A Tough Day for the San Carlos School District…

Reductions and Termination Notices.

Last night the San Carlos School Board voted to accept the recommendation to send out potential termination/reduction notices to approximately 28 certificated employees in the school district.  Even though 28 staff will receive notifications, the net impact to the District will be the possible loss of up to 18.5 Full-Time Employee (FTE) positions.  The discrepancy in numbers arises since some of the positions that are impacted are part-time positions, and others are reductions in hours rather than complete eliminations.   This recommendation was made as the District struggles to close a budget gap that is estimated to be between $1.6M-$2.2M.

Here’s a copy of the resolution which discusses the positions in more detail: San Carlos School District Reductions

Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker issued an email today that did a very good job of clarifying what these notifications actually entail:

“By law, if a school district is even considering reducing or eliminating a position currently occupied by a “certificated” employee (which includes teachers), the district must give notice to that teacher by March 15th of the prior school year.  Even though these are commonly referred to as “pink slips,” they are not termination notices.  Rather, they are a notification that the District may eliminate/reduce a certificated employee’s position for the following school year.  The District can rescind these notices at any time, as happened last year after the Measure B parcel tax was passed.  However, the law is very clear—if a school district does not deliver these potential termination notices by March 15th, it cannot eliminate those positions for the following school year, regardless of how necessary that might be to balance the budget.”

Tough Losses.

San Carlos has always been known as having one of the top public school districts on the San Francisco Peninsula, and if these positions are indeed lost it will be felt throughout the District.   More details about this staff reduction will certainly follow in the upcoming days, but for now it’s a tough day for everyone involve in the San Carlos School District.

The Lehman Brothers Collapse: A Year (or so) Later…

The Hangover Continues for San Mateo County.

It’s hard to believe that it was nearly a year and half ago when Lehman Brothers stunned the world by announcing they were filing for bankruptcy, an event that essentially began the downward spiral of the financial markets in September of 2008.   Hundreds of millions of dollars of investments and pension funds vaporized overnight, leaving an indelible black mark on many communities — especially those in California.   It also exposed the critically flawed investment strategies of many our “experts” that foolishly decided to place a huge percentage of their portfolio with one firm.

While many communities suffered significant losses when Lehman bellied up, they couldn’t hold a candle to the damage done to San Mateo County.  And while many of these other communities have been able to patch up the damage and move on, San Mateo County is still suffering the effects of this catastrophe.

San Mateo County Bore the Brunt.

There’s an absolutely outstanding article from the Wall Street Journal that I have included at the bottom of this post that summarizes the effect of the Lehman Brothers collapse on San Mateo County  — I highly recommend reading this.  No other municipality in the nation lost anywhere near the $155M of County of San Mateo funds that evaporated; consequently the impact was felt much deeper here, particularly in the education sector.  Consider the following:

• San Mateo County’s loss of $155M was nearly 4 times greater than any other municipality.
• Education accounted for $63M, or 41% of the total loss.
• The public school system was the single biggest loser, at 25% of the total loss.
• San Carlos School District lost an estimated $630,000.

As we read about how San Carlos  and surrounding communities (such as Burlingame) and their respective school districts that are struggling to stay afloat, it’s important to remember how the hole got so big in the first place.   Here’s the article from the Wall Street Journal:  Lehman’s Ghost Haunts California.

(special thanks to blog reader Kelly for the tip on this article.)

San Carlos School Teacher Contract Negotiations: Two Sides to the Story.

Impasse.

If you are on the San Carlos School District email distribution list, you most likely received the following email that announced that negotiations between the  San Carlos School District (SCSD) and the San Carlos School District had reached an impasse:

Dear San Carlos Community Members,

I write to give you an update on the status of negotiations for the 2010-2011 school year between the San Carlos School District (SCSD) and the San Carlos Teachers Association (SCTA). As of this week, the parties have reached “Impasse” in the negotiations. I want to give some context to what this means and describe for you our next steps.

