San Francisco School Board Notes

School Board Notes 1.23.07

By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• Board Adopts Prop. H Spending Plan
• Norman Yee Back at his Seat
• Board Denies Charter School Petition
• Wallenberg HS Wants Beloved Counselor Back
• Gloria R. Davis to Move to Marshall

Board Adopts Prop. H Spending Plan

At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the board approved a Proposition H spending plan that allocates significant funds for violence prevention and translation services, while slightly increasing the amount of money for academic support, a cause that had been championed by district staff.

The board spent more than two hours taking public testimony, discussing line items and tinkering with amounts before deciding on a figure its members could support. The biggest debate arose over how to spend the discretionary portion of the funds, which represent half the $20 million SFUSD will get in Prop. H funds this year. The Community Advisory Committee, along with members of the public and the Youth Council, had supported funding that was heavy in violence-prevention programs, peer resources and translation services. The superintendent's office had requested more of the funds go to academic support, specifically computer upgrades for students and teachers, a system for tracking individual student progress, and reading and math coaches to help teachers improve their instructional practice.

In the end, the board united behind a proposal by President Mark Sanchez. It called for adopting almost all of the CAC's recommendations but shaving $350,000 off various allocations and giving that money back to the superintendent's office for greater academic support. In its original recommendation to the board, the superintendent had asked for $3.1 million for academic support. She recently came back to the board with a compromise recommendation asking for $1.5 million.

Members of the community appealed to the board about the critical need for violence prevention, peer resources and translation services. Two students said they had been suicidal before they became involved with the peer resources program. They described the program as transformational in its ability to help them gain confidence and self-respect. Other students spoke about witnessing friends being killed or assaulted over minor disagreements, and urged the board to adopt the CAC's recommendations for violence prevention.

The board ultimately adopted the CAC's recommendations, with the following modifications:

• Allocating $550,000, rather than $600,00, for peer resources (-$50,000)
• Allocating $550,000, rather than $600,00, for translation services (-$50,000)
• Allocating $1.55 million, rather than $1.65 million, to middle and high schools for developing violence-prevention programs (-$100,000)
• Eliminating an allocation for a full-time security aide, to be shared between school sites (-$100,000)
• Eliminating an allocation for noon-time monitors (-$20,000)
• Reducing from $250,000 to $236,072 the allocation to establish an evaluating system and hire a coordinator to track and assess use of Prop. H funds (-$14,000)

A copy of the CAC and the superintendent's respective recommendations can be found at the district Web site.

Norman Yee Back at His Seat

Commissioner Norman Yee, who has been hospitalized since being hit by a car while crossing the street December 26, attended the meeting for a short while Tuesday. Yee wore a neck brace and walked with a cane, and could only stay for about an hour. But the commissioner appeared to be in good spirits, and participated actively in the Prop. H discussion. Although he did not say for the vote, he expressed his support for some form of compromise that would retain much of the CAC's recommendations while supporting teachers and administrators need for greater funds for academic support.

Board Denies Charter School Petitions

The board denied two charter school applications before it Tuesday evening, for Bay Area Technology School (Baytech – San Francisco) and Sputnik Math, Science and Language Academy.

BayTech had been proposed as a high school in Bayview/Hunters Point. The owner, Willow Corp., operates a similar school in Oakland. After reviewing the application, staff recommended it be denied for several reasons. Staff members did not feel the charter had adequate community support, and many of those who signed its petition for a charter were not San Francisco residents. The school would not have a local board, but rather be run by Willow's San Mateo-based office. Also, the district was concerned about the charter's plan to draw at least 50 percent of its students from SFUSD schools. Willow had stated a plan of going into local schools and attempting to recruit students, a move Commissioner Jill Wynns said would be "unprecedented and possibly illegal."

Supporters of the school said that it had a successful track record in Oakland of helping under-served students perform and excel. They also pointed to the fact that, with the closing of Gloria R. Davis, Bayview/Hunters Point residents have asked the district to consider locating a charter school in their neighborhood.

Sputnik Academy had been proposed as a K-3 school with a Russian-language focus, targeting English-language learners. After reviewing its application, staff recommended denying the charter because the owners had no track record and staff members were concerned about the ability of the school to meet the needs of English language learners. Its plan did not call for a way of assessing English proficiency, nor did it indicate the instructional support (such as an additional half-hour of classroom instruction per day) and special textbook materials needed for ELL students.

Supporters of the school said it offered them a valuable way to preserve their native language and Russian heritage. District officials noted that SFUSD is working begin a Russian two-way immersion program in the near future.

Wallenberg HS Wants Beloved Counselor Back

About three dozen parents and students at Raoul Wallenberg High School in the Western Addition asked for the return of a beloved counselor, Ernest Stanton, who had been moved to an administrative job at the district. Audience members, who waited long into the night to make their case to the board, held signs saying Mr. Stanton "enhances educational development," "strengthens efforts of staff," "practices individual assessment" and "monitors student achievement."

