A Whole Lot of Business Going On....

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The closed session for our 1/27/20 meeting begins at 5:30pm. The board will reconvene for open session starting around 7pm in the LASD Board Room. The entire agenda and supporting documentation can be found here. This meeting promises to be a long one, as we have lots of work to get done going forward.  

Every year, representatives from each LASD school present at a board meeting. At this meeting, representatives from Santa Rita Elementary School will update the Board on the great things happening at their campus. 

First up on the agenda, Randy Kenyon will present the District's 18/19 Audited Financial Report for the Board's review and approval.  This is an action item and the audit presentation and the District's 18/19 Financial Report can be found using the link above under agenda item I.1.  The auditor found that the District had no material weakness and no disagreements with management, but also state compliance finding regarding school safety plans. As it relates to the school safety plans, the auditor found that the District is making steps towards compliance with an expectation that school sites will submit updates to the District in early March.

Next, Joan Chaplick of MIG will present the long awaited Final Report of the Community Engagement Process.  This is a discussion item and Ms. Chaplick's report and presentation can be found under agenda item I.2.  I highly recommend you read both.  They not only include the overall support levels received by each and all of the 55 solutions brought forth in the Charrettes, but also shows demographic subsections (LASD Parents, BCS Parents, Residents without school aged children, etc.) and their levels of support for different solutions.    

Then, Jeff Baier will go over Facilities Planning Next Steps.  As directed by the Board last meeting, staff has come back to the board this meeting to (1) help us review the Guiding Principles, (2) present proposed evaluation metrics for applying the Guiding Principles to the proposed solutions, and (3) provide options for weeding through all 55 solutions to determine the best facilities solution.   This is a discussion item and the presentation can be found under agenda item I.3.

Sandra McGonagle will next present to the Board the Middle School Model Update.  This is a discussion item and Sandra's report and a model schedule can be found under agenda item I.4.  As discussed at the Board's last meeting, the District has three intertwined decisions to try to make before the close of the school year, and whether to move to a Middle School model is one of them.  Traditionally, LASD has TK- or K-6 at the elementary schools and 7-8 at the junior highs.  The Middle School Model would move our 6th graders from the elementary schools up to the junior highs (and thus transform them into "middle schools").  The educational benefits of moving 6th graders up to the junior highs includes their developmentally appropriate access to: (1) more consistent instructional minutes, (2) flexible schedules, (3) daily PE, (4) options for exploratory classes, (5) integrated projects, (6) a comprehensive health curriculum, and, (7) after school sports
opportunities, access to clubs and developmentally appropriate social opportunities. 

The Citizens Advisory Committee for Finance (CACF) Mid Year Report is up next.  Fred Gallagher, the chair of the CACF, will present CACF's mid year findings regarding the District's fiscal health and recommendations regarding the same.  This is a discussion item and CACF's presentation can be found under agenda item I.5.  The CACF warns that the District's reserves are below its target of 8-10% and that our aging facilities are in need of repair.  CACF recommends, among other things, that the District as soon as possible set aside a maintenance fund of no less than $10 million from the Measure N bond funds to defray anticipated building repairs needed from coming out of the general fund (that ultimately affects our reserves).  

Then, we finally get to enjoy Randy's presence up at the podium yet again with his presentation of the Governor's Proposals for the 20/21 State Budget. This is a discussion item and Randy's presentation can be found under agenda item I.6.   The very short story is that there is little to no actual new benefit to the LASD in the 20/21 Proposed Budget. 

Next up, Jeff Baier will introduce Bullis Charter School's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Santa Clara County Office of Education for the Board to discuss.  This is a discussion item and the MOU can be found under agenda item I.7.  The most significant change to the MOU is that BCS has agreed to erase their preference for Los Altos Hills for all grade levels for the 20/21 school year and forward.  As I have had no access to their prior MOU with the County, I don't know of any other significant changes to the MOU. 

Make your summer plans now!  LASD's 2020-21 District Calendar draft is out and school starts back up on August 19, 2020 and ends for the summer on June 9, 2021.  This is a discussion item and the calendar, along with MVLA High School District's draft calendar can be found under agenda item I.8.  The high school district's calendar is included as LASD always try to align our calendar to theirs as much as possible (vacations, etc.).

Then, Jeff is asking the Board approve a Resolution in Support of Proposition 13: Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020 (Assembly Bill 48).   This is an action item and the resolution can be found under agenda item I.9.  Jeff asks the Board to approve this resolution showing LASD's support of Proposition 13.  Proposition 13 is a statewide proposition for school facilities bonds that will not only help LASD, but the rest of the state school districts fund school facilities projects and in LASD's case, hopefully make the Measure N bond funds go even farther.   

Last, but certainly not least, Jeff will present three Board Policy Updates for the Board's review and discussion.  This is a discussion item and the board policy updates can be found under agenda item I.10.  The board policy updates include a new one instituting a district wide Equity policy, and two updates revising board policies concerning the Role of the Board and Limits of Board Members Authority.  
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Please note, this is just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 1/27/2019 meeting.  You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions.