Registration is now open for Our March 26th dinner meeting on Strengthening the Teaching Profession.

Our guest speaker will be David Cohen of Accomplished California Teachers.  He will focus on areas such as:

• Results of the latest research on quality teaching
• Teacher evaluations
• Peer review
• What are the characteristics of great teachers?

The event will begin at 6:30pm at the College of San Mateo — College Center (Building #10), College Heights Conference Room.  Dinner will be served at 7pm. Maps, directions, and parking info can be found at http://collegeofsanmateo.edu/map/.

Register on our web site at http://www.smcsba.org/events/.  The event is $30/person.

More about our guest speaker:

David B. Cohen co-founded and now serves as associate director of Accomplished California Teachers, and writes an education blog at InterACT. He is also a National Board Certified Teacher, in his tenth year teaching English at Palo Alto High School, and 18th year of teaching overall. A graduate of the Stanford Teacher Education Program (’95), David has presented at state and national conferences, and his writing on teaching and education policy has appeared in several major newspapers and websites.

Minutes from the

San Mateo County School Boards Association

Executive Board Meeting

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

College Heights Conference Room, College Center (Building #10)

1. Call to Order / Welcome (10:00 a.m.) –  President Seth Rosenblatt opened the meeting and welcomed attendees.

In attendance:

President Seth Rosenblatt

Vice President Alisa MacAvoy

Secretary Eileen Manning-Villar

Treasurer Kevin Martinez

Immediate Past President Shelly Masur

John Moseley (Area 1 Rep)

Alan Sarver (Area 4 Rep)

Chris Thomsen (CSBA Regional Delegate)

1. August 25, 2011 Board Retreat Minutes – Secretary Eileen Manning-Villar presented for review the minutes from the August 25 SMCSBA retreat.  Treasurer Kevin Martinez noted that the board decided at this meeting to give the treasurer signing authority without prior board approval for SMCSBA expenses up to $2,000.  (This will be added under the Treasurer’s Report.)  Past President Shelly Masur noted that both she is working with Delegate Assembly Representative Carrie Dubois in organizing the New Board Member Orientation.  (See Communications.)  Approval of the minutes from the August 25, 2011 board retreat with the above-listed corrections, was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

September 19, 2011 Executive Board Minutes – Ms. Manning-Villar also presented the minutes from the September 19, 2011 Executive Board Meeting.  Approval of the              minutes from this meeting, was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously.

1. Treasurer’s Report:  Mr. Martinez presented the treasurer’s report (copy attached).  He reported that SMCSBA’s total balance of funds on deposit as of 10/31/11 was $32,608.01, which included $14,000 in the CD account.  Acceptance of this report was moved, seconded and passed.  The board discussed the status of the sponsorship payments pledged for the breakfast meeting held earlier in the day.

1. 501(c)(3) Update –  Ms. Manning-Villar presented a draft of the Articles of Incorporation for SMCSBA (copy attached) that she proposed the organization file with the California Secretary of State.  Once these are filed and accepted, the organization can move forward with putting together the application for tax exempt status with the state and federal authorities.  The board thought that the specific purpose set forth in the Articles, namely “to educate and inform the board members of the public school districts in San Mateo County regarding issues affecting their respective districts,” represented SMCSBA’s overarching purpose.  The draft Articles were moved, seconded and approved by the board.

1. Review of Breakfast Meeting Event –  The board gave feedback on the presentation given at the breakfast meeting held earlier in the day.  It was noted that the attendance at the meeting was about the same in the number of attendees.  However, many of the attendees were not the usual SMCSBA participants (e.g. more district staff, Pacifica Library Foundation members), and many of SMCSBA’s more active members usual were not there.  It was thought that the panel of speakers was probably too large.  The group liked College of San Mateo’s facilities, and discussed the possibility of having evening meetings at the site.  One potential drawback is that the facility does not allow alcoholic beverages to be served.

1. Sponsorships Update – Vice President Alisa MacAvoy presented an updated version of the sponsorship agreement (copy attached).  The current options include a gold-level and silver-level sponsorship.  Further details on the program is available on SMCSBA’s website.  It was suggested that members speak to their elected representatives to see if they would be interested in purchasing sponsorships.  The group decided that current efforts should be focused on obtaining sponsors for the Kent Awards in 2012, with efforts for other types of events being kept “low key.”