Gloria R. Davis to Move to Marshall

After waiting late into the night to hear the fate of their school, Gloria R. Davis students and teachers got good news. The district will most likely be able to keep the school as a separate academy within Thurgood Marshall, Superintendent Gwen Chan said. As long as 30 students from the school agree to transfer to Marshall, and "the numbers look good," Chan said, the district should be able to keep the students together, keep some of the teachers, and offer core curriculum as a separate Gloria R. Davis academy co-housed within Marshall. Students would also be able to take advantage of extracurricular activities, honor courses and enrichment activities available at Marshall. The fate of Gloria R. Davis has been uncertain since the board voted at its last meeting to close the school due to its inability to build enough enrollment to support a 9-12th grade program.

School Board Notes 1.16.07

By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• Committee Considers Prop. H Plan
• Task Force Presents Small Schools Policy
• District Launches Parcel Tax Initiative
• Meetings to Start an Hour Earlier

Committee Considers Prop. H Plan

School board members on Tuesday night considered a plan submitted by the Community Advisory Committee on how to spend the $20 million the district will receive this year in Prop. H funds. The board, meeting as the Committee of the Whole, also considered a plan outlined by the superintendent’s office on how the money could be spent.

The board will vote to adopt a Prop H spending plan at its next meeting, January 23. Copies of the CAC’s proposal can be obtained on the Web .

The CAC reviewed the superintendent’s proposal in developing its spending plan and included most of staff’s recommendations and requests. However, there were several areas where the two differed significantly. The CAC recommended some allocations not included in the superintendent's proposal, including:

• $1.65 million for violence prevention, with site allocations of $50,000 for each middle and high school. The site council would work in conjunction with the students to determine how to allocate the funds, and would solicit proposals from community-based organizations such as YouthSpeaks, a youth newspaper, and United Playaz, a performing arts program. The CAC also recommended expanding the peer resources programs at secondary schools to include six additional schools. The superintendent’s request did not include funds for violence prevention, and sought only to maintain the existing peer resources programs already established through Prop. H.
• $600,000 for translation services, which would allow for hiring more interpreters, translation of school and district notices, and expanding translation services to other languages, including Russian and Samoan, from only Spanish and Chinese. The superintendent’s proposal recommended $125,000 for the purpose of expanding translation.
• $770,000 to support adding wellness centers, which provide nursing care, counseling and peer resources, at four additional high schools so that every high school in the district would have one. The superintendent’s proposal sought three wellness centers for $577,500 and would leave one school, Washington High School, without one.

The CAC spending plan also left out some funds in the superintendent’s proposal, including:

• A computer replacement program requested by the superintendent that would have provided updated computers for teachers, classrooms and computer labs at the high school level.
• A request for a district-wide assessment system to gauge student progress.
• Half the $1.4 million the superintendent had requested to acquire 10 math and language arts coaches to support teachers in improving instructional practice.

Superintendent Gwen Chan expressed concern that the CAC had rejected significant allocations for academic support and placed them instead in violence prevention and peer resources programs. In particular, district staff emphasized the need for math and language coaches, computer replacement and a district-wide assessment program. The district has recently failed to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind law because of the achievement gap between the minority students and the district as a whole. A staff representative said coaching has been effective in helping teachers better serve under-performing students.

The staff also said that the high school computers are outdated and can’t support programs the schools would like to offer students.

Committee members, for their part, said that in public meetings, that they had heard over and over again the need for violence prevention and peer resources.

“If there was anything we heard over and above anything else it was the value of peer resources to the youth,” said Prop. H CAC member Sandra Fewer, who works with Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth.

Community meetings also elicited strong testimony about the need for increased translation services for non English-speaking parents. A large contingent of immigrant parents appeared at the meeting to appeal — in languages including Chinese, Spanish and Samoan — for services that would enable them to better communicate with teachers and the district. Parents told of the many complications that arose from not being able to read letters sent from the school, as well as the frustration of not being able to actively participate in their children’s academic progress. One parent said she almost missed an opportunity to enroll her daughter in a gifted program because she couldn’t read the letter informing her that her daughter qualified. Another parent at Tenderloin Community School spoke of panic among parents at the largely ELL school after a student died suddenly as a result of a viral infection. Parents couldn’t read the letters sent home and didn’t know whether a critical risk had been posed their children.

Such testimony had prompted the CAC to support the recommendation of $600,000, a figure put forth by immigrant advocacy groups. District staff said its lower $125,000 figure came from consultation with its translation staff about how much it would cost to increase translation services. The district currently spends $375,000 on Spanish and Chinese translation services.

