The Monday, August 5, 2024, LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and contemporaneous public comments may only be made in person in the LASD Board Room. We use the Zoom webinar platform for community members to follow our meetings at home. If you cannot attend in person, and have a comment that you would like the LASD Board to consider in its decision making, please email all of us at [email protected]. To register to watch the board meeting from the comfort of your home, click here. The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here.
We will start the board meeting by hearing from staff about 2024-25 School Preparations. This is a discussion item and their presentation can be found under agenda item H.1. In short, while many of us were vacationing this summer, the District was hard at work enrolling new students (with 3,427 enrolled as of 8/2), hiring new staff (teachers and classified positions), conducting and participating in professional development, and improving facilities across the district. Next, Dr. Carrie Bosco will present the 2024-29 Strategic Plan. This is an action item and her presentation and the Strategic Plan can be found under agenda item H.2. The Board is asked to approve the plan that aligns with the Learning Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) we approved at the beginning of the summer. The Strategic Plan for LASD includes ways in which the District will ensure we have thriving students, empowered educators, engaged families, and a strong infrastructure, now and into the near future. You can read more about it in the Strategic Plan! Then, Erik Walukiewicz will present an Overview of the 2024-25 State Budget. This is a discussion item and his presentation can be found under agenda item H.3. Because LASD is a community funded district, the state budget only marginally effects our budget. What funds we do receive from the state got a cost of living (COLA) increase of 1.07%, but the District has an increase in expending for CALPERS. The good news is that the governor is putting a statewide facilities bond on the ballot that LASD could benefit from, if it passes. Speaking of bonds, Erik will next present a Bond Resolution. This is an action item and the Resolution can be found under agenda item H.4. For over a year, the LASD Board and staff have been evaluating the placement of a Bond measure on the November 2024 ballot. While LASD provides one of the best public education programs in the state, it has been doing so in deteriorating classrooms. Our schools haven’t been upgraded in nearly three decades and are in urgent need of improvements. Not to mention, 10 schools located on nine campuses isn’t working, causing severe overcrowding at junior high schools in dilapidated portables. The Bond Resolution calls for a $350 million bond ($30 per $100,000 assessed value of each parcel in LASD) to be placed on the ballot to repair aging facilities and preserve our small neighborhood school model. It is important to note, compared to other Santa Clara County school districts, LASD has bonded near the least amount, with only one very small school district below us. Sandra will then update the board on Bullis Charter School's (BCS) Charter Renewal. This is is a discussion item and there is no supporting documentation attached to the agenda. This June, BCS filed its charter renewal application (nearly 600 pages) with the Santa Clara County Board and Office of Education (SCCBOE and SCCOE). On 7/17/24, BCS had its charter renewal hearing where the SCCOE, BCS, and LASD all had 10 minutes to speak regarding the matter. SCCOE informed the SCCBOE that BCS was up for renewal, that it is a high performing school (which is determined by comparing their data against statewide data), that the SCCOE and SCCBOE had sent BCS a Notice of Concern in May 2021 (and reaffirmed it in August 2023) stating BCS did not serve all students in contravention of charter law, and that it would be up to the SCCBOE to decide whether BCS should be renewed for 7 years. BCS argued that it was a high performing school, that it served all students who wished to attend, and that it should be renewed for 7 more years. LASD agreed that BCS was a high performing school, but argued that BCS did not, in fact, serve all students, and requested that if the SCCBOE chose to renew BCS, that it do so with conditions to ensure their demographics mirror LASD's. You can watch the hearing here (starting at the 34 minute mark). Last, but definitely not least, Sandra has a bunch of Board Policy Updates for the Board to review. This is a discussion item and all of the Board Policies Updates can be found under agenda item H.6. The California School Boards Association (CSBA) frequently advises local school districts on updates and deletions to board policies, bylaws and regulations based on recent changes to California state law and regulations and our Board gradually updates our policies based on CSBA's recommendations. Please note, these are just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 8/5/24 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.
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Jessica SpeiserThanks to your support, I joined the Los Altos School District (LASD) Board of Trustees in December 2016. I finished my tenure as Board President after serving as such from December 2018 to December 2019. I am currently Board Vice President. As usual, I will use this blog to continue updating you on upcoming Board meetings and make you aware of upcoming office hours and community events. Archives
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