Many of you have heard me say these are extraordinary times and resolving our current financial crisis will require extraordinary measures. It is understandable, therefore, that this year’s negotiations would require much discussion and debate. It was evident in our last negotiating session, however, that no new ideas were being exchanged, and it became clear that these discussions would not yield results. Because of this, the District decided to file paperwork stating that the parties had reached Impasse. This is a required step to move the process to the next phase.

I realize you will likely have a number of questions regarding this matter, so I have put together a fact sheet to address a few questions you may have: … Continue Reading

San Carlos School Board Shifts Focus Back to Budget Woes.

It’s All About the Budget.

Now that the exhaustive process of realigning the San Carlos Elementary School boundaries has been completed, the San Carlos School Board must once again return its focus to the challenges of closing its budget deficit — one that seems to keep growing with every passing week.  With continued cuts to education funding at the state level, small towns like San Carlos that rely heavily on state funding are almost resigned to additional cuts in the future.

The District’s budget deficit for next year stands somewhere between $1.6M-$2.2M, depending on how you count it.   That’s a lot of #2 pencils…  There are a number of ideas the District is considering to close this gap, including taking a “fee-for-services” approach to some of the extra-curricular services like after-school and pre-school.  There are other ideas such as re-allocating teacher responsibilities to try to avoid eliminating programs altogether.  Seth Rosenblatt has an excellent summary of these ideas on his blog, so I won’t delve into them here.   I highly recommend reading his most recent post: “Now the Tough Work Begins”.

It’s Not Enough.

At the end of the day, these near-term fixes are only going to get the District so far — it’s pretty clear that programs and teachers will be cut next year in order to get the immediate budget balanced, and that’s going to be a huge blow to San Carlos.   On top of that, IF the District is indeed successful in bridging the current budget gap, this will only get the District back to operating at the mandated 3% reserve level.   So it’s really a just a band-aid fix.

Or,  to use an automobile analogy, we’re running our education on fumes…

Keep Going to the Well?

Historically, the San Carlos School District has been able to deliver an excellent standard of education while still maintaining a healthy reserve level through the tireless support of the San Carlos Educational Foundation (SCEF).   Time and again, the Foundation has stepped in and delivered where the State has fallen short.  But a significant portion of the funds that are raised by the Foundation come from the generous donations from the citizens of San Carlos.  And each year, the Foundation increases the “recommended donation amount” for every family with school-age kids.

But the lingering effects of the prolonged recession is taking its toll on many of the citizens of San Carlos — it’s evident from the unemployment numbers, the recent vote on Measure U, and the increased number of distressed home sales in San Carlos.    Many people are simply hunkering down and hoping for a brighter economy, so contributing money to the schools is no longer an option.    The District can’t simply can’t continue to put the fiscal burden on the backs of the citizens.

Time to Think Outside the Box.

I was encouraged to read that Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker is starting to investigate creative means of raising money for the School District, such as securing grants…because that’s really the future of educational funding.  Some of the most successful (and financially stable) school districts in the area spend considerable time and effort working with local corporations to secure grants, especially in areas like science and math.   After all, we live in the heart of Silicon Valley.   But competition amongst schools is fierce for these grant funds, and it’s even more difficult now as these corporations are forced to deal with their own recession-related problems.

Also, other ideas such as corporate sponsorship (naming rights) and advertising need to be investigated.  It used to be taboo to have a corporate name attached to a school building — now it’s almost a necessity to survive.   And what about advertising?   There are numerous ways (website, yearbooks, district phone directories) where advertising revenue can be gleaned.  Granted, it’s not a huge amount — but every bit helps.

In the end, I agree with Seth’s assertion that the educational process in San Carlos will indeed persevere;  or as he put it, we’ll find a way to “make lemonade from lemons.”  But getting that pitcher of lemonade is going to take some pretty big changes this time around.

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Breaking News: School District Officially Changes San Carlos Elementary School Boundaries.

In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the San Carlos School District voted last night to officially adopt new boundaries for all of the San Carlos Elementary Schools.   The version that was approved last night varies slightly from the initial draft that was proposed a few months ago.  These changes were based on feedback that was given to Dr. Craig Baker and the board during a series of community outreach meetings to better understand the impact of these changes.

Some key differences in the revised boundary plan are:

1. Some streets in the Devonshire Canyon area will remain in the Arundel zone.  Others will go to Heather.
2. Additional streets that were previously in White Oaks have been moved to Brittan Acres.
3. For homes east of El Camino, only those north of Holly Street will be re-directed to Heather.  Those south of Holly will remain in Brittan Acres.

For more information, click on this link to download the new San Carlos School boundaries:   New San Carlos School Boundaries. In this document, you’ll find the following revised district map, as well as table that lists the changes that were implemented to the school boundaries.   Also, check out this post on Seth Rosenblatt’s blog for additional information on the boundary changes, as well as the revised “preference” policy.

New Superintendent Contract

In other news from last night’s meeting, Dr. Craig Baker’s contract as San Carlos School Superintendent has been extended for 3 more years, starting after this school year.    He certainly has been baptized by fire in his first year as Superintendent, so this contract extension is well deserved.

Another Amazing San Carlos Story: A Local Hero…

With all of the depressing talk about budget cuts and job losses, it’s nice to have positive heart-warming story to report.  Doug Johnson drives the small yellow bus that comes to Brittan Acres each day, and also runs the “pony” intra-district mail delivery, including delivering instructional materials to teachers.

This past week, Doug was in the right place at the right time for a particular Peninsula woman.   Watch this video…. … Continue Reading

Update: Decision on San Carlos School Boundary Change Delayed Until January.

Delayed…

After holding a town hall meeting as well as several board-level discussions, the San Carlos School District decided in their meeting last night to postpone the final decision on their proposed boundary changes until the January 21, 2010 meeting.   There was enough concern communicated by parents, particularly in the Arundel district, that the Board decided to take extra time to further examine the proposed changes, and possibly make a few minor changes to address some of those concerns.    For more information and background, I highly recommend reading (and subscribing to) Seth Rosenblatt’s outstanding blog.

Kudos to Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker, and the rest of the School Board for how well they have handled this super-charged issue.  Changing the school boundaries turned out to be an inevitability, given the chronic over-enrollment problems in San Carlos schools.   With decisions like this, it’s almost impossible to come up with a solution that will make everyone happy.   Throughout this process, I have to say that they have done an outstanding job of keeping the public informed of what’s happening (perhaps they could update their own website more often, but hey…..)    They forewarned everyone months ago that this change was coming, and through their public meetings they have given everyone ample opportunity to express their concerns.  On top of that, Dr. Baker seems very open to working with the affected communities to mitigate the impact.     I know, it’s pretty straightforward, but not all decisions are made in San Carlos are done with this level of transparency

Headcount Reduction.

It’s also worth noting from last night’s meeting that the board reluctantly approved interim budget cuts for this year, part of which call for the elimination of 5 positions at the District level, including a key position within Special Education.    This is the brutal reality of how the poor state of affairs at the state level impacts us here in San Carlos.    More than ever, our schools will be forced to do more with less…

Important Meetings This Week in San Carlos.

Mark your calendars! If you’re interested in the future direction of San Carlos schools or the downtown development, or if you just need a reason to procrastinate your holiday shopping even more, there are a couple of important meetings that are happening this week. I’ve already highlighted them in their respective posts, but it’s worth reminding you of them again:

Town Hall: San Carlos Schools.

Tonight – November 30. This meeting is being hosted by San Carlos School District Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker to discuss the District’s proposal to re-draw the school boundaries in order to alleviate the chronic over-enrollment problems. All of the elementary school principals will be in attendance at this meeting as well. Here are meeting details:

Monday, November 30
7:30 PM
San Carlos Library: 610 Elm Street
Conf Room A, Second Floor

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Wheeler Plaza Community Forum.

The City of San Carlos would love to hear your input on what should be done (if anything) with their Wheeler Plaza parcel, which we know better as the parking lot behind Wells Fargo Bank and Le Boulanger.   This meeting is an integral part of the “listening phase” of the Wheeler Plaza concept, so if you have any ideas about what should be done, including leaving it as-is, be sure to attend this meeting.  Here are the meeting details:

Wednesday, December 2
7:00 PM
San Carlos Library: 610 Elm Street
Conf Rooms A&B, Second Floor

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