tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50274644931033680592024-03-13T04:54:01.684-07:00Del Mar Union School District NewsDMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-53788052206485990752010-05-10T12:28:00.001-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.849-07:00More turbulence in little Del Mar<p>By Marsha Sutton<br />Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_columns/sutton.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>Just when people were starting to feel like the Del Mar Union School District could begin to move forward after months of turmoil leading up to the recent firing of former superintendent Sharon McClain, board president Comischell Rodriguez dropped a bomb.</p>
<p>“Today I have informed the superintendent and board that I am resigning from the office of president of the Board of Trustees of the Del Mar Union School District,” her press release dated April 26 begins.</p>
<p>That simple sentence could have been enough, but Rodriguez didn’t stop there. She continued, in her statement, to level some very serious allegations against her colleagues, some that implied a violation of the Brown Act, among other transgressions.</p>
<p>“I’m not alleging Brown Act violations,” Rodriguez made clear this week. “I’m not alleging secret backroom meetings at all.”</p>
<p>But there are other charges that clearly perturbed her and made her feel marginalized by fellow board members. “I stand by my statement that says I felt isolated,” she said.</p>
<p>Rodriguez first complained in her press release that support for her as president of the board has been withdrawn, with the implication – as indicated by her use of the phrase “for the past few weeks” – that this has happened since the vote was taken on March 31 to fire McClain, an action that passed over her lone objection. </p>
<p>“For the past few weeks,” the full sentence reads, “I have been isolated by the majority of the board to the extent that certain members have taken it upon themselves to sign official documents without authorization.” </p>
<p>Furthermore, she said that “these same board member(s) meet with legal counsel without authorization.” </p>
<p>She goes on to say that “attempts have been made to exclude me from closed session conversations,” and she references “behind-the-scenes email conversations and demands.” </p>
<p>Responding to these statements by email, trustee Annette Easton said, “I have not signed any official documents. I am not aware of documents that have been signed.” And she said this, regarding meeting with legal counsel: “I do not know what she is talking about.”</p>
<p>“I didn't know what she meant by unauthorized signing of ‘official documents’ nor ‘exclusion from closed session’ and am unclear about what ‘behind the scenes demands’ she references,” said a surprised trustee Doug Perkins in an email.</p>
<p>Trustee Steven McDowell wrote to say, “Until I have spoken to Comischell, I don't feel it would be appropriate” to comment on the press release.</p>
<p style="font-weight:bold;">A dispute over timing</p>
<p>Trustee Katherine White, who responded to questions in a telephone interview, was able to give some hint about the possible cause of Rodriguez’s decision to resign as board president.</p>
<p>“I’m sure she’s talking about me when she says taking over the role of the board presidency,” White said. “It’s because I tried to get another member to fill her spot when she couldn’t do it.”</p>
<p>The issue concerns the contract for interim superintendent Jim Peabody. White and Rodriguez had agreed to work together on the contract for Peabody, whose first day at the district was to be April 1, a Thursday. The following week was spring break, when Rodriguez was away on vacation.</p>
<p>“I thought we were going to be doing it together,” White said. “I didn’t know she was going [away]. We hired him on the first. Then everybody went out of town.”</p>
<p>White claims that Rodriguez told White to find someone else to replace her because she was away on vacation and then needed to be gone after that for a personal family matter.</p>
<p>“She was supposed to work on that with me, and she’s the one who said she couldn’t do it,” White said. </p>
<p>White said Rodriguez wanted Perkins to replace her. “But Doug wouldn’t do it, so Steven came in because Doug couldn’t meet on any of the days,” White said. </p>
<p>White said she did sign a letter of intent for Peabody to begin work, but did it legitimately in Rodriguez’s absence. “That was one page that went through the terms that we all agreed on and that allowed him to start working,” White said.</p>
<p>White said she and McDowell met with attorney Jeanne Blumenfeld during this time but that the meeting was about Peabody’s contract. “It was not without authorization,” White said. “We were definitely authorized to do that by the board.”</p>
<p>Rodriguez disagreed with White’s recollection of the timing, saying White was “dancing around some facts.”</p>
<p>“We met very quickly at the end right before spring break,” Rodriguez said. “And it was decided that we would have a committee of two – it would be Katherine and me. It was determined that … I was going to be a part of it as president because that was supposed to be important.”</p>
<p>She said it was agreed that they would begin after spring break. </p>
<p>“I got home after spring break and found out that there had been work already started – not even started but basically done,” Rodriguez said. “I did not know that it was going to happen when I was gone.”</p>
<p>Rodriguez emphasized that she did not want to portray the issue as a dispute between two people, saying there was more going on than this one example. But it’s clear that this was specifically referenced in her resignation letter.</p>
<p>She said while she was away, she checked in with the district regularly, “because there were some items that I was still being asked to do while I was gone. Not at any time at all during that time was I informed that there was work being done in my absence.”</p>
<p>Rodriguez said she did eventually send an email to White telling her she was unable to participate in the contract work any longer, but that it was not sent until two weeks later, after she had discovered that work had already been done on the contract without her knowledge.</p>
<p>“It was almost like I was a formality to be on that committee,” she said. “It was spring break and then the following week went by and it was the third week [when] I said [to] meet without me.”</p>
<p>The subcommittee proceeded without her and the letter of intent was signed before she told them she was off the subcommittee, she said, disagreeing with White’s recollection of the timeline. </p>
<p style="font-weight:bold;">An investigation</p>
<p>At the last school board meeting, White asked Peabody to investigate Rodriguez’s claims and to release redacted emails “where Comischell resigns from the contract subcommittee and where she requests we find another member to take her place as she will probably be out of town due to an illness in her family.”</p>
<p>Peabody said he is in the process of investigating the matter and will release details as soon as he has completed his work. </p>
<p>“I can’t conjecture on what will be included in the report when it’s done because I haven’t even started it yet,” Peabody said last Friday. “I will report it to the board – they’re the ones that asked me to do it. So it will probably become a matter of public record. As soon as I can get a handle on it, I’ll be forthright.”</p>
<p>Rodriguez said she fully supports Peabody’s investigation, which will include this and other concerns raised by Rodriguez, including her alleged exclusion from closed session conversations and behind-the-scenes emails.</p>
<p>White disagreed that Rodriguez had been excluded from closed session conversations, expressing bewilderment. </p>
<p>“Go look through all of our minutes,” White said. “You can see when our meetings started, when our meetings ended, and who was at them. She was at every single second of closed session. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”</p>
<p>Easton seemed equally confused, saying, “Ms. Rodriguez has participated in all closed session conversations. I am not aware of any attempts to exclude her.” </p>
<p>All board members, except McDowell who did not respond to requests for a comment, expressed disappointment over Rodriguez’s decision to step down.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry she did it,” White said. “I nominated her and I stand by my nomination. I believe that she can do the job. But I’ll support her if she decides she can’t do this any more, and I’ll support her if she decides to continue.” </p>
<p>“I was perplexed and disappointed,” said Easton in an email statement. “From my perspective, while not always agreeing on decisions, the entire board was working well together.” She said the resignation announcement “only serves to further polarize and politicize a community in need of reconciliation.”</p>
<p>“My reaction to her resignation is I'm saddened, as I still believe, as I did in December, that Comischell has some unique leadership capabilities to help DMUSD navigate through these difficult times,” said Perkins. “I wish she'd reconsider and complete her office until it's up in December.” </p>
<p>Despite differences, all trustees agreed that the focus needs to return to the students and district business. Time to move on, was the common refrain. But will this community let them?</p>
<p>Marsha Sutton can be reached at <a href="mailto:SuttComm@san.rr.com">SuttComm@san.rr.com</a></p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-42601580728792726882010-05-06T15:56:00.000-07:002010-05-06T16:00:20.335-07:00DMUSD board names Peabody new superintendent, saves 22 classroom teacher jobs<p>By Karen Billing</p>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/5.6-top-stories/5.6CVtp5-DMUSD-board-names-Peabody-new-superintendent-saves-22-classroom-teacher-jobs.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/S-NJn3LvZWI/AAAAAAAAAEU/y5hPRZUxlPk/s1600/peabody.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 221px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/S-NJn3LvZWI/AAAAAAAAAEU/y5hPRZUxlPk/s400/peabody.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468295321734833506" /></a>
<p>Del Mar Union School District trustees today voted unanimously to give Interim Superintendent James Peabody a two-year contract as the district’s new superintendent and to rescind pink slips given to 22 classroom teachers.</p>
<p>At a special board meeting — where trustees also agreed to drop the idea of co-locating the district office at any school site and named Steven McDowell the new board president — trustees accomplished a lot but Peabody’s contract was perhaps the biggest surprise.</p>
<p>“In getting to know Jim these last few weeks the intent is that we want him to act in the full capacity as superintendent,” McDowell said.</p>
<p>His two-year contract as superintendent will begin on July 1. It follows an interim contract, where he was also serving superintendent for the Julian school district.</p>
<p>The news that all classroom teacher’ jobs would be preserved was happy news as only 12 teachers remained uncertain of their futures with the district — other teachers had already heard news that their pink slips were rescinded. </p>
<p>Trustee Katherine White made the motion to save the 12 teachers despite the fact that the district does not yet know final enrollment and staffing needs. Since classroom sizes will not be increased and instead reduced to 20:1 in lower grades and 27:1 in upper grades, White said in her quick calculations, she was pretty sure “we’re going to need all those people.”</p>
<p>While all classroom teachers saw their pink slips rescinded — a vote that was followed by big cheers and hugs from teachers in attendance — some Extended Studies Curriculum positions will trimmed now that the principals have completed their ESC allocations.</p>
<p>The Del Mar Education Foundation raised enough money to save 13 extended studies curriculum teachers and when paired with the 19 teachers the district will fund, that brings the total to the equivalent of 32.4 full time spots for ESC. </p>
<p>The final ESC cuts include 1.8 FTE of music, 0.5 art, 0.4 from science, 0.2 from physical education and 0.5 Spanish. These cuts are significantly scaled back due to fundraising efforts, considering initial cuts included 6.6 FTE from music, 7.0 from art and 6.0 from PE.</p>
<p>The board’s decision not to consider co-locating the district office at any school site was a unanimous decision, but some trustees had reservations about it.</p>
<p>Trustee Comischell Rodriguez, in her first meeting since resigning as board president, said it was good to have the concept as an emergency option in case they weren’t able to find a building to house their district office or extend the lease on the Shores property by their May 2011 deadline.</p>
<p>“I think it’s a good gesture on the board’s part to take co-location off the table as long as we are actively pursuing property (for the new district office),” Rodriguez said. “I’d like to see us actually begin to make offers soon.”</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-76567371695310195932010-04-23T17:55:00.000-07:002010-04-23T17:59:49.881-07:00An appeal to Sharon McClain: Do not let emotion hijack reason<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/cv">Carmel Valley News, Letters to the Editor</a>
<p>The controversial decision by the Del Mar Union School District board’s recent release of Sharon McClain as superintendent will likely spur challengers to file with the Registrar of Voters to run for school board in the November election.</p>
<p>The school board’s legal counsel advised them to remain quiet about the details of Dr. McClain’s termination due to employer-employee confidentiality and her threat of litigation. Unfortunately, the public has insufficient information to determine whether the school board or Dr. McClain, or possibly a combination of both were negligent in their respective roles.
Based upon her age, highest pay level, and years of experience in public education, Dr. McClain will receive an annual pension of $131,720 per year starting immediately. If we deduct her pension from the salary she would have received over the next two years, her gross loss would be $107,560. Since her husband is also a retired school superintendent who is also receiving a substantial state pension, their family income puts them in the highest tax bracket. Consequently, her net loss would only be around $70,000.</p>
<p>Of course, Dr. McClain could take other kinds of work, which would reduce this figure. For example, she stated when she was hired that she loves teaching in teacher/administrator preparation programs at the university level, and with her experience I am certain she could acquire one of those positions.</p>
<p>Logically, the risk outweighs the reward for Dr. McClain to sue the Del Mar School District. Attorney fees will likely eat away any gains she would receive from a lawsuit. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that she would prevail. Moreover, she would be putting herself through a lot of unnecessary stress. Finally, she would be hurting the children of the Del Mar Union School District by averting [sic] money and time towards a legal battle.</p>
<p>I appeal to Dr. McClain not to allow emotion to hijack reason. Instead of focusing on the offense of the three people who fired you, put your focus on the many people who gave you a standing ovation. You had a long and successful career, savor your accomplishments, rather than focus on how some people may perceive your performance due to the school board’s decision to release you.</p>
<p>As the parent of a child who will be attending the Del Mar Union School District in several years, I would like to know the rationale for releasing two superintendents during the past two years who previously had successful track records. An interesting school board race that would reveal answers to the community’s unanswered questions would be if Sharon McClain, Tom Bishop and Linda Crawford ran as a slate and went head-to-head against Annette Eason, Steven McDowell, and Katherine White in the November school board election.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;">Stephen Cochrane<br />Carmel Valley</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-74244949692049234092010-04-08T09:01:00.000-07:002010-04-14T09:03:34.203-07:00CV News Letters to the Editor<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Children will be impacted the most by the school district’s mess</p>
<p>Dear Del Mar Union School District board members,</p>
<p>I was at the Del Mar Union School District board meeting March 31, but decided not to speak. There were so many people that shared my feelings I figured I would let them speak for me. Now I regret not speaking because there is so much I have to say.</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to put it simply to the board members: garbage rolls down hill. You – yes, you and your personal vendettas, political ambitions, and inability to work effectively as a team are up there at the top. You have made a decision and just sent the garbage rolling downhill to:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Teachers</li>
<li>The PTA’s</li>
<li>The Foundation</li>
<li>The Parents</li>
<li>The Principals</li>
</ul>
<p>And, most importantly, to our children! Our children are the ones who will be impacted the most by this mess that you have created. And that is so sad and so unfair to them.</p>
<p>I can only hope that now that you have decided to let Dr. McClain go, you will put every effort into moving on and seriously improving our district. The morale out there is so bad, you have a lot of work to do. Good luck with that.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Michele Lesher<br />Carmel Del Mar Parent and PTA Board Member</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">DM school board creates problems rather than solve them</p>
<p>The Del Mar Union School District had the opportunity last week to right a wrong, and sadly they continued on their path deferring to “not enough information” and “premature decision making.” Could one of the trustees please tell me why, 10 months later, you still do not have the facts to make a decision? This board has spent valuable employee time and community time on a vicious circle to nowhere. A wild goose chase (aka 7-11 Committee) now deferred to “wait and see what the strategic budget task force” can come up with. Having been at a majority of these meetings, I was beginning to think this board was incapable of making one solid decision. However, now that I look at it, perhaps they are even more crafty and their long-term strategy has been continued deferment until even us die-hard attendees get tired of coming and there are no voices left to stand up against them.</p>
<p>What is even more frightening is that this board should have been expediting a budget process, but instead they have created an even bigger one. By tearing apart our community over possible school closures and co-location, they have turned neighbor against neighbor, child against child, they have created such uncertainty and animosity that our ESC programs are crippled, teachers will be laid-off, and our class sizes will be increased.</p>
<p>Those at the highest level of employment are afraid to speak out lest their jobs go the way of our former superintendent or beloved principals. Or, they put themselves at risk for an embarrassing public flogging to determine if the contracts had enough dotted “I”s and crossed “Ts.” </p>
<p>This board was elected as community representatives, to encapsulate the community voice, and enact what is for the greater good of the whole. Yet, so far all I have seen is four ineffective leaders trying to be corralled by one brave soul encouraging the board to take action and move forward. It is like trying to round up a group of schoolmates who would rather focus on petty grievances or old grudges, when they should be standing up as leaders and saying, “I take responsibility for our failures and suggest that we [fill in the blank with something that looks like progress].</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it is too late to recall this group and we are now forced to continue to watch this pathetic excuse for leadership take its course. However, I urge all of our community to be aware, for the 20 of us who stuck our heads out of the hole at the Feb. 24 meeting have seen our shadows and it looks like nine more months of upheaval.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Heidi Niehart</p>
<p>P.S. The board still has a chance to leave a legacy of progress if they would listen to the realtors and the attorneys and buy a building while it is buyer-friendly.</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">The board’s vision of the DMUSD community is flawed</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">By Suzanne Hall<br />Parent, Torrey Hills Elementary School</p>
<p>After rejecting Superintendent Sharon McClain’s design for the composition of the Financial Planning Task Force (FTF) in favor of emphasizing community input, the DMUSD board created an unbalanced FTF that poorly represents the DMUSD community as a whole. This inequitable composition threatens the validity of any recommendations made by this task force.</p>
<p>The FTF is, in part, comprised of 13 parents. Logic would dictate that these 13 parents be spread as equitably as possible across the eight DMUSD schools, with no school receiving more than two parent representatives. However, two of the smallest schools in the district — Del Mar Hills and Ashley Falls — each have three parent representatives. </p>
<p>Conversely, the three largest schools in the district — Torrey Hills, Ocean Air and Sage Canyon — have between them a sum total of four representatives. </p>
<p>As a result, four FTF members represent 51 percent of the student population while 19.6 percent of the students have six representatives. Does this seem fair to the board? To parents of underrepresented schools, it falls far short of equity.</p>
<p>In addition, the board itself chose to appoint to the FTF two of the Del Mar Hills parents and two of the Ashley Falls parents. This, beyond the mandated appointment of a representative by the PTA at each school. The board knew that each of these schools already had one representative, and they chose to seat two more. Thus, the board is directly responsible for the inequity in the composition of the FTF.</p>
<p>Does the board truly believe that the voices of the parents of the other district schools matters less than that of parents at these smaller schools?</p>
<p>This board faces a number of challenging issues, including an increasingly divided community of parents. The composition of the FTF does little to improve the latter, and a concern is that it may do little to improve the budget crisis. The other members of the task force, staff and volunteers representing various aspects of the district, will be met with a skewed perspective on what the parents of the DMUSD want to see in dealing with the district budget crunch. How can these parents represent the well-being of the district as a whole when so many of them represent only one point of view?</p>
<p>The board has made a grave error. There is so very little time before they must make significant decisions for the potential benefit of the district, and yet they have set themselves up for failure by not developing an FTF of the composition they so strongly professed they wanted. This FTF does not represent the community of DMUSD. It represents only a small proportion of the community. And the message sent by the board is: it is the only part of the community that matters to them.</p>
<p>In response, I would remind the board: the larger community will be voting, come November.</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Superintendent’s actions cause for concern</p>
<p>I am a fairly new parent to the Del Mar school district, but I have been watching what has been going on during that time. One of the issues raised at the recent school board meeting has caused me enough concern that I am writing to you.</p>
<p>At this last school board meeting, I was watching a parent accuse trustee White of using the DMUSD legal services for her private use. How did this parent get information on district legal bills? I understand this parent made a request to the district for bills, but I have enough experience in my business life to know legal bills are always provided redacted, so that attorney-client privileged information is protected. In all the bills I have seen, the text describing the service is whited out. I am not necessarily concerned with the ignorance of this parent although her behavior was disrespectful and poor role modeling for the children in the audience. I am concerned that a superintendent would potentially put our district at risk for divulging attorney-client information to the public through these legal bills and documents.</p>
<p>I understood when Ms. White explained that her role as board president last year made her point person for legal issues and I understood this role now falls to Ms. Rodriguez. I saw the board explain this and concur this is how they work. But I don’t understand how a superintendent who was involved in an employee complaint which required the district to hire an attorney for this complaint should ethically be looking at these bills and how legally she can provide confidential information to someone. This is wrong.</p>
<p>Ms McClain, when hired for this district, was hired because she claimed to be a team player and a community builder, something this district really needed. Since her arrival, she has been divisive and has pitted school against school. I am now convinced, especially after this very concerning action, that she should be let go. She is damaging this district.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Hanna Morgan</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">DMUSD school board tries to terminate second superintendent</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">By Kate Takahashi, DMUSD parent</p>
<p>How would you feel if your child forfeited his birthday presents to make a school donation only to find that three grown adults snatched it from her and threw it in the Pacific Ocean? If the three-person majority of Del Mar Union School Board succeeds in their agenda of firing Superintendent Sharon McClain, they would do just that, but on a much larger scale. Please read on.</p>
