Liveblogging Under the Influence of College

I, your trusty-ish school board liveblogger, would like to begin by directing your attention to me, talking about schools, but on a different blog!  Exciting times.  (Actually it is kind of exciting though, so you should click through that hyperlink and also probably comment, because the only comment so far is from my tablemate in Government and that’s just sad.)

Also, by the time I’m at the school board meeting I should have received my admissions decision from my top choice college, so I will probably be rather distracted by that (you’ll be able to tell whether in a good or bad way, in the latter case, by my careful avoidance of the subject).  But–despite the import of the occasion–I will be there anyway, typing away, for reasons I’m not entirely sure of to be honest, but there you go.

(What college, you might wonder?  Or maybe you didn’t and would rather I stop talking about myself?  Either way, I discuss it in the article I posted, where for a bit of novelty you can read someone talk about me talking about myself.)

Back to things that matter, important items from tomorrow night’s agenda include:  the approval of layoff notices for next year; the Board’s certification that it remains able to meet its financial obligations; a discussion of the District’s implementation of a transitional kindergarten program; and various other, less time-consuming items.  Note also that the meeting will begin at 6, rather than the usual 7 (the last meeting was at 7:30 IN THE MORNING so that was a no-go for me, in case you were wondering what happened with that blog).  Blogging should commence shortly after.

6:15-  Trustees starting to trickle in, and said top choice college did not see fit to mail its letters in time to reach Davis by today, so it seems I was lying earlier.  Really not sure why these responses didn’t just get emailed, but I’m just going to stop myself here before I fully transition into Angry Teenager mode.  Meeting attendance is higher than usual, maybe ten to fifteen new faces in addition to the usual attendees.  Tim Taylor is literally phoning it in tonight, from Portland.  This is disappointing because I was expecting Skype, which for reasons I can’t quite put into words is a medium I always find funny in official contexts.  Agenda approved, public comment begins.

6:30- Various comments from  members of the public and staff.  And something I missed because it wasn’t on the action calendar–the trustees have to choose officers for the next year.  Susan Lovenburg is confirmed as President, Sheila Allen elected President, Lovenburg as Yolo County School Boards Association Representative, and Richard Harris as Legislative Liaison.  We’re taking a break so the Board can re-assemble in the proper seating arrangement following the change in positions.

6:50- Board has re-assembled and, in the process of lauding Harris’s leadership, strangely evokes actors on DVD extras talking about their director, or perhaps a wake .  Lovenburg talks a little bit about the tone she wishes the Board to set in its interactions with the community, and announces committee appointments.  The consent calendar is approved, save Item E (Approval of Banking…), which Harris pulls so that he may recuse himself from it for conflict of interest.  The Board save Harris approves the item.  Moving on to Item A in the Discussion/Presentation/Action calendar.

7:10- Daleiden clarifies that the Board must list layoffs that will occur if the parcel tax renewal fails because of a requirement from the Yolo County Office of Education, and states her dislike of the requirement.  The representative from the Davis Teachers’ Association reminds us that the list of positions currently on the lists is not the final list for potential layoffs.  Items A and B are passed.  Associate Superintendent Bruce Colby begins his presentation of the first interim budget summary.

7:30- As could be expected, the budget news is not the happiest–state budget cuts, while not as severe as some had warned, still loom, and as a result of the steep decline in revenues over the past several years the District is still spending more money than it takes in.  Lots of bad signs for future solvency, including possible negative cash balances beginning sometime next year.  The final projections, of course, may vary greatly depending on the results of the parcel tax renewal and the final state budget.

7:45- I think important stuff is happening, but budget projections give me headaches and I’m not really sure.

7:50- The First Interim Financial Report is officially certified, and we move on to the Transitional Kindergarten presentation.

8:00- The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 mandates that school districts offer a transitional kindergarten program, defined as the first year of a two-year kindergarten curriculum, that is optional for students but that is meant to help prepare students for kindergarten.  The program would be open to those who are several months younger than the newly established kindergarten age, and to those of kindergarten age as space is available and is deemed appropriate by parents and the schools.  Students may continue in the program for the second year as space is available.

The presenters recommend that the staffing and class size be similar to that of normal kindergarten classes, but with extra time for the in-class support person who assists the teacher.  Because the increase in Average Daily Attendance (through which the state determines funding) as a result of the program will not be large enough to cover these costs, the district would run the program at a loss.  They also recommend Patwin, Korematsu, and Montgomery Elementary Schools as sites for transitional kindergartens, based on Program Improvement status, Title I designation, current enrollment, and site location.

8:05- Tim Taylor signs off to get back to some sort of meeting, and Sheila Allen departs because she promised her children she would attend their concert.  Discussion continues, mostly about the appropriate cutoff dates to use for the transitional kindergarten program.

8:25- The Board takes no action (unless I missed something), and moves on to a few collective bargaining items that we’re in the process of breezing through, and some other quick items.

8:50- The discussion about the transcript notations for non-DJUSD courses has gone on for much longer than I expected, though it’s starting to go in circles a little bit.  Lots of discussion about online PE classes, and generally about how restrictive to make the policy as to allowing non-DJUSD courses onto DJUSD transcripts.

9:00- Again, no action is taken, and we’re moving on to the penultimate item, which consists of a series of modifications to existing Board policies about prevention of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and discrimination in District activities.  Many changes are strengthenings of previous language: “encouraged” to “should,” “should” to “shall,” etc.  The Board passes the modifications 3-0, with two members absent.

9:10- The last item passes 3-0, finally concluding the seemingly endless series of Community Facilities District items that I somehow still only have a vague grasp of.  On to staff updates, and the end of the meeting!  Next meeting is January 5, at 7 pm.