Task Force Presents Small Schools Policy

The Small Schools Task Force made a presentation pitching the value of small schools and presenting a draft policy for how the district could support and develop small schools by design. The small schools initiative seeks to boost student achievement through smaller student populations, more personalized instruction and, in some cases, unique curriculum approaches. It is largely aimed at closing the achievement gap between the district as a whole and English language learners and students of color. It also seeks to create high-quality schools that will help retain and attract students to the district, whose enrollment has been declining.

The task force was chartered by the district last June to develop a policy framework for supporting small schools; it comprises SFUSD staff working at existing small schools, as well as parents, students, district staff, union representatives and community-based organizations. The group’s draft policy lays out how the district would define small schools, how schools could become eligible to join the initiative, as well as how they would be funded, staffed, assessed and held accountable. It also outlines the district’s role in supporting the schools.

The policy was drafted by the task force in collaboration with district staff. Copies can be obtained by contacting district representative Mary Richards at (415) 355-7323. The policy will be presented to the full board for first reading at it next meeting, Jan. 23. It will then be forwarded to at least two committees. Board members would then revise the draft or give it back to the task force or district staff to revise before it comes before making a final vote.

District Launches Parcel Tax Initiative

The district is drawing up plans for a parcel tax that would raise money to increase pay for educators and other staff.

The tax would seek to raise funds to achieve the following:

• Raise the salary schedule to be a more competitive district.
• Provide financial incentives to attract teachers to hard-to-staff subjects and schools.
• Provide greater and more consistent professional development.
• Provide increased support through classroom aides and teaching materials.

No timeline has been developed yet for the tax. Board President Mark Sanchez said: “The need is so immediate, I would want this to go forward in November.” Timing, however, would also be based in part on the period needed to build public support, board members said. One next step will be polling to gauge public opinion on the measure.

Meetings to Start an Hour Earlier

The committee decided to move the start time for general meetings (held the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month) from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. starting with the February 12 meeting. The change was made so that the meetings, which often stretch until close to midnight, could end earlier. The committee also agreed to hold its closed session meetings the Thursdays before the general meetings. Closed session meetings are currently held before the general meetings, and often delay the start of the meeting.

School Board Notes 1.9.2007

By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

• New Members Take Seats, Yee Joins By Phone
• Sanchez Lays Out Policy Goals
• Bayview Dream Schools Reconfigured
• Bus Drivers Slapped with Health Cost Hike

New Members Take Seats, Yee Joins By Phone

The first board meeting of 2007 began with three brand new members — Hydra Mendoza, Kim-Shree Maufus and Jane Kim — and one empty seat, that of 2006 Board President Norman Yee, who is in the hospital after being hit by a car on December 26.

Yee was hit while crossing the street at Fourth and Bryant streets. He in stable condition after two spinal surgeries and is "in good spirits," according to a statement from him read by Commissioner Jill Wynns. Yee participated briefly in the meeting, speaking by phone from his hospital bed, to nominate Commissioner Mark Sanchez as president. Yee was elected as vice president.

Sanchez Lays Out Policy Goals

After his nomination was unanimously approved, Sanchez laid out his list of priorities. They included:

• "Focus on the neediest... The ones that haven't been part of the success story." African-American students in particular, he said, had shown a marked lack of progress over the last few years, and the district needed to determine ways to address that.
• Implement more "small schools by design," facilities with small student bodies and a focus on personalized learning.
• Look at student assignment not only to desegregate the school system, but the schools themselves. "Some of these schools may look integrated by the numbers, but if you look in the classroom, it's totally divided by race," he said. "If we're going to integrate, we need real integration and not the apartheid that's existing right now."
• Look at getting board members compensated so they can "do the job (they) need to do." Currently, board members get paid $500 a month. Most hold full-time jobs in addition to board service, which, Sanchez admitted, doesn't always leave time to fully research the issues before them.
• Add committees, such as a personnel committee to work on the search for a new superintendent and a labor committee to work with bargaining units and attempt to avoid conflicts such as those that almost provoked teacher and employee strikes last year.
• Start meetings earlier and end them earlier. He proposed beginning the meetings at 6 p.m. and shifting closed session meetings to a different day so the regular meetings start on time.

Bayview Dream Schools Reconfigured

The board voted to

• Keep Charles Drew as a K-3 academy
• Change Willie Brown from a 4-6 to a 4-8 school
• Close Gloria R. Davis (currently a 7-9 school) or move it to an alternate location, where it would become a 9-12 school

The board heard public testimony from Davis supporters — as well as impassioned outbursts from the audience, which included over a dozen uniformed members of the Gloria R. Davis marching band. Community members spoke of the success and impact of the Dream Schools, special programs designed to serve under-performing communities with longer hours and Saturday sessions, uniforms and a rigorous academic curriculum to push students to succeed. Community members also spoke about the importance of continuing to have a high school within the Bayview community, and urged the district to establish Gloria R. Davis as a separate academy housed at nearby Thurgood Marshall High School.