<p>The economic reality</p>
<p>During these tough economic times, we DMUSD parents are scrambling to save the cherished ESC programs that our district can’t afford. Honestly, it’s exhausting, but we do it for our children. And the children themselves are working hard to keep their teachers. I have stories of Girl Scout Troops donating, pancake breakfasts, garage sales... We’re all doing our best to scrape together every penny we can.</p>
<p>The economic crisis is not just affecting ESC. DMUSD’s reserves are millions of dollars below the recommended level for a Basic Aid district. If our reserves dip below 3 percent of expenditures, the state could be required to balance our budget in any way it sees fit — larger classroom sizes, teacher lay-offs – without community input.</p>
<p>The board’s actions</p>
<p>And what is our school board doing about the budget? They are calling their attorneys – daily at times – at the rate of $160/hour. From July through December of 2009, they racked up $21,339 in legal fees. What could be so important? The school board is searching for ways to fire Dr. Sharon McClain, the supremely qualified leader they chose in September 2008 to replace Tom Bishop, the last guy they fired that same year.</p>
<p>Disaster either way</p>
<p>If the board fires Dr. McClain for cause, she could sue for the length of her contract, plus benefits, plus attorneys’ fees. That could amount to as much as half a million dollars. If they buy out her contract for one year, that could approximate a quarter million dollars. Either way, that money comes from the district coffers to educate your child. </p>
<p>Incidentally, this board, in pursuing this wasteful litigation, is choosing to triple-pay a superintendent’s salary. Remember Tom Bishop? He’s Superintendent 1, and we are still paying his buyout. If they fire Dr. McClain – or Superintendent 2 – then the district would pay her while paying an interim superintendent, or Superintendent 3 (if they could find anyone willing to work here). So DMUSD would be paying Baby Superintendent, Mama Superintendent, and Papa Superintendent all at the same time, for a grand total that could approach a million dollars. Now I’m asking, Are you outraged yet?</p>
<p>Did I mention Dr. McClain doesn’t deserve this?</p>
<p>At the hard-to-believe age of 65, she is at the top of her professional game, having won Pepperdine University’s Superintendent of the Year Award, and having taught school governance at seven different universities. She has worked with and for children her whole life, having been an elementary teacher, university instructor, principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent (three times), mother, and foster mother. At this stage of her life, she has chosen her most challenging job yet as superintendent of DMUSD, and she has thus far guided us through this financial crisis with optimism and smart ideas. </p>
<p>And, gratefully, she’s still here. Let’s be there for her.</p>
<p>What we can do:</p>
<ol>
<li>Talk: Tell people what you have learned about this board. If you are unsure about any facts or figures in this editorial, ask DMUSD about what public records you have a right to see, including their attorney bills. Research past articles from local papers.</li>
<li>Make it a daily task to log on to dmusd.org in order to know if a board meeting is taking place. If it is, go to “view agenda.” Be on the lookout for “Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release.” If that is there, there could be a closed meeting to terminate Dr. McClain. The board must hear public input before they go into closed session. Fill out a speaker slip, wait for your name to be called, and you will have three minutes to tell the board how you feel. If you are uncomfortable speaking, write a letter to the board and have a friend read it and/or send a letter to the board.</li>
<li>Vote: Cast your ballot this November. Tell your friends to vote, as well.</li>
</ol>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Solution to the problem is obvious</p>
<p>Sometimes there is an obvious solution to the problem. Del Mar Union School District Superintendent Sharon McClain came with previously used and not the best idea of changing school boundaries again to fill low enrollment schools. Superintendent Bishop tried just that. He wanted to force parents of children living next to Torrey Hills and Sage Canyon schools to drive their children to and from Del Mar Heights and Hills schools every school day. Those parents were paying Mello-Roos tax to be able to send their children to neighborhood schools. It took a lot of time and energy to convince him to instead let Sage Canyon accept more children. Do you want to repeat the past?</p>
<p>Why would anyone even suggest adding offices to Torrey Hills school knowing that there is a plan to built a condominium complex just across from this school and the enrollment will increase again.</p>
<p>From Google maps, one can see that the distance between Del Mar Hills and Del Mar Heights schools is 0.8 mile, it takes 3 minutes by car, or 14 minutes by walking. Are there any other schools in the district so close to each other? You have a half empty school, space for additional kids in nearby schools, you need space for the office, what do you do?</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Grazyna Krajewska<br />Torrey Hills</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Leave district boundaries intact, don’t hire vice principals</p>
<p>I wanted to comment on Del Mar Union School District Superintendent Sharon McClain's comment in the Jan. 29 article titled “DM superintendent recommends district buy property for headquarters” which stated "McClain mentioned making boundary changes east of Interstate 5 as a possible cost-saving option. As Sage Canyon and Ocean Air each have around 700 students and Torrey Hills nears that size, the schools will need vice principals. She said the district could save $850,000 by reducing the enrollment size of the three schools through boundary changes (students would be moved to other schools in the district). The enrollment changes would eliminate the need for the three vice principal positions. The re-boundary could also help boost enrollment numbers at Ashley Falls.”</p>
<p>Homes in the boundaries of these three schools are south of the 56 freeway, many have been paying a special Mello Roos tax for a "neighborhood school" for years, and all are several miles away from Ashley Falls (and require crossing a major freeway), making that far from being a "neighborhood school." Before any consideration is given to changing boundaries for these three schools, I sure hope they will eliminate the policy that has grandfathered in many kids outside of these school boundaries. </p>
<p>I used to watch every morning the many dozens of cars from north of the 56 that would cross the freeway bringing their kids over to our area schools. Does it make any sense to have kids driven from homes north of the 56 to school south of the 56, and drive kids from homes south of the 56 to school north of the 56? It wastes fuel, and it breaks up the integrity of having kids who live near one another go to school together, which would facilitate friendships and neighborhood cohesiveness. Another suggestion would be to leave the census and boundaries as is and just not hire the vice principals, if their cost is the issue. I wanted to bring this suggestion to light to the community before it gets much traction.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Kathy Rowe</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">School bored, school daze, school wars</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">By Gordon Clanton</p>
<p>School board politics is the most local politics of all. This may explain the intensity, nay, the rancor that often characterizes school board meetings and school board elections. Until recently, the Del Mar Union School District was spared such struggles. But no more.</p>
<p>In 2006, dissident board member Annette Easton recruited Katherine White and Steven McDowell to help her take over the board. The new majority fired the superintendent. Now the board is feuding with the new superintendent they hired.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I opposed the insurgent slate in 2006, supporting Barbara Myers and Martha Murphy. I was not persuaded that the incumbent board should be turned out, and I found the strident and expensive insurgent campaign off-putting. </p>
<p>I re-joined the fray when I learned that the board was considering closing the Del Mar Hills Academy. I live three blocks from the Hills school. Although I have no children, I consider the school an important part of my community.</p>
<p>My neighbors with children in the Hills school are upset to learn the school may close. They like the fact that their kids can now walk to school without crossing Del Mar Heights Road. They are alarmed that some parents in the district support closing the Hills school as a likely way of preserving their own neighborhood schools.</p>
<p>By the way, I’m suspicious of estimates that purport to show ever-decreasing enrollments for the Hills school and Del Mar Heights school. What’s happening in my neighborhood is that elderly residents are dying, and young couples with school-age children are purchasing their houses.</p>
<p>So, having sold the Shores school site, the school district needs to find a new home for its administrative offices, thus stirring fears of school closings.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Del Mar campaign to pay for the Shores property has come up short, with more than $3.5 million owed.</p>
<p>Nobody asked me but: If the school district were to buy back or lease back the portion of the Shores site it currently occupies, then it would have no need to find a new location. Simultaneously, the debt owed by the city of Del Mar would be substantially reduced. The district could gain flexibility by moving more administrative functions to available space at schools that are under-enrolled.</p>
<p>I hope the board will find a way to keep all the schools open, thus reducing the prevailing anxiety and distrust. </p>
<p>The neighborhood school is part of a social fabric that ought not be casually rent asunder.</p>
<p>Gordon Clanton teaches sociology at San Diego State University. He welcomes comments at <a href="mailto:gclanton@mail.sdsu.edu">gclanton@mail.sdsu.edu</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Killing two birds with one stone: Resolving multiple issues within the DMUSD</p>
<p>Now that the 7/11 committee has issued its final report, the DMUSD Board of Trustees is tasked with resolving the movement of the district offices. In addition, it has directed that a financial task force begin working on options for cutting expenses within the district. It is imperative that the board considers the financial health of the DMUSD as it makes its determination as to where to place the district offices and maintenance operations.</p>
<p>Superintendent McClain has made a recommendation that the board use the money from the sale of the Shores property to purchase a site for the district offices. The superintendent stated that a decision needs to be made expeditiously. Dragging this process out can cost the district money, as property values of lots for sale will eventually escalate, and interim leasing of a temporary space would bleed badly needed funds from the DMUSD budget. The board is urged to make a decision soon.</p>
<p>One of the superintendent's alternate recommendations is to house the district offices on a school site. This is a bad idea, unless that school site was designated solely for the purpose of district offices and maintenance operations. District offices should be housed separately from students. Joint use endangers children and degrades the atmosphere of the school, which in turn reduces the quality of the educational experience for the children at that site. Further, joint use options at school sites provide no significant cost savings to the district. Resolving the move of district offices without an eye to the financial crisis the DMUSD is experiencing is imprudent.</p>
<p>Closure of a school would allow for the offices to be unified at one site, while providing cost savings needed by the district. The 7/11 committee determined that the DMUSD would save at least $450,000 annually if a school were closed. This could protect the job of one teacher at each of the remaining school sites, year after year. </p>
<p>Closing a school does not completely cover the projected gap in the DMUSD budget for the next two years. However, in combination with other proposed money saving options, such as installing solar panels, school closure can provide more than an estimated $1,000,000 per annum. How many teachers' jobs could be saved with that figure? It is too significant to be ignored.</p>
<p>In summary, the board is urged to keep the district's financial situation in the forefront of their minds during deliberations regarding the move of district offices. It is a certainty that the DMUSD will need to be making cuts to the budget in the near term to make ends meet. Let's hope the board of trustees does not exacerbate the need for cuts by disregarding cost savings measures available to them in making this decision.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Suzanne Hall<br />Torrey Hills mom</p>
<hr />
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Del Mar school board has taken district in a new direction — south</p>
<p>Given the realization of the mess their micro-management has created in the last three years, the majority slate of three orchestrated the election of first-year board member Comischell Rodriguez as president of the board at the organizational meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009.</p>
<p>While there was understandable elation in the audience at President Rodriguez’s election, the community needs to be reminded that she continues to remain only one vote out of five on the school board. If President Rodriguez is able to restore protocol and time-efficiency to the conduct of public meetings, that alone would be a significant contribution to the community.</p>
<p>Meetings have become nitpicking marathons of minutiae and seemingly endless time-wasting discussion, with the audience wandering and chatting and eating throughout the entire proceedings. The retreating board members vowed sincerely to support President Rodriguez throughout what will soon become a very challenging year for her. And, we can hold them to their word, can’t we? After all, when the majority slate of three fired the superintendent in February 2008, they indicated that they wanted to take the district in a new direction. Well, they surely did. We just didn’t know that direction was south.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Martha Cox</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-2227000931117959302008-11-13T15:58:00.000-08:002011-09-02T09:50:49.857-07:00Bringing back a four-letter word<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>The historic election of Barack Obama, our nation’s first African-American president, brings to a close this long, tortuous period of endless presidential politics. Although over-saturated by the barrage of coverage, many of us are justifiably moved that our country has not been swayed by the color of his skin but instead elected a new leader based on the force of his intellect and the promise of his ideals.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether you are now celebrating or miserable over the results, today is a day for rejoicing and for profound gratitude that America and its democracy have brought us to this moment.</p>
<p>But this day has come at a price. We as Americans seem to have lost something of great value along the way. The unfortunate polarization of factions and hyperbolic ranting of extremists on both sides have left us bereft of civility. Insults have replaced respectful conversation, distortions substitute for facts, and reactionary jeering shouts down thoughtful discourse.</p>
<p>Our children are not immune to all this incivility. They watch, they listen, they learn how to behave. And the lessons we are teaching them are not very admirable.</p>
<p>One simple four-letter word seems to have disappeared from our collective behavior, and I’m referring here to the new N-word – NICE.</p>
<p>Where have all the nice people gone? And how do we bring them back?</p>
<p>This is the real crisis in America today, the inability of adults to debate without fighting, to hear the other side without feeling threatened, to retain some semblance of dignity while discussing controversial issues with our neighbors. And most importantly, to protect our children from the downward slide into intolerance and anger.</p>
<p>There are very real troubles that our nation’s next leader must confront – the collapsing economy, a broken health-care system, an expensive war without end, an inadequate education system, environmental crises, an outdated infrastructure and public works system in disrepair – on and on the list goes.</p>
<p>As daunting as these problems are, I am hopeful that, with the right degree of intelligence, creativity and cooperation, every one of these issues can be, if not immediately fixed, then certainly addressed and solutions initiated.</p>
<p>But harder to fix is the underlying problem of our attitude toward one another. How does one leader, any one person, begin to turn back the way we’ve learned to relate? </p>
<p>Our own communities are just as guilty. We live in neighborhoods where people are professionals – intelligent and successful. And yet all too often insults are hurled at one another, name-calling is common, and healthy debate quickly degenerates into conflict and ad hominem attacks. </p>
<p>Ad hominem attacks are so despicable because character flaws, real or imagined, are raised as a way to discredit a person’s views. Attacks on a person’s character have no bearing on whether that person’s beliefs are valid or not. But they are tempting to use because they distract from the issues, are simple to voice, and can be effective in influencing opinion. It is easier to attack someone’s character than it is to think through one’s own positions and engage in rational, reflective discourse.</p>
<p>As a columnist, I receive a great deal of feedback on my topics, and I am grateful when someone writes to me and is able to agreeably disagree. Logical arguments presented to support an opposing view are most welcome; I enjoy the spirited debates. They expand my understanding, help me to solidify my positions, and occasionally convince me to change my mind.</p>
<p>I appreciate these respectful letters not the least because the writers are able to distinguish between me as a person and the views I hold. A brilliantly formulated opinion is quickly dulled by an insulting, personal tone designed to provoke rather than persuade.</p>
<p>I have been called every name in the book, for expressing points of view others don’t share. And in this popular era of blaming journalists and shooting the messenger, exposing unwelcome truths is sometimes labeled as rumors or lies in an attempt to stain the reporter’s credentials.</p>
<p>One need only turn to the Letters section of any newspaper to see repeated examples of this behavior.</p>
<p>Take, for example, <a href="http://dmusdnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/suttons-recent-editorial-enough-already.html">a letter published in the Sept. 25 issue of this newspaper</a> from the Del Mar Hills Elementary School’s PTA president. Because she identified herself as such in the letter, the contents of the letter – and its tone – were understood to represent the views of the teachers and parents at that school.</p>
<p>The letter – devoid of logic, soaked with belittling sarcasm, and peppered with misleading distortions – undermined its purpose with a mean-spirited tone that was far more alienating than convincing and reflected poorly upon the author’s organization. </p>
<p>A string of insults is not very persuasive, if the goal is to win people over to your point of view. </p>
<p>But this style is symptomatic of what too often characterizes our debates. We see this all the time – if you can’t win by reason, then slam your opponent with insults and pejorative labeling. </p>
<p>In my university philosophy classes 30 years ago, we learned to argue – argue, meaning to present well-researched arguments, employing logic and “proofs” to offer compelling opinions that engage and respect the audience. Socrates would be appalled to witness how the “art” of argument has degenerated. </p>
<p>Last week, I attended a guest lecture at UCSD featuring San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Page editor Bob Kittle, who is known for his conservative views. His audience, which appeared by a show of hands to be firmly in Barack Obama’s corner, was respectful of Kittle and listened politely as he explained his endorsement of John McCain for president.</p>
<p>And likewise, Kittle listened carefully when one audience member volunteered to state why Obama was appealing. </p>
<p>Kittle even went so far as to argue the other side when one McCain supporter became visibly upset with Obama fans and derided them to a point that bordered on the abusive, for embracing for president a man he said was an inexperienced senator.</p>
<p>Kittle gently reminded the man that there was once another senator with a similarly thin resume who served only two years in the senate before winning the presidency, and he went on to become one of the greatest presidents who ever lived – speaking of Abraham Lincoln, who, Kittle added, happened to be a Republican.</p>
<p>Whether you agree with him or not, Kittle displayed tact and respect for his audience – a rare trait these days that compelled me to listen carefully when he offered his views on a number of 2008 election issues that were often contrary to those I hold. </p>
<p>After the 9/11 attack, America came together in a way I’ve not seen before – or since. We gave one another a collective group hug – whether on the telephone, in the grocery store, or on the freeway where drivers were startlingly polite. </p>
<p>Does it take a national tragedy for people to realize that each of us deserves respect? Just because one may support Obama and one McCain does not mean that either person is stupid, mean, blind or pathetic – all terms I’ve heard used this campaign season.</p>
<p>Disagreeing with one another is healthy and constructive. How do we know what’s right for us if we can’t understand what the other side is about? And how can we learn about the issues if some of us insist upon criticizing other people’s values rather than simply the positions they hold?</p>
<p>We set examples for our children every minute of every day, and kids need to learn how to understand all sides of an issue, listen with an open mind, sort out what makes sense for them, and defend their positions with intelligence and respect.</p>
<p>May the next president set such an example – for adults as well as the children.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-41886193638187636442008-11-13T15:44:00.000-08:002008-11-17T15:45:40.241-08:00Susan Fitzpatrick follows her lifelong passion to become new Del Mar Hills Academy principal<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SQ9M-D19wlI/AAAAAAAAACI/lr6aJdZpdU0/s1600-h/susan-fitzpatrick.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 345px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SQ9M-D19wlI/AAAAAAAAACI/lr6aJdZpdU0/s400/susan-fitzpatrick.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264511118486651474" /></a>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://dmusd.org/hills/news/openNewsfeed.aspx?newsfeedid=1204">http://dmusd.org/hills/news/openNewsfeed.aspx?newsfeedid=1204</a></p>
<p>By Matt Liebowitz</p>
<p>Her route to become the new principal of Del Mar Hills Academy has had some stops along the way, but Susan Fitzpatrick knew all along she’d end up doing what she loves.</p>
<p>On Oct. 22, the Del Mar Union School District named Fitzpatrick as the new principal for Del Mar Hills. She will replace Vince Jewell, who has been acting as interim principal since the departure late this past summer of former principal Laurie Francis, who left to take a job as principal of Carmel Valley Middle School.</p>
<p>“I’m looking forward to working with the close-knit community at Del Mar Hills,” said Fitzpatrick, who met with the school’s teachers and staff for the first time on Oct. 30.</p>
<p>She also conveyed her enthusiasm with the arts and science programs offered at the Hills, and said, as incoming principal, she is eager to learn “the culture and community of the school, and what the community values and sees as their needs.”</p>
<p>Fitzpatrick comes to Del Mar Hills with impressive professional credentials: from since 2006, she has served as principal of Breeze Hill Elementary School in the Vista Unified School District. From 1994 to 2000, Fitzpatrick taught in the Riverside School District; from 2000 to 2006, she held administrative positions in the same district, including assistant principal and interim principal.</p>
<p>While at Riverside, Fitzpatrick received the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence and was named part of “Inland Empire Women Who Make a Difference.”</p>
<p>As a principal, Fitzpatrick guided the introduction and implementation of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model, the goal of which is to enhance the effectiveness of the school program for the students’ benefit. </p>
<p>The use of the PLC model at Breeze Hill Elementary resulted in a 41-point gain on the California Standards Test schoolwide and a gain of 68 points for English Language Learners. (Del Mar Schools implemented the PLC model in 2006).</p>
<p>Including teaching positions in Brighton, Colorado, Fitzpatrick has taught for about 10 years total, in every grade from first to sixth.</p>
<p>Fitzpatrick earned a master of arts in education administration from National University, and holds a “Gifted and Talented Education Certificate” from the University of California, Riverside. Fitzpatrick has finished her doctoral coursework in education leadership at the University of La Verne and is working on her dissertation.</p>
<p>Fitzpatrick’s career hasn’t always been focused on education; in the ’80s and early ’90s she worked in the corporate world, and even spent two years (1988-1989) as the co-owner of a Cattle Ranch near Bend, Oregon.</p>
<p>Despite the circuitous route, Fitzpatrick’s position at Del Mar Hills is the product of a lifelong plan.</p>
