lobbied the board to restore the cut planned for the district’s Health Services Liaison Annette Green.
Health Clerk Mary Snell warned that hundreds of students could be turned away from the first day of school if there aren’t enough staff to check vaccination records.
Snell said health services in the district have been quietly getting cut over the last few years.
“We had no warning that this was even on the table,” she said.
Green also spoke, telling of a student who saved her father’s life thanks to CPR training she received from Green.
Stacey Knight, also a health clerk, pointed out that 25% of the district’s students have some kind of chronic condition.
“I am here because we are concerned with the health and safety of our students,” Knight told the board. Because of the state’s Brown Act, board members were precluded from responding because the item was not on the public agenda.
The board also approved a modified summer school program. Remedial reading programs for first- through fifth-graders were among the cuts included in the current budget, although Glen Sparks, director of adult education and summer programs, said he could restore them if funding is found; other popular programs are being held by outside groups, leaving a core of programs to be held by the district this summer. They include classes for at-risk students in grades 6 to 8, classes for seniors who need them to pass, make-up classes for high school students who failed core curriculum subjects like math or social science, and classes for English learners.
The 2011-11 school calendar was approved by the board Tuesday. Classes will start Aug. 23 and run through June 8, with 180 instructional days planned. That schedule could be modified if APT and CSEA approve furlough days in their negotiations with the district.
The board also heard an overview of Career Technical Education courses. Those classes, once known as Vo-Tech, are now geared toward helping students find careers in specific fields, and are based largely on labor market demands, according to Diane Centoni, superintendent of the Tri-Valley Regional Occupational Center.
CTE courses now include 299 students from Pleasanton, taking classes that range from arts and media to business, culinary arts and engineering, with the bulk going on either directly into employment or into related college courses.
“Health Clerk Mary Snell warned that hundreds of students could be turned away from the first day of school if there aren’t enough staff to check vaccination records”
This should not be a concern. Just ask parents to bring a copy of the child’s immunization record, along with the proof of residence, to registration. So simple. No need for a health liason to do something so simple. Volunteers that work registration tables already check proofs of residency, the same can be done with immunization records, to check for the required pertussis (Tdap) shot.
Resident, I agree with your reasoning but wonder if this could have something to do with Hippa regulations and who is authorized to see those records. Honestly, I don’t recall in the past who has checked this information at registration.
You’re right Tori. Unfortunately, Residents plan would be a HIPPA violation.
Resident and Tori, since you clearly have no idea how much work goes into registering a child for school, it would be best not to comment on it. You would be surprised how many children come to our district from out of state or the country that are not in compliance with California’s requirements. Every day that a child is not in school, the district does not get money for them. This issue is just one of the MANY problems the district will be facing with the elimination of this job.
BTW-Because of legal privacy issues, health records are only handled by specific employees of the district.
WOW, so glad you are keeping tabs on what I know and don’t know. I was trying to express appreciation for Residents suggestion of a solution. Don’t think it serves us well to put down any suggestions as even if they aren’t ultimately used to solve the problem as they may help further thinking. I also think you can only use volunteers so much to work registration AND at the school. From what I’ve seen at our school, volunteers are stretched pretty thin and are covering every area they are qualified to cover. Not sure there is another area volunteers can be used or another source of volunteers but am glad people care enough to offer suggestions.
I would think that PUSD has funding to cover temporary nursing assistance for a few days to check immunization records.
As always, any funding shortfall is predicted to cut the most vital services.
First of all, it is HIPAA, not HIPPA.
Second of all, http://www.natlawreview.com/article/understanding-privacy-rights-hipaa-ferpa-schools which is an article regarding HIPAA and FERPA. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. In most cases, school issues regarding student privacy are covered by FERPA. The CDE health regulations regarding vaccinations are here
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/cefimmunization.asp
Assuming it takes 2 minutes to check each student record, for an elementary grade school with an enrollment of, say, 100 students per grade, that would take 200 minutes per grade (about 3 hours) or to re-check, re-verify the entire student population for an elementary school (600 students), would take about 1200 minutes for the entire school (20 hours).
