Closures/mergers Update
I think it is clear that many parents were not notified last week about the closure/merger/move process. Staff are sending out another piece this week - a letter to families in all of the affected schools which will include the flyer with time for the meetings now extended to 90 minutes instead of one hour. I will continue to advocate for more time at the meetings but i do feel that staff are trying to listen to community input.The website has been updated already with links to the following documents:Staff say that affected families will also receive an autodialer call on December 28th and a reminder the week of January 3rd to alert them of the community meeting date for their school.
Everything will be posted on the SFUSD website and the hotline will be re-activated to provide information about school closure meetings.
Staff have also scheduled with School Site Council members and other school community members individually and / or with potential merger partners to discuss program mergers and school specific questions as well as to receive input that may inform Board Decisions. These meetings will all take place before the Special Board Meeting on January 12th.
According to an email from Nancy Waymack, staff have also met with each member of the Board of Supervisors or their staff twice to discuss school closures, mergers, and relocations.
RE placement counseling - EPC is developing a timeline and related plans to accommodate families whose current enrollment or enrollment requests may be affected by the January 12th decisions.
This is very difficult, especially right before the holidays, but I hope this info is helpful.
Eric
5 Comments:
Why move SOTA? We need a get it done guy to get them the building they need on Van Ness.......
AN OPEN LETTER TO GORDON GETTY
After reading about the amounts of money Gordon Getty spends on just his birthday party, [http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2792#more newwindow ] amounts of money (scroll down to number
10) I am moved to
pose a challenge to him:
As a patron (and sometime participant) of the arts, why are you not leading the drive to support and grow the next generation of artists
here in San Francisco? By the next generation, I mean school
children. The School of the Arts (SOTA) has been languishing for almost 10
years now, trying to raise the money to renovate the building on Van Ness so they will have a permanent home. San Francisco, with it's world class music, dance, and theater institutions and proximity to Los Angeles, has the opportunity to become the westcoast equivilant of the famous [http://www.laguardiahs.org/ ] La Guardia New York School of the Performing Arts.
Anyone who follows the fortunes of SFUSD in the press and funding
problems from Sacramento, knows that the original plan of this
school cannot be funded with district funds anymore. Private
leadership and giving on a large scale will be neccessary to
renovate this building so SOTA and the Academy can move. The site
they occupy right now is constantly under siege as other groups in the system jealously eye it for their own programs.
By having private money used in the design of building that will
support the arts with visual art and dance studios, orchestra rooms,
video arts studios, small and large theaters, etc. there will be no doubt that such a place can secure the future of San Francisco as a magnet for the visual and performing arts.
So I ask you, Please give up your next birthday party and use
those funds to get this started. Better still, ask a few of your
similarly financially endowed friends to do the same. Show your
dedication to the future of your home by enabling those young
artists who come after you to have a incubator of their own.
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A group of parents with pre-school children from Potrero Hill are rallying to save Daniel Webster Elementary School from closure.
You can follow their progress here:
http://www.savewebster.com
How many district-level administrators will be laid off in an effort to save money? Or will it only be kids, parents, and teachers who'll be expected to sacrifice?
As they make the decisions about school closures now, we don't know what other cuts will be made. Typically the BOE passes the next-year budget in June. By that time we will know more about pending teacher raises, newly proposed state funding increases,... and the full budget for school site and central staff will be nailed down.
But right now, we don't what administration cuts will be made.
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