<p>“All I ever wanted to do was be an educator,” said Fitzpatrick, who has two sons (ages 23 and 34), and one granddaughter, all of whom live in Southern California. “It was a mid-life awareness. I thought, ‘I want to do what I’ve always wanted to.’ I gave it all up and followed my passion.”</p>
<p>Fitzpatrick’s start date at Del Mar Hills is yet to be determined (as of this writing).</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-12331078180739711962008-10-29T10:47:00.000-07:002008-11-03T10:48:38.158-08:00Two Carmel Creek students hospitalized with E.coli infection<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm%20home.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>Two Carmel Creek Elementary School girls, ages 7 and 9, have been hospitalized after becoming sick with an E.coli infection, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported Oct. 29. The girls are expected to recover.</p>
<p>Health officials have not found the source of the E.coli, but officials at Carmel Creek Elementary have notified parents as a precaution, reports the HHSA.</p>
<p>E.coli can be found in a variety of entities, such as lettuce, unpasteurized apple cider, undercooked hamburger, raw milk, and from contact with animals at venues like petting zoos and animal exhibits.</p>
<p>Symptoms of an E.coli infection include abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. While the illness usually clears up within five to 10 days, a small percentage of those infected may develop a condition that can lead to kidney failure.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-31833175165018240092008-10-09T23:32:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.858-07:00Don’t sling mud if you want to silence the ‘mud slingers’<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/archives/cv_dm_archives/10.9_cv_dm.pdf.zip">Carmel Valley News, October 9, 2008</a></p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Re: <a target="_blank" href="http://dmusdnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/wishing-sharon-mcclain-best-of-luck.html">Marsha Sutton’s column of Sept. 11, 2008</a></p>
<p>Once again, we are compelled to provide a response that depicts an accurate picture of the climate among the educators in Del Mar Union School District. The first reaction was to simply turn the page, ignoring the negative and divisive language used in an attempt to drive a wedge between educators in the district. But on further reflection, we felt the community deserved the truth and feared some might read Marsha Sutton’s opinion column and perceive it as fact. Ms. Sutton states, “What Del Mar sorely needs now is to become one united district, intolerant of anything less than full cooperation, support and mutual respect” and yet her comments are laced with inflammatory language and unfounded allegations concerning DMUSD educators. Many of us were shocked to hear statements suggesting that anyone would purposefully “ostracize” our fellow colleagues at Del Mar Heights School. It prompted us to inquire as to whether the Heights staff actually felt this way and the answer was an emphatic “NO.” It’s important to know that staffing within any district is fluid and many of us have worked at more than one school; therefore, we don’t define ourselves as educators loyal to only one school site. We all have close friends and former colleagues scattered throughout the district. We think of them fondly and maintain utmost respect for each other. As professionals, our main objective is to advocate for every student, regardless of which school they attend or the politics of the community. For those of us who have the privilege to teach in the DMUSD, education does matter.</p>
<p>We agree that adults can tear down any progress within this district with unfounded gossip, and therefore have resolved to quickly address any rumors which concern the unified body of educators in the DMUSD. We challenge Ms. Sutton to join us and refrain from turning the handle of the “Rumor Mill.” If you truly desire to silence the “mud slingers,” then stop choosing a side and slinging mud.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;font-weight:bold;">Del Mar California Teachers Association</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Marsha Sutton’s response:</p>
<p>I understand this response. Most of Del Mar’s 273 teachers are revolted at the notion that some of their peers may be engaging in petty, political conduct. I get that. No one wants to be associated with people whose actions are so unseemly.</p>
<p>I also know from experience that teachers unions can be overly sensitive, sometimes taking a circle-the-wagons approach when any one of their members is criticized. Such criticism, no matter how valid, can trigger an intense reaction that’s often designed to silence, intimidate or humiliate anyone who dares to expose some hidden fault or uncover problems.</p>
<p>But shooting the messenger is not the answer.</p>
<p>I don’t just sit here all day inventing lies and dreaming up ways to upset teachers. I stand by my story. What I wrote about the Heights teachers being avoided by some (some) other teachers and staff in the district has been validated by far too many for far too long to discount its legitimacy.</p>
<p>It’s not hard to understand why the guilty won’t admit it and the ostracized refuse to open up, given the politically charged nature of the culture in the Del Mar Union School District.</p>
<p>Teachers are no different than any other group of people who choose to form an association: most are honest, hard-working, decent and trustworthy.</p>
<p>But not all are angels. This fact of human nature does not in any way demean the entire organization. But to deny the truth, that this situation has existed beneath the radar, is to put on blinders to very real problems that should be addressed.</p>
<p>What this issue sorely needed was some sunshine. For only when light is shed on such divisiveness will it end.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-16060596255066727552008-09-25T23:19:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.858-07:00Sutton’s recent editorial: Enough already!<p style="font-style:italic;">Re: <a target="_blank" href="http://dmusdnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/wishing-sharon-mcclain-best-of-luck.html">Marsha Sutton’s column of Sept. 11, 2008</a></p>
<p>As PTA president of Del Mar Hills Academy, and a former parent at both the Hills and the Heights, I found Marsha Sutton’s most recent editorial disturbing. Instead of offering a sincere welcome to our incoming superintendent, Dr. Sharon McClain, she seems intent on berating some undisclosed, apparently small group of parents for a lack of “open, civil discourse” in this school district. In fact, she says, “sneaky is the operative word...”</p>
<p>So I want to address hidden agendas and a lack of full disclosure regarding Sutton’s reporting on DMUSD politics. Specifically, has Sutton ever clarified in print the fact that two of her children attended Del Mar Heights and that, as a result, she is understandably biased in favor of the Del Mar Heights point of view? As Marsha has pointed out to me herself, she writes an editorial, so she has every right to air her own personal opinions. And I’m sure we can all agree that editorials have their place in news organizations. However, Marsha is listed in the Carmel Valley News and Del Mar Village Voice’s “masthead” as its “Senior Education Writer,” which would seem to contradict the very fact that she writes opinion pieces. I would thus suggest that Sutton’s editorial board take the steps necessary to clarify exactly what her official role is at the paper.</p>
<p>Another example of Sutton’s bias was her discussion of Del Mar Heights as “coincidental home to three school board members.” Two of these three school board members just COINCIDENTALLY ran together… with the express purpose of firing Tom Bishop, whom they felt had spent too much time attacking and undermining the efforts of their Del Mar Heights principal. Whether their concerns were justified or not could be debated endlessly, I’m sure, but the school board members’ efforts to get elected are hardly “coincidental.” Then this past spring, the board appointed a THIRD Del Mar Heights parent to replace former school board member Linda Crawford…another fairly well-orchestrated political maneuver, it would seem to me (although I believe that, at first blush, Mr. Doug Perkins is doing an admirable job of remaining fair and even-handed in his approach).</p>
<p>But as I’ve noted before in this paper, “seeming” is everything; what continues to be a source of discontent in this district is the PERCEPTION that the school board represents the views of only one school, because the majority of its members come from that school, and that the main journalistic voice on education in this community is also a Del Mar Heights parent. Surely Sutton can understand that.</p>
<p>And let me clarify a point that I think Marsha Sutton also manages to muddy in her article. Just because many of us in this community object to perceived biases among the school board and the local newspaper does NOT mean that we, ipso facto, despise or in any way wish the parents, administrators, or especially the children of Del Mar Heights ill. In fact, I believe I can speak for my own parent constituency at the Hills in saying that many of us know, like, and respect our counterparts at the Heights.</p>
<p>That is another reason that I find Sutton’s article so disturbing…and potentially damaging…to the community, particularly her comment about “the defamation of Del Mar Heights School, where parents and staff have been deliberately ostracized by principals, teachers, and parents from other schools in the district.” I know that parents at Del Mar Hills found Sutton’s above statement ludicrous. And I think it is an insult to the faculty members of every school in this district to suggest that teachers would let district politics get in the way of their professional dedication and their interactions with their colleagues at other schools.</p>
<p>And that goes for parent leaders as well; just yesterday, I had a great time sitting right next to the PTA president for Del Mar Heights, with whom I share a real friendship and an easy rapport, at a district strategic planning meeting. So I’m wondering where Marsha obtained her information and for what purpose her accusations are intended?</p>
<p>Now, with regard to Tom Bishop, I’ll tell you where “grudges die hard in Del Mar” – right here in Sutton’s columns. I’m pleased to report that most of Tom’s tenure was either before my time in the schools or during that blissful period when I was unaware of rancorous district politics.</p>
<p>So by watching his record denigrated again by Sutton and watching her complain again about his ex-supporters, I must note with bewilderment that the person who can’t seem to get over Tom Bishop is….Marsha Sutton. So here’s a Hot News Flash: the Tom Bishop era is over, a fact Sutton can celebrate (privately, please!) and MOVE ON! This pot doesn’t need to be stirred anymore, and I, for one, am tired of reading about it.</p>
<p>And as for Sutton’s new DMUSD school board —one that includes the candidates she championed personally — the jury remains out on whether they can or will tackle the litany of difficult issues Sutton rightly noted that they face. To date, the only policies of note they’ve managed to promulgate are the firing of one superintendent and the hiring of another…plus the sale of the Shores property at a price far beneath what they could have realized. Meaningful, multi-year decisions on enrichment funding? Support for the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation? The mounting budget deficit? Finding a new district office? On theseissues, we’ve come up empty-handed so far. In fact, as parent leader of Del Mar Hills, I can tell you that they have even stymied DMUSD management attempts to draw up a timeline for hiring a new principal at the Hills this fall. They apparently can’t decide…six weeks into the school year…if they’re going to let us hire a new permanent principal…or a second interim at the Hills.</p>
<p>But enough already…from all of us nay-sayers. What this cranky old parent is looking for is some real journalistic integrity about Sutton’s biases and some serious reporting about the BRIGHTER, more positive side of our school district. I challenge Sutton to write an article about the cooperative and united efforts to improve the education of our children that are going on by the dozens among schools in our district right now! Let’s put the past behind us and REALLY help Sharon McClain be successful, starting with a clean-up of the journalistic atmosphere in which she has to work! Sutton’s biases and divisiveness should simply no longer be tolerated.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;">Kerry Traylor<br />PTA President, Del Mar Hills Academy</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-79905245720266430392008-09-11T16:24:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.860-07:00Wishing Sharon McClain best of luck — She’ll need it<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_columns/sutton.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>Those who remember when <a target="_blank" href="http://signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050128/news_lz1n28alan.html">Alan Bersin took over as head of the San Diego Unified School District</a> will recall the intensity of the rancor and little else, thanks to the media’s voyeuristic, almost exclusive reporting of sideshows and sound bites.</p>
<p>Bersin’s concentration on literacy, teacher training and principal accountability has been all but forgotten – although these back-to-basics reform efforts are now recognized across the country as the hallmark of improvement for struggling urban schools. </p>
<p>Because Bersin’s management style could sometimes be abrasive, what’s remembered is not the success of his ideas but rather the ways in which these changes were implemented.</p>
<p>Board meetings became circus acts as trustees, parents, teachers and union representatives engaged in legendary fiery interactions. The board, split 3-2, even at one time hired a psychologist to mediate, to try to restore dignity and order to the divided governing body.</p>
<p>But in an odd sort of way, the colorful players in that melodrama were honest. There was genuine dislike among factions that no one tried to hide. At least you knew where everyone stood; no one could be accused of duplicity.</p>
<p>When you compare the openly acrimonious climate during the Bersin years to the insidious divisiveness in the Del Mar Union School District, the public battles at SD Unified seem in hindsight refreshingly transparent.</p>
<p>What makes the situation so bad in Del Mar is the covert nature of the attempts at disruption. Sneaky is the operative word – ironic, given that some of the same people regularly attack the DMUSD school board for being too secretive.</p>
<p>The genesis of this unhealthy situation began during the 2006 election. After a long-reigning school board majority lost power, the anti-reform education establishment went into shock and took the “sore loser” label to new heights with a fearsome determination to discredit the victors and their supporters. </p>
<p>Take, for example, <a target="_blank" href="http://86theboard.blogspot.com">a blog that was established</a> just after former superintendent Tom Bishop’s contract was bought out earlier this year. Begun as a sort of chat room for pro-Bishop extremists to vent against the new board, the site was revamped after the rhetoric became so inflamed that liability issues were a concern. </p>
<p>Established in March 2008, it’s now been transformed into a sophisticated presentation of DMUSD issues. It even appears, falsely, like a legitimate arm of the district, with its header: “<a target="_blank" href="http://dmusdnews.blogspot.com">Del Mar Union School District News</a>.” </p>
<p>Postings are timely, complete and extensive. Just days after the DMUSD board approved the contract for newly appointed superintendent Sharon McClain, the blog added information from her former district, Hermosa Beach, that was critical of her – and appeared to call into question the board’s judgment in selecting her. </p>
<p>Behind the site’s benign façade, the same people, with the same agenda, rule. Grudges die hard in Del Mar. </p>
<p>Try to find out exactly who’s behind the blog and you run into a solid brick wall. All the casual observer can uncover from the site is the following explanation of the bloggers and their objective: “About Me -- Just the parents of kids in Del Mar schools. We were asleep at the wheel but now we're awake.”</p>
<p>Awake, but in hiding behind electronic curtains of anonymity. It’s a stealth attack on public figures – a cowardly way to run an offensive.</p>
<p>Some individuals have certainly been upfront about their anti-board positions. Let’s give some credit to incoming DMUSD board member Comischell Bradley-Rodriguez, who at least has the guts to sit next to vocal board critic and long-time Del Mar resident Mary Farrell at the last school board meeting, showing her allegiance, in case anyone had any doubts, to the old world order.</p>
<p>Bradley-Rodriguez has made it abundantly clear in numerous public statements that she disagrees with many of the new board’s decisions, calling Bishop “our beloved superintendent” in a recent letter to the editor. No hidden agenda here.</p>
<p>Bishop was hardly beloved by the majority of voters in this district who in 2006 voted out of office a rubber-stamp board whose unconditional support for Bishop kept trustees from properly analyzing his proposals and made them unable or unwilling to recognize that a corrosive culture of fear had infected the district.</p>
<p>The long-shot victory of a new board majority was like opening the windows on a dank house that had been closed for far too long. The airing was refreshing, exhilarating and way overdue.</p>
<p>Those who would criticize this current board for a lack of transparency and unwillingness to listen to the public would do well to remember that it was one of Annette Easton’s first acts as board president to move Public Comment to the beginning of every board meeting, rather than at the end where Bishop placed it on every agenda.</p>
<p>Easton told me years ago that making people wait for hours before they could address the board was disrespectful of their time – not to mention the number of people who were so sleepy by the time Public Comment rolled around that they had left the meeting long before they were permitted to speak.</p>
<p>So those who choose to speak at board meetings today and level harsh criticism at school board members can thank Easton for allowing them to vent at a reasonable hour. If not for her, they’d be sitting there until 10:45 p.m. – waiting, rather impatiently I’d venture to guess – to bash her, with few if any members of the public still there to hear them. </p>
<p>No one expects 100 percent agreement. But when documents posted on the DMUSD Web site from the district’s superintendent search firm reveal parents and teachers slinging mud while simultaneously demanding re-spect, it seems a glaring double standard. </p>
<p>School board members were rewarded for their insistence that the postings be made public with vicious attacks on their character by critics who refuse to divulge their names.</p>
<p>Is it too much to ask for open, civil discourse in these communities known for highly educated parents whose command of the English language certainly goes beyond juvenile name-calling and lame characterizations?</p>
<p><strong>Democracy is messy</strong></p>
<p>Some might long for the days when things seemed to run smoothly under Bishop. Dictatorship is an efficient form of government. In contrast, democracy is messy, especially when its people are just learning how to function on their own after years of autocratic rule. </p>
<p>As much as this board has been unfairly attacked, I’ll be the first to admit that there are legitimate complaints. There are times this past year when we’ve winced at the maddening inefficiency – unsteady zigzagging, meetings that sometimes drift and ramble, an excessive number of last-minute special meetings, lots of questions, lengthy deliberation and uncertainty. </p>
<p>But open government, no matter how sloppy, is far better than a repressive regime.</p>
<p>Thank goodness the children run on auto-pilot – achieving at astonishing levels, thriving intellectually and socially, and blessedly oblivious to the two polarized camps fighting for the hearts and minds of the undecided and uninitiated. Exceptional teachers and high standards for academic excellence are so far insulating students from the conflicts.</p>
<p>But just as Alan Bersin’s personality dominated the other, more important, story of progress in the classroom, Del Mar risks being looked upon in 10 years’ time as a district where bitter upheavals characterized the culture, one where politics overshadowed achievement and student success was lost amidst the chaos of strife and sabotage.</p>
<p>There’s a long list of critical issues confronting McClain – the budget deficit, preserving Basic Aid, enrichment staffing and programming problems, solidifying the reputation of the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation, equity among schools, the sale of the Shores property, finding a new district office, the implementation of a foreign language program, boundary and under-enrollment concerns at the schools west of the freeway, as well as the usual number of unexpected emergencies.</p>
<p>But there are issues she should not have to confront. One of the most toxic is the need to address the defamation of Del Mar Heights School where parents and staff have been deliberately ostracized by principals, teachers and parents from other schools in the district.</p>
<p>As the coincidental home to three school board members, and with a maverick, independent-thinking principal at the helm, Del Mar Heights has been perceived as a hotbed of insurgency. Yet Heights parents are hard-working and dedicated, teachers are loyal and devoted to the needs of the children, the principal’s drive to support the quality of her instructional team is unquestioned, and student success is well-documented.</p>
<p>What will McClain do when she learns that many teachers from other Del Mar schools refuse to sit near teachers from Del Mar Heights at staff and in-service meetings? How will she address the unspoken, tacit approval some of the district’s principals give to their staff and parents for this kind of unacceptable behavior? Will she allow the underground smearing to continue?</p>
<p>Every political body has its dissenters. But what makes this case so unique, and rancid, is the acrimony that lives and breaths just below the surface, undercutting efforts to move forward, fostering tension and conflict, exacerbating the discord, and effectively keeping old grudges alive. It’s hard to know friend from foe when so many people smile through gritted teeth. </p>
<p>As this new superintendent prepares to take the reins, she’ll begin to address a monumental list of daunting educational priorities. But over-riding the budget, staffing, enrollment and facilities issues will be the urgent need to calm the unrest, expose those who seek to destabilize the district and its school board at every opportunity, overcome the political friction from within the ranks of her own staff, and bring principals and teachers together as a team. </p>
<p>Expectations and attitudes start at the top. McClain will need to work hard to defuse built-up animosity and mistrust. Hopefully, she will have zero tolerance for staff dissension, which filters down to parents. </p>
<p>What Del Mar sorely needs now is to become one united district, intolerant of anything less than full cooperation, support and mutual respect – because what the children have built up through hard work and academic excellence, the adults can tear down with unfounded gossip, suspicion and fear.</p>
<p>Into this morass comes Dr. Sharon McClain, by all accounts a skilled administrator who is fair, self-assured, experienced and intelligent. But all that may not be enough. </p>
<p>We wish her lots of luck as well. She’ll need it, to clean up this mess.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-80603813869727723672008-09-11T16:13:00.000-07:002008-11-03T11:27:31.116-08:00Del Mar Union School District approves new superintendent’s contract<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/tp5.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>By Matt Liebowitz</p>
<p>At its Sept. 3 meeting, the board of trustees of the Del Mar Union School District unanimously voted to approve the contract for new superintendent Dr. Sharon McClain.</p>
<p>McClain’s effective date of employment will be Sept. 17, allowing her time to transition from her current position as superintendent of Hermosa Beach City School District, a post she’s maintained since 2003.</p>
<p>Under the contract, McClain will be paid $168,000 for the 2008–2009 school year. Her salary will be $178,000 for the following year, $183,000 for the 2010-2011 year, and $188,000 for the year beginning in fall 2011.</p>
<p>If the board, in its year-end evaluation, deems McClain’s performance “superior,” they may approve an additional merit-based salary increase up to 6 percent of her annual salary.</p>
<p>To further aid in her transition to Del Mar, the board, at the beginning of her contract, will provide McClain with a stipend of $1,500 per month for six months for temporary housing while she relocates.</p>
<p>The board will also reimburse McClain for expenses tied to relocation to the county of San Diego or San Clemente within 24 months, not to exceed $10,000. The reimbursement covers only moving expenses, and cannot be applied to any costs associated with the purchase of a new residence. Per contract requirements, one of McClain’s first orders of business will be to submit an initial analysis to the board regarding district needs to be addressed during the first year. McClain must turn in the analysis within two months of her date of employment.</p>
