Surprise! (Another School Board Liveblog)

Yes, despite my late posting, I will indeed be liveblogging tonight’s school board meeting.   What else could be more in the spirit of a California summer than budget negotiations?

This meeting is the last until August, and next year’s budget is the focus of the agenda (there are a lot of supporting items that I’m too lazy to link to, so just head down to “Adoption Budget Approval”–currently item g on the discussion calendar–and take a look for yourself).  Despite the passage of Measure A, the Davis Joint Unified School District is facing an immediate budget shortfall–the exact size of which will be determined by state funding, which could decrease–and an ongoing structural deficit that may increase in coming years, as Measure A expires and Measures Q and W come up for renewal.

The rest of the agenda mostly consists of other budget-related items, with some lighter items (graduation debriefing, etc.) thrown in here and there.   The exception to this is a discussion of the Davis High School multipurpose room, which was found to have severe problems with its roof, including asbestos content and leakage leading to black mold contamination, that led to its closure for much of this past school year.  The Board must now find funds to repair the roof, so we’ll see how that goes.

See you at 7!

7:00- Only three of the five trustees will be in attendance this meeting, with Sheila Allen and Tim Taylor absent.  Does 60% attendance mean only 60% of a meeting?  I can only hope…

Meanwhile, I only charged the ancient laptop I’m using for about two hours (!), so of course it’s only at 44% charge.  Hopefully no one trips over the power cord I’ve strung out in the six feet between my chair and the wall.

7:20- The meeting is fashionably late but at last underway.  No public or staff comment; some comment from District people, but I didn’t pay attention because the internet was freaking out, so let’s breeze by that.  Board tables Item E, the approval of the job description for Da Vinci Charter Academy Vice Principal, for future consideration, and then approves the consent calendar.  The presentation about DHS graduation begins.

7:45- It looks like the graduation ceremony resulted in a net profit, which Daleiden suggests should be returned at least in part to DHS.  The trustees suggest some logistical improvements for the ceremony, congratulate the students who worked on the event, and move on to updating the District’s mission statement and goals.

7:55- Daleiden: “If we have a special meeting in July, can we come back to this then?”  Meetings in July?  *sigh*

I should add that if there is a special meeting solely about the mission statement, I am definitely not coming.

Board moves on to Item C, because Daleiden doesn’t want to vote without Taylor and Allen present, and the Board members present must unanimously consent to achieve a majority.

Board unanimously approves maintaining Fund 11 and Fund 14 funds at current levels or something like that without discussion.  A public hearing is opened on categorical flexibility to provide a forum for the public to express concerns relating to the District’s proposed reallocation of formerly restricted funds that the State has granted permission to use in an unrestricted manner.

8:00- Fund 11 and Fund 14 have to do with adult education and facilities maintenance, for those who were wondering.  The public hearing is closed after a brief comment from Cathy Haskell of the Davis Teachers’ Association communicating her concern about a lack of professional development funds, though the administrative staff say that struggling teachers will still receive assistance and that the elimination of a certain category of professional development funds is mainly an accounting move.

8:10- Board approves the funding transfers as enumerated in Item E and moves on to another public hearing, this time about the budget proposed in Item G.  No public comment, and the hearing is closed; the Board moves on to a presentation about the so-called “adoption budget,” which is based on the latest available budget data.

8:15- Basically, lots of red ink and grim-faced school board trustees (well, three of them).  Many things are still vague–especially because as of yet there is no final state budget–but, as usual, the news doesn’t look terribly good.

8:30- Board unanimously approves the adoption budget as presented, after a comment from Cathy Haskell lamenting the increasing difficulty of passing budgets in California and reaffirming the support of her union in that process.

8:40- Board unanimously approves memoranda of understanding between DJUSD and the DTA, after ten minutes of discussion that I just realized I was not at all paying attention to… oops.  Update on DHS MPR begins.

8:50- The District is planning on moving forward with a Facility Hardship funding application to the state to pay for 60% of the costs of the re-roofing, which should cost about $1 million.  However, depending on the results of a further investigation of the condition of the roof (which itself will cost $75k), the state may decide that it would be more reasonable to rip out the beams and re-build the entire roof, which would increase the cost to $2 million–and also shift the state funding source to a program that only provides 50% of the costs, meaning that the Board may have to fork over an extra $600,000.

9:00- Superintendent Roberson briefly presents about the possibility of a partnership between the city and the District on renovations for the MPR, as the city may want to use the MPR as a site for its teen programs.  Board unanimously rejects application to readmit student 10-12 and recommends that student attend summer school.

9:05- President Harris says that with the exception of a potential special meeting in July, the Board will not meet again until the first week in August, at the earliest.  Meeting adjourned!