By Kate Steinheimer
GreatSchools.net Staff
• Committee Commends Student Nutrition Services Director
• Committee Makes “In-Kind” Services Recommendations
Committee Commends Student Nutrition Services Director
The joint Board of Supervisors and Board of Education committee opened its meeting by recognizing Ed Wilkins, SFUSD student nutrition services director, for his service to the district. Commissioner Jill Wynns read a proclamation of commendation that listed Wilkins’ many accomplishments. It stated that Wilkins is responsible for serving hot meals to thousands of SFUSD students each day, in addition to working to develop and implement the district’s healthy food and wellness policies. His other achievements include maintaining the district’s “No Child Left Hungry” policy, in which children eat lunch regardless of whether they can pay for it, and helping nutrition services become more fiscally sound, all while maintaining “a wicked sense of humor.”
Committee Makes “In-Kind” Services Recommendations
The main business of the meeting was a discussion of the planning process for the Public Education Enrichment Fund (Proposition H). The Board of Education's Budget and Business Services Committee had previously considered a resolution to accept $2.5 million of Prop. H funds in in-kind services from the city instead of cash for 2007-08, the third year of Prop. H funding. The resolution was controversial because it did not specify that the in-kind services would be new services. Under the resolution, services the city has long provided to the district could be counted as fulfilling Prop. H requirements. The Budget and Business Services Committee sent the resolution to the joint Select Committee for consideration.
Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who helped author Prop. H, addressed the committee first and stated that the authors of the proposition meant new, not existing, services when they wrote that in-kind services could count toward the city’s Prop. H obligations.
Myong Leigh gave an update on the district's implementation of programs funded by Prop. H and the district’s plans for spending next year’s Prop. H funds. A representative from the city controller’s office reported that the spending plans for next year meet all Prop. H requirements and that the controller’s office recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve the plan. She also stated that one third of the total Prop. H funds each year could be supplied in in-kind services instead of cash, which would mean the entire “third third” that is allocated for general education support could be provided in in-kind services. (One- third of the Prop. H funds go to support sports, libraries, arts and music in the schools; one-third goes to the First 5 Preschool for All program; and one-third is designated for general education support.) Finally, the controller’s representative recommended that the district come up with more frequent and more outcome-based performance evaluation measures for evaluating Prop. H funded programs, and said an audit of Prop. H expenditures would begin in the fall.
Commissioner Jill Wynns responded to the controller’s report, stating that she was “stunned” to learn that the entire third third could be provided in in-kind services. She noted that the money had been used so far almost exclusively to put new staff in schools and that the district did not want to lose positions it had added for general education support.
Gloria Corral, deputy director of First 5, gave an update on the implementation of the Preschool for All program, and then the floor was opened to public comment. Many speakers emphasized what a difference Prop. H funds had made to their schools or programs and almost all emphasized that they believed any in-kind services should be new, not existing, services.
Christina Wong from Chinese for Affirmative Action and parent activist Cindy Choy both urged that any in-kind services be both new and directly connected to education and academic achievement. Lorraine Woodruff-Long, Parents for Public Schools executive director, asked the committee to be sure all contributions were new, not existing, and reminded committee members that while in-kind contributions were important, schools are very cash-strapped.
Several parents commented that their schools were already seeing big improvements from Prop. H funds, and students Adrienne Long and Devin Vyas from Miraloma Elementary School and Anna Rubenstein from Aptos Middle School provided reminders that the purpose of Prop H is to benefit children.
Dana Woldow gave several recommendations of how in-kind services could directly support district priorities, including IT staff to help man a new point of sale system Student Nutrition Services hopes to implement in school cafeterias. Margaret Brodkin, director of the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families, spoke on behalf of Mayor Newsom. She stated that the mayor supported interpreting Prop. H in-kind services as “new services starting today.”
After public comment, Commissioners Jane Kim and Hydra Mendoza both emphasized that in-kind services provided under Prop. H should benefit kids at schools and support the priorities of the school district. Commissioner Kim suggested that the controversial resolution could perhaps be put on hold and noted that there had been some fear that the Prop. H spending plan for next year would not be approved if the resolution were not accepted.
Commissioner Wynns said she was pleased that everyone was on board with in-kind services being new services, noting that concerned parents had flooded the Board of Education with emails and phone calls on the issue.
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell proposed that a small group should get together to come up with a list of in-kind services the city could provide that would support district priorities. Supervisor Bevan Dufty agreed that Margaret Brodkin’s office, the Prop. H Community Advisory Committee, and district staff should work on the list of services with input from the Controller’s office.
The committee voted to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors, the Board of Education and other involved parties recommending that any in-kind services provided under Prop. H be new, additional services and that the small group develop a list of appropriate services. The committee also agreed to recommend putting the proposed resolution on hold as the list of services was developed.
Supervisor Maxwell also expressed concern that art instruction funded by Prop. H include culturally sensitive arts so that children “know and value everyone’s art.” She requested a hearing to evaluate whether this was being accomplished under the district’s Arts Master Plan. That hearing was tentatively set for May 3.
Search for in all major search engines simultaneously on the site http://www.iknowall.com.
Simultaneous search on Google, Yahoo and MSN Live Search.
Try http://www.iknowall.com
Posted by: iknowall | June 01, 2007 at 01:07 PM