<p>Though she’s in the process of tying up loose ends in Hermosa Beach—including hiring a new superintendent to replace her—McClain was present at the meeting, and also made rounds of the district’s schools on the first day of school, Aug. 25. “We appreciate the fact that even though she’s in transition, she’s giving us her time here,” said Interim Superintendent Janet Bernard, who also said that McClain had already scheduled several meetings this week to get up to speed.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-30154124577258609292008-08-29T17:41:00.000-07:002008-11-03T11:27:31.121-08:00New Del Mar Union School District Superintendent eager to start, plans to ‘ask a lot of questions’<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SK9FGYDgpdI/AAAAAAAAABI/XMI1PSQl7qU/s1600-h/sharon-mcclain.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SK9FGYDgpdI/AAAAAAAAABI/XMI1PSQl7qU/s400/sharon-mcclain.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237480867493881298" /></a>
<p>By Matt Liebowitz</p>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/tp1.html">Carmel Valley News, August 28, 2008</a></p>
<p>In a special meeting Aug. 20, the board of trustees of the Del Mar Union School District unanimously appointed Dr. Sharon McClain as the new district superintendent.</p>
<p>“I think Del Mar is a wonderful community,” said McClain in a telephone interview. “I know they’re very supportive of their schools, and growing quite a bit, which is exciting.”</p>
<p>The superintendent of the Hermosa Beach City School District since 2003, McClain was one of 21 applicants for the Del Mar position, and underwent two rounds of interviews.</p>
<p>“We really like her ability to collaborate with her colleagues, and her ability to work with the entire community,” said board president Annette Easton.</p>
<p>Easton also cited McClain’s background in art, music and Spanish—she earned her undergraduate degree from San Diego State University with a distinction in Spanish and taught vocal music for three and a half years in Escondido—as a valuable attribute to the district.</p>
<p>“That’s very important to our community,” Easton said.</p>
<p>Ken Noonan, a partner with the Cosca Group, the consulting firm hired by the school board for the executive search, said the process of hiring McClain was quick, but very professionally executed.</p>
<p>The search, which began in May, lasted only 13 weeks—“a very short period of time,” said Noonan—to accommodate the board’s desire to announce its new superintendent by the beginning of the school year.</p>
<p>“The board was most cooperative,” said Noonan. “They worked extremely hard on this and I think they made a very good choice.”</p>
<p>McClain brings to Del Mar a long and distinguished track record in education.</p>
<p>Prior to her superintendent position in Hermosa Beach, McClain served for three years as superintendent for the Mesa Union School District, and was assistant superintendent of educational services and human resources with the Ojai Unified School District for three years. </p>
<p>McClain also held adjunct faculty positions at the graduate schools of education of both Pepperdine University’s and UCSD. She earned her doctorate in education from the University of LaVerne.</p>
<p>Leaving Hermosa Beach for Del Mar isn’t a drastic move for McClain, as her San Diego connections run deep.</p>
<p>McClain is originally from the San Diego area, and, along with her mother, two of her six children — and four grandchildren —reside in San Diego.</p>
<p>From 1989 to 1997, McClain worked in the Escondido Union School District under superintendent McLean King, first as a teacher and later as principal of Central School.</p>
<p>“It’s like coming home,” she said.</p>
<p>Though she’s tendered her resignation in Hermosa Beach, McClain won’t officially take office in Del Mar for a few weeks. In the meantime, she will shuttle back and forth between the two cities; she is responsible for finding an interim superintendent as well as filling one principal position in the Hermosa Beach School District.</p>
<p>“The transition period will be a few weeks,” said Easton. “We expect her to be full-time within a month.”</p>
<p>Easton said the particulars of McClain’s contract are still being negotiated, but that her salary falls within the district’s budgeted amount, and will be made public as soon as it’s finalized.</p>
<p>Also keeping her moving back and forth will be her husband, Joe Condon, superintendent of the Lawndale Elementary School District in Los Angeles. Condon will remain at his job, which he’s held for 17 years, but McClain said he’ll move down to San Diego upon retirement.</p>
<p>Stepping into office, one of McClain’s first orders of business will be to address the district’s budget crisis, and to understand, in a non-biased, honest way, the distinct responsibilities and relationships of everyone in the school community.</p>
<p>“My leadership style is very open. I like to engage a lot of people and find out what their opinions are before making any decisions,” McClain said. “I try to meet as many people as I can and understand the issues. The first part of being a brand new superintendent is asking a lot of questions.”</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-88847841209311798782008-08-29T16:44:00.000-07:002008-08-29T17:35:30.892-07:00Equity in education is the civil rights issue of today, county school superintendent convinced<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SLiK-T1LwnI/AAAAAAAAABQ/is6F-TYqOCs/s1600-h/randy-ward.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0QATR4XDfEQ/SLiK-T1LwnI/AAAAAAAAABQ/is6F-TYqOCs/s400/randy-ward.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240090969525437042" /></a><br />Randy Ward<br />Photo/Jon Clark</p>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_feature/ft1.html">Carmel Valley News, August 28, 2008</a></p>
<p>By Arthur Lightbourn</p>
<p>To say that he was “disappointed” when the Del Mar school board decided to ditch the kindergarten Spanish language pilot program which was slated to begin this fall is definitely an “understatement,’” says San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Randy Ward.</p>
<p>Ward had planned to enter his 5-year-old daughter into the program at Del Mar Heights School but now he and his wife will take turns driving their daughter to attend a global language program miles away in a Lakeside public school where she will be doing total immersion in Spanish with English reading and writing to be added in the second grade and Mandarin in third grade, with the goal of becoming bilingual by the end of grade five and trilingual by graduation from high school.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Simply because, Ward said, “education is important.”</p>
<p>And when it comes to learning at least a second language, Ward speaks from experience. He grew up in a ghetto in Boston where lots of the guys he hung with were Spanish-speaking.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t until later, in between earning a B.S. in early childhood education from Tufts University and a master’s in school leadership from Harvard, he began studying Spanish to be more effective as a preschool, kindergarten and grade school teacher in Boston and Cambridge. </p>
<p>In 1983, to perfect his Spanish, he taught in the highly dangerous “red zone” drug capital of Medellin, Columbia, and later in Caracas, Venezuela.</p>
<p>It turned out to be immersion in more ways than one.</p>
<p>“When I was down there, it was the time of the Granada incident … the Columbian guerillas didn’t like that at the time and so they came into the school while I was teaching and killed a guard, put a bullet through his head, and kind of made a statement because we were an American teaching school. And the next week, they put a bomb on the first floor and blew up the first floor of the school while it was shut, so we were closed for about a week. Other than that, it was very pleasant.”</p>
<p>We interviewed the 51-year-old Ward at the County Office of Education campus on Linda Vista Road in San Diego from where he oversees budgets, payrolls, back-office and technical support for smaller school districts and administers a variety of support services, including professional development and health plans, for 42 autonomous school districts and 710 schools serving 494,000 students throughout the county.</p>
<p>“The third role we play is we are actually a small school district in and of ourselves.</p>
<p>“While we touch about 13,000 a year,” he pointed out, “because of the mobility of those students, in any one day, there are only 3,000 or so students in our programs. But we take our commitment to those students very seriously.”</p>
<p>Students directly served by the county include those who have been expelled from regular schools, homeless kids, pregnant teens, foster care kids at San Pasqual Academy or those who are incarcerated in Juvenile Halls throughout the county.</p>
<p>“Many of our schools are called ‘community schools’ and are individual classrooms for students who are expelled for one or two semesters.</p>
<p>“We also run a special ed program for preschoolers. And we have a Monarch School, which is a school for the homeless.”</p>
<p>Ward was appointed superintendent two years ago by the county board after he had served for nine years as a trouble-shooting, state-appointed administrator in the Compton Unified School District and most recently in the Oakland Unified School District, both of which were in receivership at the time.</p>
<p>He was credited with reforming instruction, improving students’ test scores and effectively stemming both districts’ financial hemorrhaging. </p>
<p>After we shook hands, the 6-foot, 220-pound Ward got comfortable, removing his jacket revealing his Larry King-type black suspenders, and settling down for a coffee-table discussion of his life and career.</p>
<p>Ward, an African-American, grew up as the middle child in a family of seven children in Boston.</p>
<p>His dad, who had retired from the Army, worked several jobs to support the family. “One of his jobs was custodial supervisor at Massachusetts General Hospital and that’s why I was a custodian there from the time I was 16 until I graduated from college.</p>
<p>“We grew up in a ghetto with crack houses and gangs and drive-bys. Obviously my dad was earning some money with his jobs and retirement from the military, so when we asked him why we had to live in such a neighborhood, he’d say, because we have to save up for your college.” </p>
<p>Ward went on to earn a B.S. from Tufts University in early childhood education; an Ed.M. in school leadership from Harvard University; another master’s in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts; and an Ed.D. in policy, planning and administration from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Now going into his third year as school superintendent for the county he said, “There have been lots of challenges, as you know. Challenges, fiscally, certainly, academically, with the achievement gap, and a lot of work, in not only supporting the county school districts, but making sure the students that we serve get the best education they can get.”</p>
<p>“For example,” he said, “the California High School Exit Exams, back in 2001, the passing rate for the students we serve, which are the toughest students in the county, you know, the expelled kids, the homeless children, the foster kids, the kids in Juvenile Hall, we passed at a 9 percent and 15 percent rate in language arts and math.</p>
<p>“This past year, we passed at almost a 75 percent rate.”</p>
<p>Because of the cuts in state funding, the county board had to cut its budget by about $2.5 million last year and about the same amount this year from its $33 million general fund, he said. Most of the monies the county board administers are either pass-through monies from the state to the various districts or restricted funds.</p>
<p>“We also had to cut 10 percent, about $20 million, from those restricted funds, so we were very much impacted.”</p>
<p>As a result, he said, “We’ve been on efficiency, maximizing services program since I’ve been here.</p>
<p>“So that has helped.”</p>
<p>All of their employees are now on direct deposit “so we don’t have to print checks for them.”</p>
<p>Wherever possible, they have gone paperless and online.</p>
<p>While they would prefer not to be faced with reduced funding from the state, he said, “We’re trying to keep up by becoming more efficient.”</p>
<p>As to his role as superintendent, “While it is a big job, the challenge is to think about it on three levels: What it is. (‘What do you mean I don’t have authority over this and that?’) What it should be. (‘And that’s where I’m at now.’) And what it could be. (‘Where do we all want to go and where we are going?’)</p>
<p>“The levels I’m really moving on are the ‘should’ and ‘could.’”</p>
<p>The ‘should’ part, he said, really has to be about preparing all of our schools, teachers and leaders to best instruct and teach using the best instructional tools to prepare as many children, if not 100 percent, to be ready for college and to be ready to work, both in the work that’s out there now and that will be out there in the future.</p>
<p>It should be efficient, stabilized, even in times of economic fluctuations, and it should be “connected to the real world,” he added.</p>
<p>“The ‘could be’ really has to do with how we can work in a completely synergistic and seamless way so that we could share best practices, use the technology that we need to share best practices instantaneously, and to be able to change and make transitions through the use of data about what’s working and what isn’t working and adjust [accordingly].”</p>
<p>The board, he said, will be drafting a strategic five-year plan this year to identify “where we should be and where we could be and what the measures will be and put that out as a public document to hold ourselves accountable.”</p>
<p>Ward favors the amalgamation of school districts where possible to maximize resources, but he recognizes because of “politics, regional culture and all the rest, it’s much easier said than done.”</p>
<p>He also decries the inequality that exists in resources and teachng between schools and various districts, not only in San Diego, but throughout the state and the country.</p>
<p>“Equity is a major challenge,” he said. “I think quite frankly it is the civil rights issue of today, and that is, equity, quality and access to the best teachers, great facilities, technology—and, yes, it always comes down to the bottom line of money, but it’s not always just about money. </p>
<p>“We’ve got a lot of things built into our infrastructure, like contracts, employee rights, and all these things that unfortunately can produce a very inequitable environment.</p>
<p>“And I get to see it because I go around to all the districts and I see which kids are in AP courses and which ones aren’t, which ones are taking algebra and which ones aren’t, what the facilities look like in one neighborhood versus another in the same district and certainly between districts…</p>
<p>“Some of the equity issues have to do with child advocacy. In the neighborhood where I live, we’re going to make sure we’re going to advocate for our children and they are going to get the best. In some neighborhoods, that doesn’t exist. </p>
<p>“So that means that someone else, including the board and the administration, has to be those child advocates. That happens sometimes, but unfortunately other times it does not. The squeaky wheel.”</p>
<p>In addition to his administrative work, Ward delights in personally meeting students when possible.</p>
<p>He recalls three students in particular at the Juvenile Hall school in Campo.</p>
<p>“They were graduating and they really pressured the folks up there so they could talk to me. They came in and wanted to tell me how appreciative they were that they finally found people who cared about them and how unfortunate it was that they had to commit a crime and serve time to get their high school diplomas.</p>
<p>“And that while they would never say it was good to do what they did, but certainly if they weren’t in that facility with those educators and the people from probation who care about them, they would never have gotten back on the right track in terms of education.”</p>
<p>“I thought that was very powerful,” Ward said.</p>
<div style="margin:30px;padding:20px;border:1px dotted;">
<p>Quick Facts</p>
<p>Name: Randolph E. “Randy” Ward, Ed. D.</p>
<p>Distinction: A former kindergarten and grade school teacher, who as a state-appointed administrator was credited with salvaging the bankrupt Compton and Oakland Unified School Districts before accepting his current job two years ago as San Diego County Superintendent of Schools.</p>
<p>Resident of: Carmel Valley</p>
<p>Born: Boston, Mass., 51 years ago.</p>
<p>Education: B.S. from Tufts University in early childhood education; an Ed.M. in school leadership from Harvard University; another master’s in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts; and an Ed.D. in policy, planning and administration from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Family: He and his wife, Cheryl, have been married 11 years. They have two children: daughter, Jerne, 5, going into kindergarten; and son, James, 3.</p>
<p>Interests: Landscaping, camping, scuba diving</p>
<p>Reading: “Reading books to my kids.”</p>
<p>Films: “Not a movie-goer. I don’t think I’ve been to the movies in seven years.”</p>
<p>Favorite Food: Pizza</p>
<p>Philosophy: “Make a difference.”</p>
</div>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-33891027337931457522008-08-29T16:43:00.000-07:002008-08-29T16:44:38.667-07:00Del Mar Schools Education Foundation moves forward with new members, new business model<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/tp6.html">Carmel Valley News, August 28, 2008</a></p>
<p>By Matt Liebowitz</p>
<p>After a few years of controversy and contention, the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation is moving forward with new officers, a new business model, and ideas to keep money pouring into the school district’s enrichment program.</p>
<p>At its Aug. 12 meeting, the Education Foundation elected 10 new members, including Matt Zevin, who will serve as one of two co-presidents (the other still to be determined), secretary Allison Poe, and treasurer Jon Flam. To round out their 16-18-person board, three more appointees will be named at the foundation’s September meeting.</p>
<p>About three-quarters of the 18-member board reached the end of their two-year-terms at the end of this past school year.</p>
<p>“We’re in a two- to three-year change process,” said Jeb Spencer, who’s been on the Education Foundation board since April 2007, and who led the nominating committee to pick the new board members.</p>
<p>With the changing board comes a changing way of doing business, one that steers away from conflicts of interest and fundraising controversy.</p>
<p>This past school year, the foundation did away with paid staff employees, including highly paid executive director Maria Olson, and instead shifted towards a volunteer organization.</p>
<p>The foundation will still employ a part-time accountant to process fundraising checks, and a part-time administrative assistant.</p>
<p>“It’s a big change from a year ago,” said Spencer. “We had to find a new group of people who understand this is a three- to five-hour-a-week commitment. It’s much more than coming to a one-hour board meeting once a month. These are people with an activist philosophy who are going to roll up their sleeves.”</p>
<p>Because each board member has a child in one of the eight district schools, Spencer is confident the foundation will have the best interests of each school at its heart, and that the controversy that plagued the foundation—especially in regards to enrichment funding—is a thing of the past.</p>
<p>The enrichment program provides art, music, science, and technology education; its staff is funded partly by donations to the foundation. As a result of the controversial buyout of former Superintendent Tom Bishop, many parents withheld donations, causing instability and panic as to how the enrichment program would continue.</p>
<p>“Let’s get rid of all the issues, all the scandals, all the politics, and get some money into our school system,” he added. “That’s all this is about. I think we got rid of all the politics last year, and we’ll continue to do so this year.”</p>
<p>Donations for the Enrichment Program will occur on a school-by-school basis rather than going into a general fund. This approach comes as a result of a survey Spencer wrote which revealed that 90 percent of parents preferred to see their contributions go to a specific school.</p>
<p>In the past, parents expressed to the foundation their hesitancy at donating to a general fund and being unable to track how their contribution was used.</p>
<p>To avoid this, and to foster and maintain a healthy relationship between the foundation and its donors, the foundation will engage in monthly dialogues with the parents, and will provide each school with a “fundraiser toolbox,” which offers ways—fundraising galas, pledge days, educational seminars, telemarketing, appealing to past donors — to effectively raise money.</p>
<p>Last year, the foundation raised about $600,000, and though no fundraising goal has been set for the coming year, Spencer expects they’ll take in between $500,000 and $600,000.</p>
<p>Each year, the foundation hosts two events—in the past it was a golf outing and a gala at the Belly Up Tavern—that cover its minimal overhead and allow them to donate all the money raised directly to the school without skimming any off the top.</p>
<p>“We rebuilt trust with many people last year,” he said. “I think the fact we raised so much speaks to that.”</p>
<p>Keeping the Education Foundation a separate entity from the Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees is a quality Spencer believes will eliminate any conflicts of interest, and create a clear fundraising path for donors.</p>
<p>“We’re a nonprofit organization, separate from the school board,” said Spencer. They say to us, ‘You guys raise the money, let us know where you want it to go.’ That makes sense. We have a very good relationship.”</p>
<p>Steven McDowell, a board member of the Del Mar Union School District and ex-officio member of the Education Foundation in 2007, applauded the foundation’s independence, but is cautious about the foundation making demands of the school board.</p>
<p>“The foundation has to set its own goals and missions. It’s difficult to provide a forecast of our needs.”</p>
<p>Though the foundation will work closely with each school’s principal and parent population, McDowell said the school board will ensure foundation money is distributed equally throughout the school district.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-8252159625274199662008-08-16T01:12:00.000-07:002008-08-16T01:13:51.787-07:00Few candidates file for local school board spots<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_community/community.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>It appears that there will not be an election for the available seats on the Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees and the Solana Beach School Board as candidates did not exceed vacancies. As of presstime for this newspaper, Aug. 13, at 1 p.m., local residents had until 5 p.m. on Aug. 13 to file candidacy papers with the county for races where all incumbents did not file for re-election. </p>
<p>As of presstime, Doug Perkins, currently serving on the board, and Comischell Rodriguez filed as candidates for the two available seats on the Del Mar school board. Rich Leib and incumbent Art Palkowitz filed for the two Solana Beach school board spots. It appears an election will be held for the San Dieguito Union High School District: Incumbents Joyce Dalessandro and Beth Hergesheimer will vie with Michael Klein, a dentist, for two seats on the board. For a complete list, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/election/1108candlist.pdf">http://sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/election/1108candlist.pdf</a>.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-82850470421267045682008-08-16T01:04:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.861-07:00Resignation of Hills principal a blow...and a boon<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_columns/sutton.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>The announcement that Del Mar Hills Elementary School principal Laurie Francis will replace Michael Grove as the new principal at Carmel Valley Middle School is a blow to those teachers and parents at the Hills who have looked to Francis for the past six years as their protector of programs, positions and promises.</p>
<p>Francis, who replaced long-time Hills principal Gary Wilson in April 2002, has wrestled with the usual host of educational issues across the spectrum, but none more sinister than the persistent rumors that the school itself is destined to close due to low enrollment.</p>
<p>The survival of “The Little School That Could” was of such paramount importance that one of Francis’s last acts as principal was to prevent the closure of the Hills at all costs, even if it meant the unintended consequence of the demise of foreign language instruction at nearby Del Mar Heights School.</p>
<p>Embroiled in controversy, the Spanish language pilot program, slated to start this fall at the Heights before being killed by the school board in June, was eyed with suspicion by many Hills parents and teachers. By attracting kindergarten and first-grade students to the Heights, and unintentionally away from the Hills, the Spanish program was perceived by Hills supporters as a threat to their school’s very existence and was never fully embraced as a way to introduce foreign language into the Del Mar Union School District.</p>
<p>Worries over threats made in years past to close the Hills if enrollment dropped percolated once again to the surface, as fearful parents and teachers turned to Francis to present their case.</p>
<p>And present it she did. Keeping the Hills open was the overriding issue, and Francis championed the cause valiantly. She voiced her concerns on behalf of staff and parents, and worked feverishly to develop options that might boost Hills enrollment without delaying the Heights’ Spanish program.</p>
<p>The anxiety in her school’s community was palpable as Francis tried to quiet the unrest. Although killing the Spanish program was her last choice, and she publicly opposed any efforts to do so, it was inevitable, given the fervor of opponents and the current, politically unstable climate in the district.</p>
<p>As Francis now moves on to the San Dieguito Union High School District and takes charge of Carmel Valley Middle School, it must be an enormous relief for her not to have to worry continually about attracting more students, as she did at the Hills.</p>