Board members supported the idea, directing staff to explore how it might be achieved and find out how many students would chose that option over going to other high schools. In the meantime, so the students can participate in the Round 1 enrollment lottery January 19, the board voted to give Davis students their first choice of high schools for 2007-08. If students wish to apply to Lowell, they can still be considered (the deadline was in December), although they would have to meet the school's academic standards.

Bus Drivers Slapped With Health Cost Hike

A week before Christmas vacation, the district's school bus drivers were told they would be facing increases in health insurance costs of up to 500 percent when school started again in January. For a family with children, the cost deducted from employees' paychecks soared from about $60 to $450, said school bus driver Brock Estes. The bus drivers believe the last-minute notice about the increase violates their contract. Estes said Laidlaw, the company that employs the drivers, has refused to expedite arbitration, which means it could take eight to 10 months for the issue to be settled, and the money will continue to be deducted from employees' pay.

Although the district contracts with Laidlaw for transportation services and has limited ability to influence the issue, Estes urged the board to ask Laidlaw to expedite arbitration and settle the issue quickly. The San Francisco bus drivers have an outstanding safety record, Estes pointed out at a previous meeting: Each year, about 75 children are killed on, entering or exiting school buses. "The rate for San Francisco over the last 35 years we've been providing bus service is zero."

Prop H Committee Decides How to Spend Discretionary Funds

By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent

A community advisory committee decided Thursday evening, January 4, 2007, how to allocate $10 million worth of discretionary funding through Proposition H, a voter-approved initiative that provides millions for programs to enrich public education.

Proposition H allocations will total $30 million in 07/08. One-third goes to the First Five Commission for preschool for all, one-third goes specifically for sports, libraries, arts and music programs (SLAM), and one-third can be used at the committee's discretion for a wide range of purposes. The Proposition H Community Advisory Committee voted Thursday on the portion known as the "third third," the portion allowed for general uses.

The committee sorted through numerous competing requests for the funds, including a spending plan proposed by the Superintendent's office and about $1.8 million worth of programs proposed by the Student Advisory Council. Since the committee plans to continue funding all of the programs it has initiated in previous years, the amount left for new programs in the "third third" is about $3.3 million.

The appropriations the committee approved included:

• $600,000 for translation services to help teachers, administrators and the district communicate with parents, both orally and through written materials. It is intended to include interpretation and translation in languages such as Samoan and Russian, for which there are currently no translation services, as well as expanding services in Spanish and Chinese.
• $600,000 to support Peer Resource Programs at middle and high schools. The funds continue programs initiated in prior years through Prop H, and add two new middle school and two new high school programs, for a total of six middle school and eight high school Peer Resource Programs.
• $770,000 to add wellness centers at four high schools. Wellness Centers provide health and mental health services including nursing services, substance abuse counseling and conflict resolution. With the addition of these centers, every one of the district's high schools will now have a wellness center.
• Close to $3 million to have a part-time nurse, counselor or other learning support professional at each elementary school. This allocation would simply continue to fund a program already initiated through Prop H; it does not allocate any additional funding or positions.
• $585,000 in new funding to provide middle schools with mental health services. The funds would add one part-time mental health professional at each middle school.
• $250,000 in in-kind services (rather than funds) from the city's department of  public health, possibly to be allocated for a pilot mental health program in secondary schools.
• $300,000 to develop a program at O'Connell High School and a  as-yet-to-be-determined middle school providing targeted support to students who reenter the school system after being chronically truant. The program would help these students catch up with their peers and reintegrate into the school system, as well as provide emotional support.
• $741,017 for custodial services. The district facililities office had proposed the money be allocated at 16 elementary schools and several CDCs. Committee members, however, took issue with the funds not going to any middle or high schools, especially after hearing testimony from many high school students about the condition of their bathrooms. It asked the district to  allocate the funds equally between CDCs, elementary schools, middle schools and high schools, identifying the schools of greatest need within each category.
• A pool  of money, amount to be determined, to be given to each high school to bring in nonprofit organizations to provide violence prevention and/or youth-driven programming. The funds would bring community-based organizations such as YouthSpeaks (a youth media project, United Playaz (a performing arts program) and similar program into the schools. It will be dispersed through each of the schools' wellness centers in conjunction with peer resources.
• $73,110  to add a full-time teacher for career and technical education.
• $250,000 to establish a system for evaluating the success of Prop H programs and to hire a staff person to serve as the Prop H coordinator.

The Committee voted down a proposal by the district for $255,161 for emergency supplies, which would ensure a baseline level of disaster preparedness at each school, including water, food and supplies in each classroom. Committee members said other funds should be available to cover those expenses, including federal funding provided through the Department of Homeland Security.