1. Silicon Valley Community Foundation  –  Mr. Rosenblatt, Ms. MacAvoy, and Area 1 Representative Lory Lawson met recently with staff members of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) to discuss the possible divergence of the foundation’s vision from that of SMCSBA.  The visit was prompted by a recent article from the SVCF’s CEO, Emmett Carson, which made a general charge that school districts are failing kids.  The board discussed what approach SMCSBA should take with connecting the SVCF and the county’s school boards.  The consensus was that SMCSBA should work to educate school districts on how to connect with the SVCF and obtain its support.  It was also thought that SMCSBA should spend some time trying to educate the foundation about  some of the issues facing school districts e.g. unreliable and inadequate funding from the state, but should not go to extraordinary efforts to try to change SVCF’s policy direction.

1. Venues/Topics for Future Meetings  –   The board discussed what topics it could present at the upcoming January and March meetings.  These included responding to a Program Improvement designation and other concerns related to No Child Left Behind, common core standards and how to use technology effectively.

1. New Board Member Training/Mentoring  –  Immediate Past President Shelly Masur updated the board on the upcoming training.  It will be held on Saturday, November 19, 2011 with 4 to 5 new board members registered.  The group is looking for volunteers willing to mentor the new board members.

1. Update on Kent Awards/Rubric  –  The rubric needs a few more adjustments but is basically ready.  Hilary Paulson is organizing the event.

Meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.

Minutes submitted by Eileen Manning-Villar, SMCSBA Secretary on January 23, 2011

115 Years since the Founding of California State PTA

85 Years since the Founding of Seventeenth District PTA

Please join us for a celebration!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

11 a.m. – Registration & Reflections Art Program Showcase

11:45 a.m. – General Meeting

Noon – Lunch, followed by Program

Dominic’s at Oyster Point

360 Oyster Point Blvd. – South San Francisco, CA 94080

A scrumptious pasta buffet luncheon – $20.00 per person

Please be sure to extend this invitation to your incoming or outgoing PTA president and officers, principal, assistant principal, site council chairperson, superintendent and school

board members.

RSVP with $20 payment is required by Friday, February 12, 2012; no walk ins or payment at the door.

Please return the form with $20 check made payable to Seventeenth District PTA.

Mail to: Myra Gruschka, 2624 Prindle Road, Belmont, CA 94002

Maybe you’re anxious about trigger cuts at your kid’s school. Or you don’t want your neighborhood school closed, or you’re outraged by an administrator’s salary.

So you pick up the phone to call a school board member. How do you find the number? Only about one-third of the school districts in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties list some or all of their trustees’ phone numbers online. The rest channel contact through the district office, which is open during school hours, usually 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed on weekends, holidays and winter break.

You’re in better luck if you want to email: All but two Santa Clara County school districts list email contacts for board members, as do 15 of San Mateo County’s 23 school districts.

But email doesn’t assure a response, or even guarantee a reading. Some trustees said they use their personal emails and don’t read their district-provided email addresses.

Two years ago, Chris Vuong of Morgan Hill emailed members of the East Side Union High School District board because he was concerned that it might cut the International Baccalaureate Program at his alma mater, Andrew Hill High School. Of five trustees he emailed, only Frank Biehl responded in substance, Vuong said. One trustee sent a “thanks for your email” reply, and the other three did not respond at all.

And last summer, when the district was reassigning principals, distraught parents at Yerba Buena and Santa Teresa high schools emailed the East Side board. But, the parents complained, most board members did not acknowledge parents’ messages, much less respond.

Elected school board members say the public manages to find them. “I am frequently stopped by community members (mostly parents) at the supermarket, pharmacy and about town,” said Melissa Baten Caswell, president of the Palo Alto Unified school board, whose personal phone numbers are listed on the Web. She said she gets far more emails than phone calls.

Bob Griffin, a San Mateo Unified trustee for 15 years, said he talks to people at church, restaurants, service clubs and other places about school matters.

But when there’s no ready way for the general public to reach their representatives, it’s more likely that elected officials will hear from fewer, or perhaps less diverse, voices before making decisions.

“In general, we think school board members should be totally accessible,” said Phillip Ung of California Common Cause.

“You have to be available to interact,” said Peter Scheer of the First Amendment coalition. “On the other hand, you can’t have all your time taken up by these communications.”

He suggested using technology, Facebook or Google+, where people can leave messages and create public forums.

When Mike O’Halloran, of Santa Clara, wanted to lobby to transfer his neighborhood from the Campbell elementary and high school districts to the Santa Clara Unified School District, he relied on his contacts from Boy Scouts and civic groups to reach trustees.

“I’m sure board members themselves want to hear directly from the public rather than hear everything filtered through the staff,” he said. Santa Clara trustees’ contact information isn’t listed on the district website.

Trustee Andrew Ratermann defended Santa Clara Unified’s process of directing constituents to call the district office. The superintendent or a secretary passes on the messages, even when the district is closed, Ratermann said.