<p>In fact, at CVMS, she will, ironically, have the opposite problem and will be juggling the excessive demands of an over-subscribed school of 1,300 students in grades 7 and 8. She will be working closely with the district and Earl Warren Middle School principal Anna Pedroza to discuss options for attracting students to EWMS and away from CVMS. This will be a challenge of quite a different sort. </p>
<p>The fact that a Del Mar Union School District principal will be transitioning fairly seamlessly to a San Dieguito middle school in Carmel Valley – to serve students from both Del Mar and Solana Beach School District elementary schools – illustrates just how much these two communities belong together. Whether that means a united Del Mar/Solana Beach school district, a unified San Dieguito district serving students in grades K-12, or some other innovative combination of grade configurations, the point is that a merger of some sort makes obvious sense. </p>
<p>These are all the same kids; we are all one community. Is it really proper any longer, if it ever was, to continue to separate neighborhoods and create unnatural boundaries, using freeways and roads to sort kids on one side of the street from kids on the other?</p>
<p>Besides rejuvenating the campaign for a merger, the departure of Francis from Del Mar Hills is a rare opportunity for the Del Mar Union School District to consider restructuring the district in fundamentally different ways. </p>
<p>If leadership can view her loss as a catalyst to spark invigorating conversations about repairing the damage the language conflict has caused, they might discover innovative ways to bring the Heights and Hills communities back together and serve the educational needs of Del Mar’s children more effectively.</p>
<p>Francis herself suggested that her resignation may be what’s needed to prompt long overdue discussions of this sort. </p>
<p>In an interview, she said that a new principal who is less familiar with the staff and the program at the Hills may “possibly see things in a way that I’m not because they’re not as attached to the people.” </p>
<p>“If I was staying next year, which I intended to do, I wasn’t looking to make anything radical happen,” she said. “But we’re at a crossroads with the Hills/Heights issue. … And if in fact there are going to be conversations about restructuring the Hills and Heights, I think it would behoove the school [to have someone new].”</p>
<p>Francis said a leader uninvolved with the district’s history would be able to view the situation “from a myriad of perspectives” and have a more objective appraisal of the possibilities.</p>
<p>In a “goodbye” email to her staff, Francis wrote, “Although it is very difficult to let go, I am excited for a fresh set of eyes and a new dynamic leader coming into our school and seeing a new ‘next level’ that maybe I wouldn't have seen, as I am so invested in our program.” </p>
<p>This discussion is sorely needed.</p>
<p>The festering conflict between the Hills and Heights stems from the open boundary policy endorsed by former superintendent Tom Bishop, which allows students living west of Interstate 5 to choose which school to attend. </p>
<p>Recognizing that projected enrollment west of I-5 is insufficient to sustain both schools at cost-effective numbers, Bishop often threatened closure if enrollment dipped too low. He encouraged the Hills and Heights principals to “market” their schools aggressively and seek out students from east of the freeway. </p>
<p>The resulting competition for students reached a fevered pitch when the Heights proposed its Spanish language program this year. And the divisiveness has not gone unnoticed by neighboring districts. </p>
<p>Even Ken Noah, San Dieguito Union High School District’s new superintendent whose first day on the job was July 1, said he was aware of the Hills/Heights discord and the competition between the schools when he hired Francis, although the topic was not discussed in his interviews with her.</p>
<p>These issues have been with us a very long time and, sadly, have become part of each school’s culture.</p>
<p>I recently came across some notes from the 2001-2002 school year, when I served on the DMUSD’s informal Gifted and Talented Education committee. These are some of the issues, few of which have changed over the years, that came out of the group’s many brainstorming sessions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Hills and Heights should not compete with one another – should work symbiotically as sister schools, each with self-sustaining programs.</li>
<li>Need to solve the problem of over-enrollment in Carmel Valley.</li>
<li>Need to solve the problem of under-enrollment at Hills and Heights.</li>
<li>Identify problems that exist that are unique to the two schools west of I-5, and pose possible solutions, no matter how radical.</li>
<li>Can’t offer something at Hills and Heights, and then offer it at neighborhood schools in Carmel Valley too. Must let go of equity district-wide. Hills and Heights need unique, individual programs all their own. </li>
<li>Could make Hills a school of art/music/drama focus and Heights a school of science/geography/language focus.</li>
<li>To attract Carmel Valley students, explore making one school a GATE school with GATE-certified teachers at all levels, fulfilling a demand district-wide for advanced curriculum. </li>
<li>Provide busing to schools west of I-5.</li>
<li>Guarantee enrollment at Hills and Heights through sixth grade.</li>
<li>Offer low class sizes in grades 4-6.</li>
<li>Provide foreign language instruction, specifically Spanish.</li>
</ul>
<p>One idea presented repeatedly over the years has been to reconfigure the grade levels at both schools, and have one school serving students in kindergarten through third grade and the other offering fourth through sixth grades. This appeals to Francis as well as others who are searching for options to bring the communities back together. </p>
<p>“That actually would have been something that would have made me want to stay,” Francis said. “I think those possibilities are really exciting.”</p>
<p>There are other possibilities being mentioned too. One school might serve students in grades 3-6, while the other becomes a K-2 school and houses the district’s childcare and preschool. Or one school enrolls all the district’s special education students. Perhaps both schools should be combined under one principal and divided to serve students in some innovative way that both unites the two schools’ communities and benefits the kids.</p>
<p>Appointing retired Cardiff superintendent Vince Jewell to be acting principal at the Hills on a temporary basis is a stroke of genius that allows Del Mar to wait until a new superintendent is on board before making any rash decisions that would lock out creative alternatives to the status quo. This relieves pressure and gives the district time to take a fresh look at the situation.</p>
<p>Hiring a permanent replacement for Francis before a new superintendent is selected would have meant the loss of a golden opportunity to take a step back and examine the possibilities more objectively.</p>
<p>Although she was a good leader who served her students, parents, teachers and community well, Francis admits there are inherent problems between the Hills and the Heights, not of her making, that present nearly insurmountable problems. She is right to observe that resolution may only be possible with an outside leader who has little or no history in the district.</p>
<p>Francis’s departure can be viewed as a gift in many ways, because it gives the district a chance to do something unique with the two schools.</p>
<p>Despite moving on, Francis clearly still cares. She wants the dissension, and the unnecessary and unhealthy competition between her former school and Del Mar Heights School, to end. </p>
<p>She struck a positive note when she told me, “I do think the school board is supportive of both of these schools. I believe what they’ve said publicly many times, that they’re there to ensure the viability of the programs and want to do what’s right.”</p>
<p>Let’s hope district leaders take this moment and use it wisely. </p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-47014761598903139342008-08-14T23:18:00.000-07:002008-08-14T23:20:18.410-07:00Former Cardiff School District Superintendent appointed temporary principal of Del Mar Hills Academy<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/tp2.html">Carmel Valley News</a></p>
<p>The Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees Aug. 8 unanimously appointed Vince Jewell as the acting principal at Del Mar Hills Academy. Jewell is the retired superintendent of the Cardiff School District.</p>
<p>“Mr. Jewell is a highly respected educator in San Diego County and has a strong background and interest in the arts,” said board president Annette Easton. “The experience and positive leadership that Mr. Jewell would bring to the district will help ensure a successful and seamless 2008-09 school opening for students and parents of the Del Mar Hills Academy community.”</p>
<p>Jewell temporarily replaces former Hills principal Laurie Francis who has left to become the principal of Carmel Valley Middle School.</p>
<p>Jewell retired two years ago from the superintendent position in Cardiff, according to district interim superintendent Janet Bernard who recommended Jewell for the temporary position. Prior to that position he served as a director of human resources with the Vista Unified School District and served as a middle school principal with the Coronado Unified School District. </p>
<p>“Mr. Jewell is a very talented artist and since his retirement he has been able to return to his work in this field,” Bernard said. “Having a strong arts background and a proven record of outstanding leadership, he was the ideal educator to lead the Hills during this transition period.”</p>
<p>Jewell’s first day as the acting principal of the Hills was Aug. 11. </p>
<p>At the special board meeting Aug. 8, Bernard said she also presented a draft timeline for hiring the new principal. The timeline had a new leader in place by Nov. 3. However, the board directed Bernard to bring back another agenda item for the Sept. 3 board meeting with options for a different leadership configuration. </p>
<p>“In other words, perhaps there could be one principal between two schools (Hills/Heights) and an assistant principal hired,” Bernard said. “We’ve already started advertising for the principalship position, though, and will hold on to applications until the board decides which way they would like to go on this. In the meantime, Vince Jewell will remain acting principal indefinitely.”</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-76109253618746614342008-07-31T20:08:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.862-07:00Del Mar Hills Principal appointed head of Carmel Valley Middle School<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/new/cmv_dm_pages/cmv_dm_top_stories/tp1.html">Carmel Valley News 7-31-08</a></p>
<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>Laurie Francis, principal of Del Mar Hills Academy, has been named principal of Carmel Valley Middle School. Francis replaces former CVMS principal Michael Grove, who has been promoted to principal of San Dieguito Academy High School in Encinitas. Grove served as CVMS principal for five years.</p>
<p>Francis’s last day at the Hills, one of eight elementary schools in the Del Mar Union School District serving students in kindergarten through sixth grade, is Aug. 1. She begins her new post in the San Dieguito Union High School District on Aug. 4. </p>
<p>“I'm extremely happy for Laurie because she loves the middle school grades and has always talked about returning to this level at some point in her career,” commented DMUSD interim superintendent Janet Bernard, who provided both a written and a verbal recommendation for Francis. “I am confident that she will be able to build upon the standard of excellence already established at Carmel Valley Middle School, because she is so innovative and maintains such high expectations for students, staff and parents." </p>
<p>Francis, 42, has spent 21 years in education, two-thirds of it at the middle school level. </p>
<p>“I love middle school,” she said. “I love the people that gravitate toward middle school. And I love the candidness of kids that age, their insight and their sense of humor. It’s a really exciting time for them. It’s kind of a time when people are pulling away from them but they really need you, so you feel like you’re making a difference, to keep them on track.”</p>
<p>Ken Noah, SDUHSD superintendent, said it’s a unique type of person who can take on the challenges of middle school. “When you have someone who has a love and passion for middle school, and can build staff and students and can communicate that, that’s a real plus,” he said. “The middle years are interesting years, to say the least. And she has a real passion around that.”</p>
<p>Francis was hired as principal at Del Mar Hills in April 2002. Before that, she served as assistant principal of Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla, and previously taught eighth-grade English and history and served as a site staff developer at Ray Kroc Middle School. She began her teaching career at the age of 21 with her first classroom at Lafayette Elementary School. All three schools are part of the San Diego Unified School District. </p>
<p>A native of New York City, Francis attended San Diego State University and holds a master’s degree in gifted and talented education. </p>
<p>She has four children: a four-year-old in preschool, a second-grader at Solana Santa Fe Elementary School in Rancho Santa Fe, and two who were promoted from Del Mar Hills and now attend Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach.</p>
<p>Francis called her new job a “fairy-tale assignment” and said it happened almost unexpectedly.</p>
<p>“The interview process went so fast,” she said. “The application deadline was July 17 at 2 p.m., and I literally brought my application up at 1.” </p>
<p>She said she interviewed on the 21st, the 24th, and then on the 25th with Noah. “An hour later, I’m filling out my dental forms, so I was kind of shell-shocked,” she said. </p>
<p>“I’m glad it happened so fast, because sometimes when you take time to pause and you’re happy where you are, it’s easy to just say, ‘Well, this is a known entity for me. I’m comfortable.’”</p>
<p>Francis said she wasn’t really looking to move and had every intention of staying at the Hills. “I put one application in at one district,” she said, emphasizing that she was not actively searching for another job. </p>
<p>But she called this a one-in-a-million opportunity. “Mid-level positions are very, very tough to get, because for every 15 elementary schools, you’ve got one mid-level school,” she said. </p>
<p>Francis said she has “immense respect for San Dieguito and the people that work there” and called the position a “dream job.” It’s not just the principalship in such a high-performing, well-respected district that Francis cited, but also the chance to stay “in a community that I love.” </p>
<p>She said this was the best of both worlds, to be able to work locally in Carmel Valley and serve both Del Mar and Solana Beach students as they transition from sixth to seventh grade.</p>
<p>“I don’t feel as bad as if I were going across town,” she said. “I’m still going to be connected here.”</p>
<p>Even so, Francis said it was “gut-wrenching” to leave Del Mar Hills.</p>
<p>“It was a really painful decision for me to make,” she said. “It would have been very easy to stay. It’s a small school with bright kids and a great parent community. Most of the staff here I’ve worked with for seven years, so it’s hard. And I love the program here. But I think in any career after six or seven years, you’ve got to change it up a little bit.”</p>
<p>Also, she described the Hills as being in great shape. Last year, she thought about applying for a different middle school opening but reconsidered after deciding the timing wasn’t good. </p>
<p>“It didn’t feel right to me,” she said. “But this year I’m rolling over my exact same staff, I’m rolling over the exact same kids, everything’s in place, and it just seems like this is the right time.”</p>
<p>In an email to her staff, she wrote, “After seven plus years, I need to give myself the ‘kick in the pants’ needed to grow professionally. If I pause, as I did last year, I know I will not be able to leave our staff and the secure/safe feeling of ‘the known.’”</p>
<p>In her email, she described her fondness for the “quirkiness” of the middle school years and said the new position will provide “the challenge that I need to keep myself fresh and innovative professionally.”</p>
<p>Francis vehemently denied that the recent unrest and controversy in the Del Mar Union School District had any role in her decision to leave. She called this move “the next logical career step for an elementary school principal.”</p>
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Large pool of candidates</p>
<p>SDUHSD superintendent Ken Noah, who began in the district July 1, said the application process started before he arrived, with an initial paper-screening of about 23 applicants, which were then narrowed down to 12. </p>
<p>Further screenings reduced the pool to three final candidates, who then went through an extensive interview with teachers, school staff, parents and central office administrators.</p>
<p>“Laurie was the unanimous choice of the group as the finalist,” Noah said. “I interviewed her late last week, and then confirmed with staff [Monday morning] that Laurie was the final choice.” </p>
<p>Her appointment still requires school board confirmation, but Noah said he was confident, after sharing information about her with board members, that she would be approved.</p>
<p>Terry King, SDUHSD’s associate superintendent of human resources, said the size of the original pool of job candidates was large, especially considering that the position was advertised late in the school year. She declined to say whether any candidates were internal.</p>
<p>Noah offered a number of reasons why Francis was chosen.</p>
<p>“First and foremost, she is an experienced principal,” he said. “Of course, that was at the elementary level, but her track record there … shows her to be a person who can take what often is a complex job of pulling staff together around a common mission and vision for a school, as well as the parent community. … I think she did a good job of creating a sense in that community of pride and ownership in the school.”</p>
<p>He also said the performance of the Hills has been good under her leadership.</p>
<p>Her many years of experience at the middle school level in the San Diego Unified School District prior to Del Mar was another important factor in her selection, Noah said.</p>
<p>“She has good middle school experience and elementary experience,” he said. “And I think that is a real plus for a middle school principal to have had both, because they have a sense of the students coming to them and what that educational experience is and what it should be.”</p>
<p>Noah described Francis as “a person who’s able to communicate in an articulate manner her vision and hopes and dreams for where a middle school can go, but is very much a person who’s committed to building the kinds of relationships with staff and parents and students to move that forward.”</p>
<p>Noah said this is a critical ingredient for an educational leader. “You can have the best ideas in the world, but you have to be able to work well with people to realize them,” he said. “And she has both the proven experience of doing that and also the ability to articulate that.”</p>
<p>“What’s giving me comfort,” Francis said, “is that I have the mid-level background coupled with the seven years’ experience within the community, so I’m not going to be on that learning curve. It’s almost like I can go in and just really focus on learning the [culture of the] school, rather than having to learn mid-level education and learn the community. I feel like I have a little bit of a jump on the game.”</p>
<p>Francis said she didn’t plan to make immediate changes, nor does Noah expect her to. </p>
<p>“I don’t have an agenda that says to Laurie, ‘Here are things that need to be fixed,’” Noah said. “Mike [Grove] has done an excellent job in that school, particularly around school improvement planning. So I think there’s a great deal in place that’s solid.”</p>
<p>He said he talked to Francis about the importance of understanding the strengths of the school and where it’s doing well, developing a sense of what could be improved, and building support for that. </p>
<p>“Mike Grove is a phenomenal principal, and Carmel Valley Middle School has a track record that speaks for itself with regard to student achievement and staffing,” Francis said. “Certainly there’s going to be lots of room for innovation and moving forward, but there’s nothing specific that I was hired to address.”</p>
<p>Francis called the CVMS staff phenomenal and said she plans to spend some time with each staff member to “see who they are and what they like about their school and maybe what they see as the next step.” She hopes to absorb that information and “spend three or four months just watching and learning.”</p>
<p style="font-weight:bold;">Projected enrollment</p>
<p>Carmel Valley Middle School, one of the highest-achieving middle schools in the county, is one of four middle schools in the SDUHSD serving students in seventh and eighth grades. CVMS and Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach serve students in the southern portion of the district. </p>
<p>Projected enrollment for CVMS this fall is just over 1,300 students, while Earl Warren anticipates about half that number.</p>
<p>The transition for Francis, from an under-enrolled elementary school to an over-subscribed 1,300-student middle school, is an irony that has not gone unnoticed. But Francis said the size is not unusual for middle schools and is not concerned.</p>
<p>“It’s pretty much the average,” she said. “That’s what it was when I was at Muirlands. Carmel Valley [Middle School] has a small-town feel and it’s a tightly run ship.”</p>
<p>Noah agreed. “I don’t believe that for this part of the state a middle school that size is all that unusual. Middle schools designed well to house 1,300 or 1,400 students are very workable.” </p>
<p>Noah did express a personal bias, however. “I would say that middle schools that are smaller or have a small learning community concept I think are inherently stronger and better able to meet the needs of kids,” he said. “I’m not a proponent of building 2,000-student middle schools.” </p>
<p>Francis applauded the district for offering Carmel Valley students the option to attend Earl Warren. “San Dieguito has done a nice job making that a viable option for parents,” she said. “There’s not a competitiveness between the two schools.”</p>
<p>DMUSD board president Annette Easton said the district will immediately begin the process of finding a new principal for Del Mar Hills. Options include a full-time appointment, an interim replacement, or a decision to wait until the district hires its new superintendent, who the board hopes to name by September. </p>
<p>Janet Bernard said she has worked out a cooperative agreement with San Dieguito that frees Francis for a few days to work with her replacement at the Hills.</p>
<p>Francis’s annual salary at San Dieguito will be $127,000. She was earning $117,000 in Del Mar. </p>
<p>In a reorganization of responsibilities, Noah said all middle school principals, including Francis, will be reporting to David Jaffe, the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, who retains his other testing and assessment duties. </p>
<p>Jaffe continues to report to Rick Schmitt, SDUHSD’s associate superintendent of instruction, who will now have direct supervision of high school principals.</p>
<p>“We’re aligning the supervisory responsibilities of principals with education services,” explained Noah.</p>
<p>The SDUHSD also announced this week that Rob Coppo, a former teacher at Orange Glen High School in the Escondido Union High School District, has been appointed an assistant principal at Torrey Pines High School. And Jeff Copeland, from Rancho Buena Vista High School in the Vista Unified School District, will serve as assistant principal at Carmel Valley Middle School. </p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-54803018223115946012008-07-03T10:31:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.863-07:00Politics 1, Children 0: The Demise of Foreign Language Instruction in Del Mar Schools<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/CMV%20Pages/CMVsutton.html">Carmel Valley News, July 3, 2008</a></p>
<p>In the heated debate over the failed Spanish language program at Del Mar Heights School, an acrimonious political climate and a battle waged by adults killed a modest program to provide limited Spanish language instruction to a handful of kindergarten and first-grade kids.</p>
<p>Years of hard work by staff and parents at Del Mar Heights School have been wasted, victimized by three misperceptions: </p>
<ul>
<li>that one school, Del Mar Heights, was receiving preferential treatment over the district’s other schools because three board members have ties to the school (four, if you count Janet Lamborghini, who lives in the Heights area and occasionally serves there in an academic capacity)</li>
<li>that the Spanish program would spell the demise of nearby Del Mar Hills Academy</li>
<li>that the program would cost the district extra money</li>
</ul>
<p>Throughout the district, a virulent, inexplicable anti-Heights sentiment is apparent. One classified employee wrote in a recent survey that the greatest challenge facing the next superintendent is: “the board of trustees who only care about the success of Del Mar Heights School.”</p>
<p>Yes, three board members have children attending Del Mar Heights School – none of whom, by the way, would have directly benefited from approval of the kindergarten portion of the Spanish program. </p>
<p>So does this fact mean that the Heights must always be looked upon less approvingly by this board in order to eliminate public perception of favoritism? </p>
<p>What happened to the quaint idea that this is all one district, united in its mission to offer superior educational opportunities to all its students in a variety of settings?</p>
<p>What motivation does staff at the Heights now have to pursue innovative ideas in education when the result is that they are disrespected and disenfranchised because of the coincidence that three board members’ kids attend the Heights?</p>