That does not seem like a lot of time.
It seems like the District is instead making a mountain out of a molehill. Again.
Registering students for public schools is very easy compared to higher education institutions where there are tuition/billing records, financial aid provisions, room/board complexities, accounting for scholarships, etc.
Glenn – PUSD has cut funds for CSR. For next year, K-3 class sizes are going to 30:1. Three furlough days will fix that in an instant.
Wows comment “You would be surprised how many children come to our
district from out of state or country that are not in compliance with CA requirements. Every day a child is not in school the district does not get money for them.”
No,tragically, I would NOT be surprised at the illegals in our schools, but sweeping the streets looking for kids so the district can get state money is not justified. Risking the lives of our children by overlooking immunizations is NEVER acceptable.
A person can give written consent for his/her child’s records, in this case proof of the Tdap shot, to be released and handled by anyone in the school (that includes volunteers)
I personally would have no problem doing so (giving the written consent). After all, right now during registration sensitive papers are handled by volunteers (house papers, lease agreements, bills, etc).
You are not releasing your entire medical history here. It is only a piece of paper from your doctor stating your child has had the Tdap shot. I talked to a few friends today, and they do not see a problem with others, employees or not, seeing that their child has had the Tdap shot, or that their child is current on all immunizations.
Again, we are not talking about sensitive information here. No one cares if the next person sees that you are current on your shots, that is actually a good thing!
…to share a funny with you. When my now very old son was preparing for first day of first grade, we had recenty been shopping for a puppy and the papers we received. Getting ready to leave for school, son innocently asked, do we have my pedigree papers?
To Nomad-
A parcel tax would also fix that. As a teacher in the upper grade levels, why should I vote for furlough days that will save CSR at the elementary level? The furlough days plus my need to get insurance through the district last year, has really taken a toll on my family. I also don’t see why I should vote for furlough days, especially if the community can’t pass a parcel tax.
To ‘To Nomad’ – Why? For the same reason furlough days were approved last year. To reduce costs and use the funds for kids programs and services.
If PUSD and unions would implement a four-year solution to reduce costs with a 5% across the board salary reduction, then I would bet the four-year parcel tax would win in a landslide.
But as long as the unions play around with one-year band-aids and not put all the cards on the table for putting together a balanced budget now, and keep forcing large teacher layoffs every year, then the educated voter will keep voting down new multi-year taxes.
So, kids, there you have it. Nomad wants teachers to take a 5% salary cut and continue paying for their own insurance. And what is Nomad willing to do? Poke her head out from under a rock and offer a (noneducator’s) hunch that the public would support a parcel tax. What a joke. Too bad Nomad can’t step into a classroom for a week or so. But of course she’s unqualified to do so.
brass tacks,
Don’t fancy yourself as being all the high and mighty and I suspect that most on here could perform quite well in the classroom because they are professional in competitive industries and in college made a decision, remember the motto “those who can, do, and those who cannot teach!”
And don’t you go assuming that people who know the material can relate to kids from ages 5 – 18. I would love to see you in a class filled with GATE, EL, Special Ed, students with ADHD, students with low IQs, and general ed. If you think you can do it, then volunteer.
Knowledge of a subject does not make you an excellent teacher.
brass tracks:
Most in the private industry could probably be better teachers than the teachers we have, so stop your sarcasm.
I have a friend with a phd in math who quit her private sector job to raise her kids. When her youngest started kindergerten, she figured it was time to go back to work but on a part-time basis so she could be home when the kids came home from school. She figured she could teach.
Amazingly enough, she was not able to get a teaching job in public schools because she did not have a teaching credential. So she got a job in a prestigious private school teaching math and science. She does quite well there. She is a great teacher and knows the material! But it is ironic that someone so qualified, in both math and science, is not able to teach in a public school because of the credential nonsense.