And for those who don’t have email or don’t speak English, the system works well, he said. Multilingual employees at the district office can interpret the message and, if necessary, arrange a meeting with translation for a board member.

The system is similar to those at the state and federal levels, he said, where the only listed phone numbers are for offices.

Ratermann has a listed home phone, which he also posts online. “There are concerns about security as an elected public official,” he said, noting that during Halloween a student set fire to a teacher’s house. “I find that the crazies seem to find me anyway.”

Trustee Ellen Wheeler said that in 10 years on the Mountain View-Whisman board, she’s received only about 10 calls from constituents. “Most people use email.” And, she added, most people don’t even email. Instead, people talk to her when she visits schools.

“Should constituents be able to call elected officials at home?” Wheeler asked. “I vote for calling them at their elected place of work and emailing them anytime.”

January 23, 2012

Il Fornaio, Burlingame

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

 Call to order                                                                            Seth Rosenblatt

Introductions & Welcome                                                       Seth Rosenblatt

Treasurer’s Report                                                                   Kevin Martinez

Announcement of Future Meetings                                     Seth Rosenblatt

Break for Dinner

State of the State: Budget, Initiatives,  and NCLB               Debra Brown, CSBA

Download agenda here.

City, County and Schools Partnership: Building a Healthy and Safe Community

Join San Mateo County’s leaders for an in-depth discussion of how, as a community, we can work together in new ways to build a healthy and safe San Mateo County.

January 13, 2012: 8:00am – noon

Bayview Dining Room
College Center
College of San Mateo
1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd, San Mateo

Membership Dinner Meeting – The State of the State: Budget, Initiatives, and NCLB

Join us for our winter membership dinner meeting where we’ll discuss the state of California as it relates to education issues, such as the Governor’s budget, what tax and other education-related initiatives may be on the ballot in November, and the state’s posture toward changes in No Child Left Behind.

January 23, 2012: 6:30pm – 9:00pm

Il Fornaio
327 Lorton Avenue, Burlingame

Dinner is $30/person.  Please register at: http://www.smcsba.org/events/

Joint Meeting with the Santa Clara County School Boards Association: The Revolution of Electronic-Based Instruction: What’s Next?

Join your colleagues and speakers from Apple, Kanavel Group, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as they discuss the options and opportunities for school districts as it relates to electronic-based instruction, including electronic textbooks.  Specific ssues to be covered include:

• Will technology be the next “real reform” for schools?
• Have we reached the tipping point and what does it means for school districts?
• What are the possibilities with electronic-based curriculum?
• What are the points of view/perspectives of a technology company, an existing textbook company that needs to adapt, and a school district?
• What are the possibilities and what’s practical?

February 11, 2012: 10:00am – noon

Palo Alto School District Board Room
25 Churchill Avenue, Palo Alto

The event is free and no registration is required.

Networking Lunches

As usual, SMCSBA will having it’s informal networking lunches every month.  Please mark your calendars for January 9th, February 6th, and March 5th, 2012.  All lunches are at 11:30am at B Street and Vine in San Mateo.

SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown gets ready to pull the trigger on more budget cuts this week, lawmakers and interest groups are bracing to see how devastating the cuts will be.

While many in the Capitol are resigned to the worst, some believe the governor will do all he can to avoid cuts to schools — no matter what the revenue figures show.

“He can spin the economic data either way as governor,” said Kevin Gordon, a leading education lobbyist. “Ultimately, it’s a political decision.”

On Thursday, Brown will announce the long-awaited results of his finance team’s forecast for the last six months of the fiscal year. The team will determine whether the revenues have improved enough to avert the worst of the potential cutbacks: $1.9 billion to K-12 schools.

When the Legislature passed a rare on-time budget last June, most Capitol observers knew it was being balanced with a rosy assumption that an improving economy would generate billions more in tax revenue. That’s nothing new in Sacramento, but this year it’s different: At Brown’s urging, the Legislature included painful, automatic cuts that would kick in if the cheery scenario didn’t pan out.

It didn’t. So the only question now is how bloody the “trigger cuts” will be.

If revenues fall from $1 billion to $2 billion short of an estimated $4 billion in new revenues, then Brown will have to pull the trigger on just the first tier of cuts — $600 million from universities,social services and public safety programs.

Data, not politics

The governor and Legislature have already made more than $15 billion in spending reductions this year to help close a $27 billion deficit. And while Brown is preparing for a November tax initiative to tackle another looming deficit, some Democrats want to raise taxes immediately to negate the trigger cuts.

Administration officials are quick to dismiss all the Capitol chatter about how the numbers will be politicized.

“It will be strictly a ministerial calculation,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the finance department. “It is data driven and analytically based.”

Last month, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office already put out its own gloomy forecast that projected the worst-case scenario: $2.5 billion in cuts that could lead to school districts shortening the school year by as many as seven days.

Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, said the hard reality is that the economic numbers may not be good enough to avoid setbacks to schools.

“I think you’ll see a set of numbers that go beyond that first tier,” said Simitian, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “I’m hoping we’ll get a frank, down-the-middle estimate of the revenue shortfall. We’ve got to face facts, as hard as that may be, though I hope we don’t try to overstate the case to make a point.”

Indeed, Brown may want to paint as stark a picture as he can to drive home the need for new sales and income taxes that he’ll ask voters to approve next November, said Bill Whalen, a Hoover Institution fellow who was the chief speechwriter for former Gov. Pete Wilson.

“The conventional approach would be to tap dance and come up with a creative solution that kicks the can down the road,” Whalen said. “But this is Jerry Brown, and conventional rules don’t apply. He could offer a solution in the starkest terms, talk about this as the darkest of dark scenarios.”

Brown’s announcement Thursday on the trigger cuts will be followed by January’s budget proposal for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which the governor said last week will assume $7 billion in additional taxes that he’s banking on from next November’s initiative. But Brown plans to include yet another trigger to enact cuts if voters turn down the measure.

A number of economic factors will be considered in the finance team’s revenue projections, including wages, housing permits, unemployment and even U.S. auto sales. The one piece of evidence that the finance department has that the Legislative Analyst’s Office didn’t is a preliminary figure showing how much tax revenue the state will collect in 2011, Palmer said.

‘Flying blind’

But if the finance department had waited until the end of the year to make its projections, it would have even more of a realistic — and possibly rosier — picture of the economy, said Jean Ross, director for the liberal California Budget Project.

That’s when many wealthy investors turn in their fourth-quarter tax payments, a critical barometer to understanding how strong revenues will be after tax returns are filed by April 17.

The finance department will “be flying blind without that data,” Ross said. “To me, it comes down to the question of should they buy some time to find out what happens?”

Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, said that the Legislature next month should restore the trigger cuts by passing a tax package that raises enough revenue to offset them. She suggested closing tax loopholes for out-of-state corporations as one solution — legislation that was approved this year on a two-thirds vote in the Assembly but died when Republicans blocked it in the Senate.

“We need to pass something in January, and if we cannot, Republicans will be responsible for destroying some of the great institutions that built California,” Hancock said.

Republicans contend that Democrats added the trigger to the budget simply so they could claim they produced a balanced, on-time budget.

“Even now that they can do a majority-vote budget, the first thing they do is blame Republicans,” said Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar.

A coalition of labor and civic leaders is holding a series of rallies around the state urging Brown to avoid the trigger cuts, which will fall heavily on the elderly and disabled who rely on In-Home Supportive Services.

“We think the governor and the Legislature have to work around the trigger cut,” said Nancy Berlin, the director of the California Partnership, an anti-poverty group. “The cuts are too serious and drastic to let it go forward, even though they’ve voted to do it.”

Berlin noted that a study released this week showing that many large California-based corporations are paying little to no taxes. And a recent Field poll showed that two-thirds of voters dislike the trigger cuts.

“Why are we doing this?” she said. “It’s not what people want and it’s not good for the people.”

This award is designed to recognize an individual who exemplifies the work and memory of Emily Garfield. The award comes with a $1,000 grant.

Who can receive this award?

A school counselor, who has shown an outstanding commitment to students and has worked at a school site for at least two years; or

An individual responsible for designing a school program that serves students with addiction, and/or mental health issues. The program must have been in operation for a minimum of two years; or

Any staff person responsible for supporting high risk students and helping them with social/emotional development in order to be successful in school. The program must have been in operation for a minimum of two years.

How to apply for the Emily Garfield Award

Please write a one to two page description about the person you would like to honor. The document should be signed by the superintendent of the school district and the school board president. If the person has designed a program, please include a short description of the program.

Please send the document to Carrie Du Bois at 2021 Carmelita Drive San Carlos, CA 94070 or to cdubois@cbnorcal.com.

Selection of Emily Garfield Recipient

Emily Garfield applications will be reviewed by three members of the San Mateo County School Boards Association. The winner will be interviewed and a site visit will be conducted. Award will be given at the SMCSBA Kent Awards dinner on May 21, 2012.

SMCSBA encourages all districts to submit nominees for awards.  The guidelines and applications can be found here.

An overview of the 2010-11 Kent Awards program and the winners can be found here.