<p>This distortion of reality makes villains of innocent board members who simply wanted foreign language brought to children – somehow, some way. And the one school that happened to design a creative, viable program endorsed by both teachers and parents had the misfortune of being Del Mar Heights, where test scores consistently show that students thrive and achieve at the highest levels.</p>
<p>As one crestfallen staff member said to me, “I look forward to the day when innovation and creativity in this district are rewarded rather than condemned.” </p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Score: Conformity 1, Innovation 0.</p>
<p>Because of the shared attendance boundary west of Interstate 5, approved by a prior school board under former Del Mar Union School District superintendent Tom Bishop, the Hills and the Heights compete for students. And the competition has grown fierce, after years of threats from Bishop that one school may close if they both don’t work to increase enrollment. </p>
<p>It’s true that there were to be four kindergarten classes at the Heights and only two at the Hills this fall. But one of those classes at the Heights was composed entirely of students from east of I-5 who reside outside the Hills/Heights attendance area, a feature designed specifically to offset the anticipated uproar from Del Mar Hills where parents and staff live in a constant state of anxiety over possible school closure due to low enrollment.</p>
<p>So killing the program at the Heights does not give the Hills a third kindergarten class. It simply eliminates that fourth Carmel Valley kindergarten class from the Heights. </p>
<p>And repeated reassurances from the current school board that it has no intention of shuttering the school have done little to dispel Bishop’s lingering ultimatums.</p>
<p>Now that the Spanish program has been cancelled, we can all rejoice that we have saved a building, one that was never in jeopardy to begin with. Never mind that we have lost something far more priceless: an educational opportunity at foreign language instruction for the district’s children that will likely never see the light of day again.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Score: Facilities 1, Foreign Language 0.</p>
<p>Finally, there’s the misinformed idea that the cash-strapped district would be spending extra money on teachers this fall to implement the Heights’ Spanish program, when the district had already budgeted three extra teachers, with or without the Spanish program. </p>
<p>And all miscellaneous instructional materials for the program were to be paid by Del Mar Heights School through grants and private donations.</p>
<p>Although these financial details were repeatedly presented, some parents and teachers continued to insist that the Heights’ Spanish program was fiscally irresponsible, a twisted view that generated suspicion and mistrust for an embattled school board trying its best to disseminate the facts to counter the fiction.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say whether this was a deliberate move to create dissension or a genuine unfamiliarity with the facts. But what’s clear is that this sort of false information became, for a noisy few, attractive ammunition used to punish a school board for past actions that some have found objectionable. </p>
<p>As predicted, two weeks after the Spanish program was denied, an item on the June 25 school board meeting agenda projected “an increase of three classroom teaching positions” for next year. </p>
<p>Despite this, there are those who would lay waste to a once vibrant district by exploiting controversy and continuing to spread false rumors. They are determined, exasperatingly, to breed doubt and acrimony – contributing to what may become a self-fulfilling prophesy that the school district is in turmoil, when the truth is that children are excelling. </p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Score: Rumors 1, Truth 0.
<p><strong>Morale in ruins</strong></p>
<p>So what are we left with? A district whose morale lies in ruins, undone by distortions and misperceptions – and a well-planned, thoroughly-researched, staff- and parent-supported, fully-enrolled foreign language program that became a casualty of bitter adult battles.</p>
<p>Even though no concern was severe enough to justify cancellation, there were valid reasons to question the program.</p>
<p>The Hills’ worries about the repercussions of low enrollment were real. Bishop’s regular warnings that he might close the school sowed the seeds of suspicion and continue to alarm the Hills community, even though Bishop is gone.</p>
<p>Also, the timing of this Spanish program couldn’t have been worse, coming as it did at the same time demographics studies show that, for the foreseeable future, the district can expect a maximum of five kindergarten classes for the combined Hills/Heights attendance area – leaving one school, inevitably, with only two classes.</p>
<p>Although the Spanish program really had no impact on the Hills’ enrollment numbers, it “doesn’t feel good,” as Hills principal Laurie Francis recently said, that one school is losing enrollment while the other is building enrollment (never mind that one class would have been composed only of students from east of the freeway).</p>
<p>Throughout this ordeal, Francis showed solid leadership, an understanding of the value of the Spanish program and the hard work that went into designing it, and a willingness to compromise. </p>
<p>She also inspired confidence that she has the ability to calm her community had the motion passed to implement the program. She had real concerns, but she was willing to devote time and attention to making the program work. And her sincerity came through.</p>
<p>After all the other options had been rejected, Francis supported approval of the kindergarten portion of the program as a last resort. It was designed to be a pilot program, after all, and it should have been approved with an absolute stipulation that the enrollment problem be resolved by next spring.</p>
<p>All that was needed was some assurance that Francis would be patient and could quiet her school’s community, which she gave.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the possibility raised at the June 11 school board meeting that the Hills and Heights be reconfigured into two schools, one serving grades K-3 and the other grades 4-6, offered real hope for a workable solution.</p>
<p>A K-3/4-6 grade configuration is an innovative idea whose time has finally come, resolving as it does the unhealthy competitive spirit that thrived under Bishop and has undermined mutual respect between the two communities. Besides ensuring the viability of both schools, it also allows the introduction of foreign language at the Heights without losing the infused arts/sciences curriculum that makes the Hills program so attractive.</p>
<p>A thrust to make this happen in the next 12 months would serve to mitigate so many issues that have bedeviled the west of I-5 communities. And if the district is serious about increasing enrollment for this attendance area, an even better grade configuration would be two schools serving the K-4 and 5-8 grades. Imagine the demand to attend DMUSD schools through eighth grade, as kids do in Rancho Santa Fe.</p>
<p>The rejection of one option that would have created a blended K/1 class at the Heights and redirected some enrollment to the Hills was a secretive, last-minute attempt at resolution. Unfortunately, Heights teachers were not on board, and no one felt it appropriate to force teachers to cooperate against their will. </p>
<p><strong>Nail in the coffin</strong></p>
<p>The nail in the Spanish language coffin was hammered in, unexpectedly, by Heights principal Wendy Wardlow who disappointingly recommended to delay implementation, over protestations from her own staff who wanted to proceed with the kindergarten portion. Although her position to retreat from a program she worked so very hard to develop is understandable (it’s hard to comprehend, or overstate, the kind of abuse she has taken over this issue), it was still dispiriting to hear.</p>
<p>All that work and all that effort, years of it, to get teacher buy-in; all that research, those many hours of study; all those talks at PTA meetings, site council meetings, forums and casual get-togethers – down the drain. </p>
<p>In the end, it was easier for Wardlow and board president Annette Easton to reject the program than withstand the fury from Hills parents and staff, as well as communities east of I-5 whose worries over cost considerations were completely unfounded. </p>
<p>Mild by comparison was the tepid reaction from disappointed yet restrained foreign language supporters.</p>
<p>Board member Katherine White, no stranger to public attack, urged her fellow trustees to stand firm for the program, no matter the expected backlash. “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions,” she said.</p>
<p>Although Easton deserves enormous respect for her leadership, sound judgment, ethics, sense of fairness, and above all her infinite patience for parents, staff and members of the community, her vote to delay the Spanish program was discouraging.</p>
<p>But because we disagree, this does not make her evil and is no reason to vilify her, as some have done. Making comments that demean and insult, as Easton has received, are counter-productive to healing the rifts before us, and there’s no one less deserving of these attacks than someone as principled as Annette Easton.</p>
<p>Is this community really so unforgiving, so uncompromising and so over-reactionary that the kind of vitriolic negativity we’ve seen can be justified? </p>
<p>We have to be careful about hyperbole. “Horrified,” “outraged,” “appalled” and “disgusted” are words that have been leveled at those in support of the Spanish program. But these characterizations, normally reserved for catastrophes like famine and genocide, hardly seem appropriate for the consideration of a Spanish language program for 40 kids in a high-achieving school district.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the slate of three trustees did not vote as one, and the Heights board members were evenly divided. Will this split discharge the view that there is some sort of conspiracy among board members? Will the board get brownie points for this? Sadly, no. </p>
<p>No good deed goes unpunished. That elusive utopia where people come together in a big group hug because Easton recommended to delay the program and call for harmony is a pipe dream. Not that she’s so naïve to believe it’s that easy to change people’s minds when they have so much invested in clinging to shaky positions.</p>
<p>So, in the end, special interests triumph. The district retreats from an exceptional opportunity to offer Spanish to young children, adult inflexibility trumps educational advancement, and students lose out.</p>
<p style="font-style:italic;">Final score: Politics 1, Children 0.</p>
<p>And so it goes in Del Mar.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-55135712844726950482008-06-19T23:13:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.864-07:00DM Heights Spanish Program voted down<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>After running out of time at their May 28 school board meeting, trustees for the Del Mar Union School District resumed their meeting on June 11 and began where they left off – with a discussion of the new Spanish language program proposed by Del Mar Heights School for this fall.</p>
<p>All public comment was heard on May 28, so the June 11 board meeting started with board discussion of the item. Debate among board members lasted nearly two hours and concluded with an anguished 3-2 vote to delay the program.</p>
<p>“This has been a very controversial issue,” said interim superintendent Janet Bernard.</p>
<p>The issue has fractured the Del Mar community since the program’s approval by the school board back in January. </p>
<p>Both Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Hills Academy, the two DMUSD schools located west of Interstate 5, share a common boundary and compete for kindergarten through sixth-grade students. </p>
<p>Demographic studies indicate that the Hills/Heights attendance area will generate about 100 kindergartners each year for at least the next eight years – which makes five classes of 20 students each, for the two schools.</p>
<p>The Spanish program proposed by the Heights would have provided one hour of Spanish instruction twice a week to two kindergarten classes and 45 minutes of Spanish four days a week to two first-grade classes. Called Spanish Discovery, the program also required two K and two first-grade classes without the Spanish component – making four classes per grade level. Of the two Spanish kindergarten classes, one was to be composed of students from west of I-5 and one with students living east of I-5.</p>
<p>It was the kindergarten portion of Spanish Discovery that upset many Hills parents, because kindergarten enrollment to date for this fall gives the Heights four kindergarten classes but leaves the Hills with only two. Worries about possible school closure should enrollment dip too low has panicked many parents and staff from the Hills and caused them to become alarmed at the imbalance – even though one of the Heights’ four kindergarten classes was to be made up entirely of students from east of I-5.</p>
<p>What began as quiet unrest soon spiraled into a major controversy, one that spilled over into DMUSD schools east of the freeway where some Carmel Valley parents began to take notice and express concern about the program’s costs.</p>
<p>But cost concerns took a back seat to enrollment numbers when the district provided information showing that the same number of additional teachers had been budgeted for this coming year, with or without the Spanish program, and that costs for Spanish instructional materials were to be absorbed entirely by the Heights community through grants and private donations.</p>
<p>Bernard began the meeting by informing the board that five options had been developed in the two weeks since the prior meeting on May 28. Whether it was legal for the board to review fresh options without allowing input from the public on the new alternatives was not discussed. </p>
<p>Heights principal Wendy Wardlow explained the first four options, and then Hills principal Laurie Francis was asked to discuss the fifth option. The five options were: </p>
<ul>
<li>Option A: Continue with the Spanish Discovery program for kindergarten and first grade, as approved by the board on Jan. 23.</li>
<li>Option B: Offer 3.5 kindergarten classes and 3.5 first-grade classes, with two Spanish Discovery classes in each grade. This option creates a combination kindergarten/first-grade class and redirects some enrollment from the Heights to the Hills. </li>
<li>Option C: Implement only the kindergarten portion of Spanish Discovery as originally approved, and drop the first-grade portion.</li>
<li>Option D: Delay the entire program.</li>
<li>Option E: Limit the Heights to three kindergarten classes, all three Spanish Discovery.</li>
</ul>
<p>Although Option D, to delay the program, was eventually chosen by a divided board, a great deal of debate preceded the vote.</p>
<p>Option B emerged as an alternative after a lengthy meeting attended by Bernard, board president Annette Easton, Wardlow and Francis. After laboriously hammering out the details, all four initially felt it was a viable option. But eventually it was dismissed.</p>
<p>“There was a feeling that this model did not meet the original intent of Option A,” Bernard explained.</p>
<p>“Our teachers carefully analyzed the proposal,” said Wardlow, indicating that her staff ultimately felt it was not a workable solution. Besides concerns that it might be too complicated and costly to administer, some teachers felt uneasy approving a plan without having enough time to thoroughly understand its impact.</p>
<p>Wardlow said she and her staff have engaged in “deep thinking and soul-searching” about the Spanish program, and she acknowledged that there are valid reasons for concern.</p>
<p>“If Spanish is causing to tear this district apart, my recommendation is to delay implementation,” she said.</p>
<p>An important consideration when the program was designed, said Wardlow, was that it not negatively impact the Hills, which she said she has the “utmost respect” for. </p>
<p>When asked by board member Janet Lamborghini to rank the five options, Wardlow struggled for a moment, saying, “I love this district.” She then said her first choice would be to delay implementation (Option D), followed by starting the program with just kindergarten only (Option C). Regarding Option E, she said, “I don’t know how we could pull it together.”</p>
<p>Wardlow said healing the rift between the two schools was paramount and would move forward only when everyone could get behind the program. “We want to do something that is going to be the pride of the district,” she said. “And we want to do it by being good team players.”</p>
<p>Despite her enrollment concerns, Francis said her last choice would be to delay the program. “We really want the Spanish Discovery program to be launched there,” she told the board. “My school does not want to be responsible for another school not launching this program. I can’t believe that this is insurmountable.”</p>
<p>Both Wardlow and Francis were conciliatory and solicitous of one another and pleaded for their communities to come together. Both were hopeful the program could be salvaged, even huddling together in the back of the room with a few teachers during the discussions to see if a last-minute deal could be worked out.</p>
<p>Bernard said the board could not foresee the negative impact on the Hills when trustees approved the program back in January. She reluctantly supported delaying implementation, saying all options had been exhausted. </p>
<p>“This is a very difficult recommendation for me because I’m such a proponent,” she said. “It’s distressed everyone. I don’t see how we can move forward.” </p>
<p>A program is needed that can bring the Hills and Heights communities back together, Bernard said.</p>
<p><strong>A K-3 and 4-6 Grade Configuration</strong></p>
<p>Bernard suggested that the tension between the two schools pointed to a larger issue. “Do we need to have two schools in competition with one another?” she asked. She raised the possibility of configuring one school for grades K-3 and the other for grades 4-6, an idea that has been proposed periodically in the past. </p>
<p>“I think the time has come for that to happen,” she said.</p>
<p>Lamborghini embraced the suggestion, saying that with a K-3/4-6 grade configuration, “this problem would go away.” She favored a task force to explore the idea – “especially if this solves the problem of how to get language into our schools.”</p>
<p>Other board members also responded positively to the idea.</p>
<p>About the present dilemma, Easton said to Bernard, “I share your dismay, because there is a lot of community support [for the Spanish program]. It’s unfortunate that we’ve created a wide chasm.”</p>
<p>Easton recommended delaying the program, saying she hesitated to impose any of the alternative options brought forth in the past two weeks without thorough engagement and support from staff at the sites.</p>
<p>Of foreign language instruction, board member Steven McDowell said, “It’s a building block that needs to be in place. I’m disappointed with the way this is heading.” </p>
<p>“I’m comfortable with delaying the first grade because the numbers aren’t there,” said board member Katherine White, referring to the enrollment of only 70 rather than the required 80 students for first-grade Spanish Discovery this fall at the Heights. “But we have the numbers for kindergarten.” </p>
<p>White agreed with McDowell and objected to delaying a program “that met the criteria we set up in January.”</p>
<p>“I share Steven’s concerns,” she said. “Delaying means we’re further behind. It’s a one-year commitment. We’ll come back after a year. To throw all that away at this point in time is very disappointing to me.”</p>
<p>“When the program was approved in January, we didn’t have the demographics,” Easton said. “We thought we’d have three [classes] at the Hills and four at the Heights.”</p>
<p>New board member Doug Perkins said he thought Option B was the best compromise. Since that was rejected, he supported delaying the program.</p>
<p>White said she sympathized with the Hills’ enrollment concerns but didn’t understand how cancelling the Spanish program gives the Hills its third kindergarten class, since there would be three classes at the Heights and still only two at the Hills.</p>
<p>“There’s so much attached to two [kindergarten classes] symbolically,” Francis said. “While one school’s building enrollment and one school’s losing enrollment, it doesn’t feel good.” But she said she “could live with it for a year if we could go back to the drawing board” during that time and try to find a solution.</p>
<p>The meeting was sparsely attended compared to the previous meeting two weeks ago when the room was packed with several hundred individuals, many of whom asked to speak on the issue. This time, the board addressed a crowd of perhaps a few dozen, several of whom were teachers from Del Mar Heights. </p>
<p>When White asked the Heights teachers if they agreed with their principal and supported delaying the program, first-grade teacher Susie Lampe, referring to the kindergarten-only option, said, “We’re all in favor of Option C. As a staff, we support Option C.”</p>
<p>But Easton was not persuaded to move forward. “Looking at this from a district-wide perspective, I don’t think we would be able to have conversations [that] would allow the communities to heal,” she said. “The best opportunity for healing is to delay it.”</p>
<p>“This is literally tearing us apart,” Wardlow said. “We were so excited, passionate. But we felt directly attacked. I’d love to see us go with Option C, [but] I’m afraid it would be misperceived. I could cry right now.”</p>
<p>Arguing in favor of Option C, White called a delay “a lost opportunity” to provide Del Mar’s children with Spanish instruction. “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions,” she said. “We aren’t going to make everybody happy.”</p>
<p>Breaking the vote into two parts, White motioned to delay the first-grade implementation of Spanish Discovery, which passed 5-0.</p>
<p>Easton then made a motion to delay the kindergarten portion of Spanish Discovery, which passed 3-2, with McDowell and White opposed.</p>
<p>“I’m really firm on the word ‘delay’ and not ‘cancel’,” Easton said.</p>
<p>After the vote was taken, Wardlow said she was sad but that it was the correct decision.</p>
<p>Francis disagreed. “I think they should have moved forward,” she said. “I don’t think this solves the problem.”</p>
<p>“There were five options,” commented Kerry Traylor, incoming Hills PTA president. “The board chose the path of least resistance. I think we could have worked this out for both parties. It was possible. The kids have lost.”</p>
<p>When asked if the board traded one unhappy community for another, Easton said, “I don’t think this was a decision to heal the community. But it gives us the best opportunity to heal. There were no winners.”</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-63037873012653991072008-06-19T00:16:00.000-07:002008-06-23T13:08:05.150-07:00Thank you celebration for former DMUSD Superintendent Tom Bishop brings cheers and tearsThank you celebration for former DMUSD Superintendent Tom Bishop brings cheers and tears
<p>A standing-room only crowd filled the Derby Room at the Del Mar Hilton recently for a thank you celebration for former Del Mar Union School District Superintendent Tom Bishop. Well-wishers greeted the Bishop family to celebrate his decade of service to the students and families of the fast-growing district. During Bishop's tenure, the district achieved highest in San Diego County student achievement scores and top 5 percent in the state scores at a time when he oversaw the opening of five new schools and the modernization of two older schools. Presenters during the formal program cheered that legacy, with many speakers from the community praising his accomplishments, while others thanked him for being the "guiding compass" of the district. the celebration included light-hearted elements, fun and tears.</p>
<p>Former school board member Jeanne Waite, who was president fo the board that hired Bishop commented, "At the time of Tom's hire, the district had three schools, Del Mar Heights, Del Mar Hills and Carmel Del Mar, then six years old. There was a student enrollment of approximately 1.300 students, 64 teachers, a district office staff of four full-time people, and our cutting-edge technology consisted of one fax machine in the district. The districe was poised on the brink of tremendous growth and the board recognized that a visionary leader, who would guide the district into the 21st century, was greatly needed. The school board knew that we had found the leader we were looking for in Tom Bishop, who demonstrated his leadership, intelligence and vision right from the start. We had high expectations, and we wanted to see results through the implementation of a district strategic plan."</p>
<p>Former board member Linda Crawford commented, "Tom proved that he was up to the task. He quickly established himself as a 'hands-on', 'in-the-trenches', superintendent, one who sought the counsel and input of staff members and parents alike, one who would bring staff, parents and community members together as stakeholders in the district's future."</p>
<p>Former board member Barbara Myers added her thanks for, "his extraordinary political leadership during the budget crisis of 2003, and continued leadership through his efforts with the state-wide Schools for Sound Finance, CA School Boards Assn, Superintendents Advisory Council, and High Achieving School Districts Summit at the special invitation of the CA Secretary of Education. Tom has also served the greater educational ommunity as president and executive board member of the state-wide Small School Districts Association, based in Sacramento, and he also served on county superintendent Rudy Castruita's Achievement Gap Task Force, in addition to serving as chairman of its Grant Committee. Recognizing Tom's child-centered focus and educational leadership for all children, the board nominated him for state-wide 'Superintendent of the Year' in 2001."