I would much rather have her as my kids’ calculus teacher because she actually teaches since she knows the material, than the teachers with credentials who “qualify” for jobs in the public schools.
Oh yeah, and my friend does tell me that teaching is quite a part-time deal compared to the private sector. She knows because she has been both a private sector employee pre-kids and is now a full-time teacher at a private school (her job is full-time but like she says, the amount of time required for a teaching job is nothing compared to the hours she put in when she was in the private sector). And yes, she gets her work done, grades all the work she assigns, returns work in a timely manner, and her tests are NOT multiple choice.
Resident has a friend?
Well, no really. An imaginary friend. It’s a bunny named Harvina, and it possesses a Ph.D.
You see, Resident lives in a fantasy world in which private sector workers (bunnies) can be better teachers than the ones we have.
Yes, given the high failure rate of start-up businesses, it’s obviously the private sector where all the competent bunnies hop about.
Wow, resident! 1 person told you all of that and you think it’s true? Hmmm. I want to talk to you about some beautiful land I have for sale. It’s in the middle of a lake, palm trees, the works. I’m sure you’ll trust me and believe everything I say, right?
Yes, Resident is a perfect by-product of Republican/Tea Party policy and ideology. Poorly educated, doesn’t read, gains access to a few numbers on the internet, combines these with gossip and other nonsense they overheard from their neighbors, and they’re ready and rarin’ to go. They take whatever mantra is being pushed by Repubs and Fox News and mount what they believe to be a patriotic campaign. Welfare recipients? Unions? American citizens who are Muslims? Unwed mothers? Public sector employees? Teachers? Women who choose to get an abortion? NPR? Gays seeking the right to marry? Just point me where to go and I’ll follow. No vision. No broad view. Just anger — anger that needs to be directed at some scapegoated other. Just some gibberish and a few numbers and they’re off to the races. I bet most if not all were not educated in Pleasanton. Such a travesty of thought and emotion could not possibly have emanated from a strong and healthy educational system like we have here. But of course that’s what the Repubs and Tea Baggers want. They want America to look like rural Indiana hoosierville and Mississipp and Alabam and Kentuck. The fewer the schools the better. Anybody can teach. And, hey, they themselves haven’t come out of a strong educational system. And look at them. They have knowledge, because they have friends who are ‘in the know’. And they’ve been told there are leftist conspiracies afoot. No better example exists for why we would want to support our teachers and children than that of the twisted arguments and thought processes that are being fomented on a daily basis on these posts. Makes one wonder whether we have gotten the democracy we deserve.
Here’s a school district that has implemented a 6 year expense control plan that includes at it’s maximum, a 5.7% pay reduction. http://www.cusd.com/budget/documents/BudgetsummaryJan2011.pdf
Yes! Absolutely! We of Pleasanton should seek to emulate Clovis. Why? Because Clovis — sometimes referred to as WalMartville by its good citizens — has produced several very prestigious football players. Clovis is a really smart city. I have a neighbor who told me she’s moving there because of its school system. It’s located near Fresno, where all well-educated Californians want to be. And the city is so smart, they’ve managed to produce all these star football players while keeping their home values well below those of Pleasanton.
“i like it” You seem to be holding Start Afresh’s offering up to ridicule. However; it goes beyond the ridiculous. It is sad.
Somebody posts an idea to look at like a pay decrease and a multi-year spending plan and it seems all the union members come out of the woodwork.
I think that idea is a good one. I am not a tea party member or a republican. I do expect our district to work on some real spending plans and to figure out how they can automatically give out step and column raises every year without a funding source. Even the parcel tax would only fund step and column raises for a single year. If I saw a real plan, I would support a parcel tax.
Maybe the district should take that money and hand out $100 bills at the next TEA Party rally at the fairgrounds. Those TEA Partiers have to make sure that money gets put in the right pockets, you know.