<p>Myers added in her closing remarks of the celebration program, "Tom, we recognize and appreciate you outstanding career in a field that benefits so many. Your tenure has been marked by exemplary achievement and long-lasting benefit for students and families in the Del Mar school district." Bishop served as superintendent of the Del Mar Union School District from 1998 to February 2008.
<p><em>-- Submitted by event organizers</em></p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-44251067413512645762008-06-06T14:16:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.865-07:00Speakers shower Del Mar School board with opposing views on Spanish Program<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>A full house packed the room at the May 28 Del Mar Union School District board meeting, the majority of the audience coming to hear the board discuss the Spanish language program slated for Del Mar Heights School this fall.</p>
<p>They also came to speak – 45 of them, to be exact.</p>
<p>But by the time the board reached the Spanish program agenda item, the time was 9:50 p.m., and 13 speakers had left.</p>
<p>Of the remaining 32, some speakers were from Carmel Valley, but most were parents and staff members from the Heights and neighboring school, Del Mar Hills Academy. Both schools share a common attendance area and compete for students.</p>
<p>The bulk of the controversy over the Heights Spanish program, which was approved in January by the school board, centers around its need for four kindergarten and four first-grade classes – with two classes at each grade level participating in the more comprehensive Spanish Discovery program (see related story, page one).</p>
<p>Those opposed to the program had concerns about its effect on enrollment at the Hills, the cost, and the wisdom of adding what they essentially view as another enrichment program, foreign language, when the district’s established enrichment program faces an uncertain future.</p>
<p>Arguments in favor of the program included the educational value of second language instruction, the years of work leading up to the development of the program, the virtually unanimous support among Heights parents and teachers for the program, and the sensitivity supporters say was paid to cost and enrollment issues.</p>
<p>The tension leading up to the board meeting had escalated in days prior, reaching a fevered pitch by the time trustees took their seats on the stage. With Heights supporters fighting to “Save Our Spanish” and Hills supporters wanting to “Save Our School,” both sides were seeing red and impasse seemed inevitable.</p>
<p>Prefacing the discussion with an impassioned speech for tolerance and understanding was board president Annette Easton, who implored the audience to “please put aside your agenda and please try to hear the other side.” For nearly 10 minutes, she spoke to a filled auditorium that was quiet as a church, constituents listening to every word. </p>
<p>She asked individuals to control their emotions and reach across the aisle to see how others might view the situation. She promised to do likewise, and suggested that her support for the Heights program did not mean she disagreed with the Hills’ position. If a byproduct of the program meant a yearly pattern of declining Hills enrollment, she indicated that would be unacceptable.</p>
<p>Easton acknowledged the validity of both sides of the debate, and eloquently asked others to do the same.</p>
<p>Hoping to calm the crowd, Easton said trustees had received over 130 emails and other communication on the issue and had read every one. “We have been trying to listen to all sides,” she said.</p>
<p>She said an intelligent community like Del Mar’s expects planning perfection. “We are data junkies,” she said. “We analyze everything. We want well-thought-out plans. But sometimes we get into an analysis paralysis that makes it impossible to move forward.”</p>
<p>Easton said the model for education is not the same as the business world and urged people to learn the facts, keep an open mind, and understand that the Spanish program is a trial program that is likely to be modified after implementation.</p>
<p>Hoping to soften any comments that might fan the flames, she asked the audience to consider all sides before speaking and, in the interest of time, to limit the length of speeches.</p>
<p>Before public comment, trustee Janet Lamborghini asked that fellow board member Katherine White, who has a son in kindergarten at Del Mar Heights, be exempt from discussion of the Spanish program. Because White’s son will enter first grade in the fall and could potentially benefit from the Spanish program, Lamborghini alluded to a potential conflict of interest.</p>
<p>Interim superintendent Janet Bernard said she had discussed the matter with attorneys and learned that there is no legal reason why White should not participate in the discussion or a vote. But she did note that there may be “a perceived appearance of impropriety.”</p>
<p>Concerned about setting a precedent that would prohibit board members from participating in a wide range of issues, Easton said that any trustee with children in the district could personally gain from voting on a number of matters. She cited as an example the explosive Ashley Falls/Sage Canyon school boundary issue that fiercely divided the Carmel Valley community a number of years ago, noting that certain board members participated in that vote even though they, and their children, directly benefited.</p>
<p>Ultimately the decision was left to White, who said that few people serve on school boards who do not have children in their school district. She noted that many school board members’ children reap the benefits of decisions their parents make while serving, calling it a fine line determining which votes are acceptable for individuals to participate in and which are not.</p>
<p>After thanking Lamborghini, with the slightest hint of sarcasm, “for looking out for my best interests,” White asked that the board allow the item to be separated into two parts: one for the kindergarten portion of the program and one for the first-grade portion. </p>
<p>Since her son will be promoted from kindergarten to first grade this fall, White said she will fully engage in the kindergarten discussion and any vote on the matter. But she agreed to refrain from participating in the first-grade Spanish program discussion because of the appearance of a conflict of interest. </p>
<p>“It’s sad that I feel political pressure to recuse myself, but I do,” she said. </p>
<p>Public Comment</p>
<p>After some debate about how much time to allow the speakers, given the late hour, the board settled on two minutes each, and public comment began.</p>
<p>Of the 32 speakers, 23 spoke in favor of the Heights Spanish program, citing a variety of reasons for their support.</p>
<p>Praise for Del Mar Heights principal Wendy Wardlow was offered by a number of speakers, one of whom was Elizabeth Folkerth, a Carmel Valley resident, who attended Del Mar Heights 35 years ago as a student. “Wendy’s love of education is infectious,” said Folkerth, whose son has applied for the kindergarten Spanish Discovery class reserved for students living east of I-5. She said Wardlow “is creating programs today that will help our children tomorrow.” Others called Wardlow a visionary.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/28Bethpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Elizabeth Silverman, a Heights parents whose son was not picked to participate in the Spanish Discovery program, said she was proud of the work done with foreign language at the Heights and condemned the dissension. “People are only interested in what they can get for themselves,” she said. “This is about foreign language in our school district.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/01ElizabethSilvermanpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Heights parent Kathy Nahum suggested that other schools “learn from this implementation” and replicate it at their sites.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/08KathyNampro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>“Every district has to start somewhere,” said Cheryl Ward, a Carmel Valley resident whose daughter has applied for the kindergarten Spanish class this fall. “I ask that we all unite and move forward with this program.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/31CherylWardpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Camilla Rang, a Heights parent originally from Europe, said the U.S. is the only country that doesn’t offer a second language in the early grades. “You can all learn from our mistakes because surely we will make them,” she added, addressing parents from other Del Mar schools.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/10CamillaRangpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Parent Bruce Smith drew gasps when he said his impression after touring both the Heights and the Hills was that the Heights’ presentation was “100 percent superior.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/20BruceSmithpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Anthony Loeppert has a son in kindergarten at the Hills and plans to move him to the Heights this fall for first grade. “It’s good to have two options,” he said. He criticized the Hills community for making demands after the school board decision to proceed with the Spanish program had already been made.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/24AnthonyLippertpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
</p>
<p>Many speakers, including University of California San Diego medical school professor Tamar Gollan, cited research showing that second language instruction is valuable for young children, who have a particular ability to learn foreign languages faster and better in the early grades. “The benefits of bilingualism are underestimated,” she said.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/23TamarGolanpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Robbie Elliott, an English Language Learner instructor at Del Mar Heights, said she has personally observed how easily young people can learn a new language.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/14RobbieElliottpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>The value of teaching a second language to young children was emphasized by a number of speakers, even though this point was never disputed by those opposed to the Heights’ Spanish program. </p>
<p>Mary Taylor, outgoing PTA president from Torrey Hills School, said, “We get caught up in the wrong arguments.” She said the problem is not about the value of Spanish language instruction; everyone agrees it’s beneficial. “It’s about implementing programs the right way,” she said.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/06MaryTaylorcon.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>There were nine speakers opposed to the program, six from Del Mar Hills and three from schools east of I-5.</p>
<p>Greg Kostello, a Hills parent, said the board “created a situation where people are fighting with one another.” He asked the board to be more transparent and not “take away teachers from our school.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/02GregCostellocon.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Hills parent Beth Westburg disagreed with the cost estimates and objected to the program based on its negative effect on Hills enrollment. “Is it right to harm one school’s enrollment to make this program work?” she asked. The Heights, she said, should not have “a sense of entitlement.” In an earlier statement to the board, she referred to the Heights as the school “where most of the board members attend.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/15BethWinterpro.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Janet Pecsar, Hills PTA president, reiterated that the Hills community is not opposed to a Spanish program. But she said that Wardlow “has been unwilling to tweak her program” to allow the Hills to have three kindergarten classes. “She won’t do it until you make her,” she told the board.</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/17JanetPecsarcon.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>Hills parent Marybeth Norgren choked back tears as she told the board, “I want our school to be looked out for. You can’t guarantee it’s only going to affect us for one year. It’s not fair that some other school’s program is going to impact my school. It’s simply not fair.”</p>
<embed
src= "http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_gray.swf"
quality="high"
width="231" height="40"
allowScriptAccess="always"
wmode="transparent"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
flashvars= "valid_sample_rate=true&external_url=http://dmusdnews1.googlepages.com/30MarybethNorgorancon.mp3"
pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
</embed>
<p>The school board will resume discussion of the issue at its next board meeting scheduled for June 11.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-69125662635974258742008-06-06T14:15:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:16:24.271-07:00Easton: Setting the record straight on the Spanish Discovery Program<p>The Del Mar Union School District is fortunate to be located in such a passionate and proactive community. DMUSD parents are passionate about the education of their children and everyone in the community is rightfully concerned that those entrusted to make fair, fiscally-sound decisions, do so.</p>
<p>These community characteristics have certainly been evident in the discussion about the Spanish Discovery Program proposed for the Del Mar Heights School. I appreciate those in the community who are willing to get involved, to ask the necessary questions, and to contribute fair, rational suggestions that help resolve issues associated with any DMUSD matter. Thankfully, the DMUSD community has raised a number of legitimate concerns that must be answered in order for the Spanish Discovery Program to go forward and to be sustainable.</p>
<p>Over the past weeks, members of the board have talked to many community members and have read hundreds of letters, emails and petitions regarding the proposed Spanish program. I recognize and share many of questions and concerns that have been raised about the program. Unfortunately, some of the information and concerns presented in this mound of material is unfounded and/or inaccurate. As the board resumes its discussion of this issue at the continuation of the board meeting on June 11, I expect the important questions to be asked again and I expect that our capable district staff will be able to provide honest, fair, and fiscally-sound answers to the questions. </p>
<p>There are two facts related to the proposed program that I hope will clear up some of the confusion and misinformation that is circulating regarding the program: 1) cancelling the Spanish Discovery Program will not reduce the ESC staffing at the Heights; 2) cancelling the Spanish Discovery Program will not create a third class section at Del Mar Hills. The enrollment from the Hills/Heights attendance area is projected by Davis Demographics to remain fairly consistent (at about 100 students) for the next seven years. This equates to five classes of kindergarten for the Hills/Heights attendance area. Based on demand from their respective neighborhoods, the Heights has been allocated three kindergarten classes and the Hills has been allocated two kindergarten classes. The additional fourth class at the Heights is a result of Carmel Valley children opting to enroll in the Spanish Discovery Program. </p>
<p>Some have raised concerns that all of the details of the Spanish Discovery Program have not been fully developed. While I certainly agree that we need well-thought out programs, it is important to realize that the education model is somewhat different than a business model. </p>
<p>In business, it is expected that data will be analyzed inside and out, backwards and forwards to develop plans that address every possible contingency. In education, programs are planned with equal care and concern but the process differs upon implementation. Take, for example, our writing program (which is offered only as an example and not a point of discussion). During the year, students have regular minor writing assessments, coupled with periodic major writing assessments. The teachers meet to review the results of these assessments, even with a curriculum that is ‘tried-and-true.” Sometimes, teachers learn that what worked well with one group of students didn’t work well with another group. Sometimes what worked last year didn’t work this year. Based on what is working, and what isn’t working, instruction changes. This is the heart of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) model that the entire DMUSD has embraced. Teachers collaborate to develop a fluid program that ultimately helps all students learn.</p>
<p>I believe the premise of the Professional Learning Community is fundamental to the success of the Spanish Discovery Program. Over many years, Heights teachers and staff have researched and planned what they feel to be the optimum curriculum model for the Spanish Discovery Program and they have determined the best way to introduce the program next year. The creators of this program admit that some of questions cannot be answered at this time but they have the experience and wisdom of the Professional Learning Community to make sure the program is assessed and adjusted to be successful. Certainly there will be adjustments made to the Spanish program, but in my opinion taking an additional year to study/develop the program isn’t what is needed. Sometimes all the answers are not known in advance and we have to trust that our highly qualified staff will do the best to make our programs work.</p>
<p>However, with that said, there are important questions that still need to be answered about the Spanish Discovery Program. Some of these questions are related to the fiscal impact of the program. Most district programs, including the proposed Spanish program, are explicitly linked to enrollment data. Experience has shown that enrollment numbers across the entire district will continue to change over the summer. While district staff can estimate the cost, until actual enrollment is known when the school year begins, the exact cost of a program, such as the Spanish program, will remain an estimate. </p>
<p>Another important question relates to the issue of whether the Spanish Discovery Program needs four classes at grade K. As proposed, this program requires four classes at grade K (two with Spanish and two without.) However, since the Hills/Heights attendance area only generates enough enrollment for five class sections, will the Hills be forever the school designated to have only two incoming kindergarten classes? This is a very legitimate concern. </p>
<p>As a board member, I want to ensure that we do not make decisions that have unintended consequence of this type and that we are utilizing district resources optimally. Discussions with district staff have revealed that there are at least two parts to the answer of this question. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, something that seems to be forgotten in the discussion of the Spanish Discovery Program is that the Heights views 2008-2009 as a pilot year for this program. Principal Wardlow has indicated that during this first year, teachers and staff will be assessing the various components of the program. A different instructional model may be created as a result. For the pilot year, four classes are proposed. Beyond the first year, other options will be considered. Some have suggested, for example, that it might be even better to give all students the option for Spanish Discovery. This would eliminate the need for any specific number of classes. </p>
<p>If the Spanish Discovery Program moves forward, the board must provide explicit expectations for the program’s sustainability. As example, when the Heights returns next Spring for an update and decision about moving forward, I would expect that additional delivery models are brought forward that would not have a long term negative impact on the Hills.</p>
<p>The second part of the issue of whether the Spanish Discovery Program needs four classes at grade K involves the Hills and the district office. In my view it is in the best interest of the district to continue to have both the Hills and Heights be viable schools. </p>
<p>The Hills has a wonderful program. Over time, our other schools have adopted components of the Hills program. However, the way that the Hills integrates and delivers their curriculum is truly unique. If the Hills wanted support from the district office to help their existing, wonderful program grow, I would be committed to ensuring district office support. One potential example of this support could be to create a special “district-wide” class, for the existing program, to ease applications and provide a guarantee of continued enrollment. I am sure that the Hills community has many great ideas as well that can be explored over the next few months.</p>
<p>As the DMUSD moves forward, providing opportunities for continued growth are important. However, the district does face many fiscal challenges in trying to find stable funding to continue to deliver the exceptional programs we already offer. I encourage all of you to be part of the solution. </p>
<p>Annette Easton<br />President, DMUSD Board of Trustees</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-91214963504009682032008-06-06T14:12:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.866-07:00Dissension over Spanish Program packs Del Mar Schools meeting<p>By Marsha Sutton</p>
<p>What was intended to be a rather minimal way to introduce Spanish to a handful of students has evolved into a maximum headache for the Del Mar Union School District.</p>
<p>The two-pronged Spanish language program, submitted by Del Mar Heights School and approved unanimously by the DMUSD school board on Jan. 23, consists of a Spanish Exploration component that provides limited Spanish exposure for all classes at all grade levels. The second, more controversial, Spanish Discovery element was designed to offer more comprehensive Spanish instruction for the primary grades, beginning this fall with two classes in kindergarten and two classes in first grade. </p>
<p>For Spanish Discovery, the plan is to offer 40 kindergartners one hour of Spanish instruction twice a week, and 40 first-graders 45 minutes of Spanish four days a week.</p>
<p>However, unexpected snags in the program’s enrollment process have stalled plans and sparked conflict within the neighborhoods west of the I-5 freeway.</p>
<p>“As of late, there have been some tremendous challenges that have ripped our community apart,” said DMUSD interim superintendent Janet Bernard, at the district’s May 28 school board meeting.</p>
<p>At the kindergarten level, where most of the controversy exists, Heights principal Wendy Wardlow and her team envisioned four classes – only two of which would participate in the Spanish Discovery program. It was designed to be a district-wide program, with one class of 20 students from the attendance area west of the I-5 freeway and the other class of 20 from Carmel Valley. </p>
<p>Limiting the number of students from west of I-5 to only 20, or one class, was important, school leaders felt, to ensure that the program would not “steal” students away from Del Mar Hills Academy, which shares a common attendance boundary with Del Mar Heights. </p>
<p>After 47 kindergarten students from the Hills/Heights attendance area applied for the 20 seats in the west of I-5 Spanish class, a lottery was held May 16 to fill the slots. The remaining 27, plus another 10 who did not want the Spanish program, will be placed in the two non-Spanish kindergarten classes. </p>
<p>After some intense marketing, the east of I-5 kindergarten Spanish class has attracted the required 20 students. The deadline is June 20, and a lottery for that class will be held June 23 if more than 20 students from Carmel Valley apply. This makes four classes – two Spanish Discovery and two not. </p>
<p>With 77 students applying for 80 seats, the pilot program appeared to be going smoothly, until an unforeseen consequence developed: to date, the Hills has only 32 incoming kindergartners registered. This means two classes, when this year and in previous years the Hills has had three K classes.</p>
<p>Hills parents worry that having only two kindergarten classes will drastically reduce their school’s numbers over time, making it a target for possible closure. A reduction in enrollment also means fewer enrichment teachers, who are assigned to schools in numbers proportional to enrollment.</p>
<p>“The Spanish Discovery program will negatively impact the Hills for at least the next seven years,” said Andrea Sleet, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Del Mar Hills Academy, articulating the Hills’ main concern.</p>
<p>History</p>
<p>Interest in second language instruction began at Del Mar Heights back in 2001 when the school adopted the Global Village concept. A Spanish language task force was formed, and over the past seven years the idea was presented at numerous strategic planning sessions, discussed at the school’s PTA and site council meetings, and raised in both casual and formal conversations with parents, teachers and community members. </p>
<p>The school’s research over the years has included site visits of other schools in the county that offer foreign language instruction, as well as investigations into the extensive data available on the benefits of exposure to second languages at an early age.</p>
<p>According to Wardlow, the concept was tweaked, modified and tailored in myriad ways to accommodate varying points of view. “It took a year to come up with this model that was acceptable to the teachers,” said Wardlow, whose kindergarten teachers are “protective of the developmental needs of a kindergartner.”</p>
<p>“Most of us don’t realize how hard it is to ask any teacher to try something new,” said school board president Annette Easton, a teacher herself, at the board meeting.</p>
<p>Minimizing the impact on the district’s budget was another central issue in the design of the program. </p>
<p>“There’s the impression that this program will cost the district,” said Bernard, calling this a misconception.</p>
<p>Bernard emphasized that there is no additional cost for teachers as a result of the Spanish program. “We have projected three new teachers [in the district], with or without the Spanish program,” she said.</p>
<p>Instructional materials for the program are projected to cost around $25,000, which Bernard said was being funded entirely by the Heights through grants, private donations, school improvement money and the PTA. “It will impact the Heights itself, not the district’s general fund,” she said</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Heights would still be allocated the same number of enrichment teachers, even if the Spanish program were cancelled, Bernard said.</p>
<p>Although the board report states that the effect of the program on the budget is “unknown at this time,” it’s because “things can come up that you don’t anticipate,” Bernard said. Even so, she expected the impact on the general fund, if any at all, to be negligible.</p>
<p>Despite these reassurances, suspicion remains that there are undisclosed or unanticipated costs that could be significant and could impact programs at other schools.</p>
<p>Another major challenge of the program, according to Wardlow, was ensuring that enrollment in the Spanish program would not affect enrollment at the Heights’ sister school, Del Mar Hills.</p>
<p>Because the Hills and the Heights share a common attendance boundary, sensitivity to this issue was paramount. </p>
<p>In designing the Spanish program, Wardlow “seemed very earnest about balanced enrollment,” said Hills principal Laurie Francis, who emphasized that she and her community are “wholeheartedly behind this Spanish program.”</p>
<p>But rumors over the years of closing one of the two schools should enrollment dip too low has spooked both schools’ parents and staff, who are fiercely protective of their schools as a result.</p>
<p>“Both of our schools have dealt with the angst of possible closure,” Wardlow said. </p>
<p>A positive working relationship between the two schools has degenerated lately to reflect what some describe as a less than healthy competition for students – a conflict that was perhaps inevitable, given the way the boundaries are structured. </p>
<p>But the issue has never been as heated as it is today, with the Heights anticipating four kindergarten classes for the fall and the Hills only two. </p>
<p>Limited numbers of students</p>
<p>“It is important to note that Davis Demographics projected only 100 kindergarten students for 2008-2009 in the Hills/Heights attendance boundary,” reads the board report on the subject. “This constitutes a total of five K sections. Canceling the Spanish Discovery program most likely will not result in an increase of class sections at the Del Mar Hills Academy.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, Rodger Smith, DMUSD’s director of human resources and facilities planning, said recent demographic studies project similar numbers from the Hills/Heights attendance area for at least the next eight years. That means no more than five classes of 20 kindergartners each for the foreseeable future. So with or without the Spanish program, the problem remains. </p>
<p>Both the Hills and the Heights have been able to each have three, and sometimes four, kindergarten classes by attracting students from Carmel Valley, either by choice or because Carmel Valley’s neighborhood schools were overcrowded or not yet built.</p>
<p>But now that the district has eight schools, and neighborhoods are being well-served, the Hills and Heights will have a total of five classes unless efforts can be made to attract more students from the east. </p>
<p>“By and large, people like to be in their neighborhood,” Francis said, which makes it harder and harder to attract Carmel Valley students. “I’m a strong supporter of small schools, but it makes us very vulnerable. We’re dealing with unprecedented territory.”</p>
<p>“There are only so many students to divide between the two schools,” wrote Hills PTA president Janet Pecsar in an email to other Hills parents. “If Del Mar Heights is allowed to implement their Spanish Discovery program and require four sections each of kindergarten and first grade next year, Del Mar Hills will lose one kindergarten class and teacher.” She worries that “this pattern will continue year after year.”</p>
<p>Because the Spanish program gives the Heights four classes and leaves the Hills with two, the Hills would like to have the classes split three and three. </p>
<p>The problem with that, according to Bernard, is that it wasn’t part of the board-approved program back in January. “They would have to create a new model,” she said.</p>
<p>Secondly, Wardlow wants the ability to regroup the kids annually, and to do that she needs two classes each of Spanish and non-Spanish. One Spanish class of Hills/Heights kids can be mixed in subsequent years with the Carmel Valley Spanish class. But having only one non-Spanish class means those kids would stay together every year as they move through the grades.</p>
<p>“They would be tracked all the way through,” Bernard said. </p>
<p>Although she agreed with Wardlow’s position on regrouping, Bernard understood the anxiety at the Hills. “Any time you lose sections, there’s cause for concern,” she said. “There is the perception that this is the beginning of the end.”</p>
<p>Bernard hastened to reassure Hills parents and staff that there are no plans to close the Hills, which she described as a wonderful school.</p>
<p>Easton agreed, saying, “Our entire district appreciates the innovation of the Hills.”</p>
<p>In an impassioned speech before the agenda item was open for public comment, Easton said she “was not comfortable with the Hills being limited to two kindergarten classes forever” … but “cancelling the program is not necessarily going to bring another kindergarten class to the Hills.”</p>
<p>A new proposal</p>
<p>Still hoping to change what’s already been approved by the board, the Hills community has put forth a new proposal that asks the Heights to consider enrolling all kindergarten students in the Spanish Discovery program and limiting kindergarten to three sections. </p>
<p>“There’s more interest in Spanish than there is room,” Francis said. To meet the demand, she said the Heights could “make all three Spanish Discovery classes.”</p>
<p>According to Francis, this ensures the viability of the Hills by giving her school three kindergarten classes also. Since there were 47 kindergartners from the Hills/Heights attendance area who wanted Spanish Discovery, and 27 have been turned away, this proposal gives access to the Spanish program to another class of 20. And it provides Wardlow with the ability to regroup the students every year.</p>
<p>Although the idea is intriguing, Wardlow would like the program as originally proposed to move forward for one year to see how it goes. “I absolutely understand her position,” she said. “[But] we would really like to try the two models. Let’s see how it works. In a sense, we’re doing a research project.”</p>
<p>Asking for patience, Easton said 2008-2009 was a pilot year for the Spanish program. “It’s not a ‘forever’ program,” she said. “They will study different options as they go. Is it the best model? Probably not. But they will have a chance to try this out.”</p>
<p>Eight years ago, when the Hills became the Academy and adopted a new model for the integration of the arts and sciences into core curriculum, “there were a lot of unknowns,” Easton said. “But we gave it time.”</p>
<p>Bernard agreed, saying the Heights needs time to assemble a working team. “We have to wait ... We’ll have a better feel for it once you get your teachers in place.”</p>
<p>Wardlow said she never intended for her Spanish program to close down the Hills. “I never considered this a seven-year sentence,” she said. “I hadn’t looked at it that way before.” </p>
<p>But Wardlow insisted that “two kindergarten classes do not challenge the viability of the school. We need to establish trust, and we need to start having regular conversations.”</p>
<p>Bernard said the Heights plan was developed with “the best interests of the students in mind” and that Wardlow had tried to be thorough and thoughtful about the program.</p>
<p>“Foreign language is deeply, deeply important, and the Heights has been at the forefront of foreign language,” Bernard said at the school board meeting. “They’ve had many discussions over the years about implementing a foreign language program.”</p>
<p>Bernard encouraged other school communities to develop “innovative programs that would enhance the education of our students” and said she expected the school board would welcome such proposals.</p>
<p>Francis said it was important to understand that the Hills is not against a Spanish program – which she said she, her parents and staff fully support. She also was insistent that the problem not be portrayed as a fight between the two schools. </p>
<p>“We have to work together to make change,” Francis said. “I feel confident that it can be worked out.”</p>
<p>Because of the late hour, trustees adjourned the board meeting at 11 p.m. after hearing all public comment, and will reconvene on June 11 at 6:15 p.m. at Del Mar Hills Academy to resume discussion of the Spanish issue and the remaining items on the May 28 agenda.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5027464493103368059.post-9057096972278120802008-06-06T13:54:00.000-07:002011-09-02T09:50:49.867-07:00Unpredictable staffing needs create uncertainty for Del Mar schools<p>Source: <a target="_blank" href="http://sdranchcoastnews.com/CMV%20Pages/CMV_TP6.html">Carmel Valley News, June 5, 2008</a></p>
<p>By Marsha Sutton </p>
<p>Another standing-room-only crowd greeted trustees of the Del Mar Union School District at their May 28 meeting, as they tackled the volatile issues of staffing, enrichment classes and a new Spanish language program.</p>
<p>Staffing projections, presented by DMUSD director of human resources and facilities planning Rodger Smith, indicate a need for three new teaching positions for the 2008-2009 school year. However, kindergarten enrollment remains a moving target.</p>
<p>“Kindergarten is the most difficult grade level to predict,” Smith said to the board.</p>
<p>Normally at this time of year, the district is 85 to 90 percent certain of its kindergarten enrollment, Smith said. To date, enrollment for kindergarten is near or at capacity at four of the district’s eight schools: Carmel Del Mar (with three classes), Ocean Air (with five classes), Sycamore Ridge (with three classes), and Torrey Hills (with four classes).</p>
<p>Smith said enrollment is lower than predicted at Ashley Falls, which projected 60 kindergarten students but only has 40 to date, and Sage Canyon which projected 100 kindergarten students and currently has 84 registered.</p>
<p>Because of uncertainty surrounding the newly proposed Spanish language program at Del Mar Heights, kindergarten enrollment at the district’s other two schools – the Heights and Del Mar Hills Academy – is fluid. Data as of May 30 show 77 students for kindergarten at the Heights and 32 students for the Hills. </p>
<p>This would normally indicate four kindergarten classes at the Heights and two at the Hills. However, these lopsided numbers have prompted an explosive reaction from some Hills parents and staff members, throwing the future of the Heights Spanish program into question (see related story, page 1).</p>
<p>The board briefly discussed moving students from site to site to balance enrollment and class sizes at each school. Although the policy is unpopular, Smith noted that “the district has a long history of relocating students when there wasn’t room” at their neighborhood schools.</p>
<p>According to Smith’s enrollment figures presented to the board on May 28, the district’s eight schools, for the coming school year, would be allocated enrichment teachers and would increase or decrease the total number of classes from last year as follows:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>School</th><th style="margin-left:8px;"># Enrichment<br />Teachers +/-</th><th style="margin-left:8px;"># Classes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Ashley Falls</td><td style="text-align:center;">4</td><td style="text-align:center;">-1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Carmel Del Mar</td><td style="text-align:center;">3.5</td><td style="text-align:center;">-1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Del Mar Heights</td><td style="text-align:center;">3.5</td><td style="text-align:center;">+3<sup>*</sup></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Del Mar Hills</td><td style="text-align:center;">3</td><td style="text-align:center;">-1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ocean Air</td><td style="text-align:center;">4</td><td style="text-align:center;">+2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sage Canyon</td><td style="text-align:center;">5</td><td style="text-align:center;">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sycamore Ridge</td><td style="text-align:center;">3.5</td><td style="text-align:center;">+1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Torrey Hills</td><td style="text-align:center;">4.5</td><td style="text-align:center;">0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>[* two classes dependent upon implementation of Spanish language program in kindergarten and first grade]</p>
<p>The figures show that three classes will be lost, while six are gained. Interim superintendent Janet Bernard said the district planned to hire three teachers to accommodate the three additional classes in the district, although nothing is certain because “the numbers fluctuate this time of year.” </p>
<p>If the Heights Spanish program is allowed to move forward this fall in both kindergarten and first grade, Bernard said two new teachers would be needed for each grade who have credentials in both Spanish and English. A third teacher is needed at the Heights due to increased enrollment in fourth and sixth grades.</p>
<p>Ocean Air needs another teacher for kindergarten, second and sixth grades, but is losing a first-grade class, for a net gain of two. Sycamore Ridge needs another teacher in both first and fourth grades, but is losing half a teacher in kindergarten and second grade, making a net gain of one.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the district has notified 23 temporary teachers that they may not be returning next year. Speaking on behalf of those temporary teachers was Del Mar California Teachers Association president David Skinner who asked the school board to consider rehiring them.</p>
<p>Del Mar Hills fourth-grade teacher Victoria Hemerick also addressed the board on this matter, voicing through her tears her concern for the plight of the district’s temporary teachers.</p>
<p>Bernard clarified that the district did not issue any layoff notices, or pink slips, to any permanent teachers this year, explaining that temporary teachers are not tenured teachers and are hired with the understanding that their positions in the district are not guaranteed.</p>
<p>Even though they understand that their jobs are temporary, “many times these temporary positions can convert into a probationary status,” Bernard said. “We are hopeful we will be able to call back as many as we can.”</p>
<p>Enrichment staffing</p>
<p>Also of interest to parents and teachers at the meeting was the presentation on enrichment staffing. Enrichment instructors in Del Mar are credentialed teachers of art, music, science, technology and physical education – also called extended studies classes.</p>
<p>Smith’s agenda item detailed “a significant flaw in the formula” for determining how many ESC teachers each school site should receive. “The formula was overly generous,” he said, outlining a complicated process that resulted in a calculation of two additional enrichment teachers in excess of the number the district actually needs.</p>
<p>Although the item was for information only, with no action to be taken by the board, there were 20 speakers who wished to address trustees on the matter.</p>
<p>Ashley Falls sixth-grade teacher and DMCTA collective bargaining lead negotiator Mary Ann Loes spoke on behalf of the district’s enrichment teachers, saying the subjects they teach are essential to learning and integral to students’ education. “We believe these five subjects are part of core curriculum,” Loes said. </p>
<p>Other teachers – including classroom teachers as well as art, music and technology instructors – emphasized the value of enrichment programs to the district and its students. Uma Krishnan, ESC science teacher from Torrey Hills who was just named the 2008 DMUSD teacher of the year, also spoke on the issue.</p>
<p>No school board members disputed the value of the enrichment program or the ESC teachers.</p>
<p>“All of the teachers do a fabulous job,” said board president Annette Easton, who agreed that the ESC program enriched learning immeasurably. The problem is the cost of the program, which she warned was burning through the district’s reserves.</p>
<p>Even though a portion of the $2.3 million enrichment program is funded by the district’s foundation and the generosity of private donors, the remainder is absorbed by the district.</p>
<p></p>
<p>“My challenge to staff is to come back with some really creative options that will keep us fiscally sound,” Easton said. “If we don’t figure out a solution, we’ll be a state-run district. We can’t continue the way we are.”</p>
<p>Despite the dire warning, the district was prepared to support the program for at least one more year as currently structured.</p>
<p>“Your recommendation is that we continue with the enrichment program even though it will have a negative impact on the budget?” Easton asked Bernard.</p>
<p>“Yes, that is correct,” Bernard replied.</p>
<p>Bernard intends to assemble an enrichment action team, with teachers and union negotiators, to participate in a collaborative discussion in the coming months that she hopes will yield a plan that can financially support the ESC program well into the future.</p>DMUSD Newshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03805310611111909981noreply@blogger.com0