School Board Notes
6.13.06
By Nicole Achs Freeling
GreatSchools.net Correspondent
MillionsThousands Missing From Taylor PTA- Buena Vista to Lose Critical Funding
- District Will Pursue Bond Issue in November
- SOMA Child Care Programs Still Without a Home
- Last-minute Program Cuts at Kate Kennedy CDC
- District Moves Toward "Green Diesel" Buses
MillionsThousands Missing from Taylor PTARepresentatives from E.R. Taylor Elementary in Portola pressed board members on the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from the school's Parent Teacher Association. The scandal centers on allegedly altered bank statements, provided by school administrators to the PTA, which show a balance of $8,000 higher than identical statements provided by Bank of America, where the funds are deposited. Another $8,000 in moneys generated through student fundraising are also not accounted for, parent groups say.
PTA members discovered the discrepancies over a year ago and asked the district to investigate. Some parents allege they were told not by district officials not to go public with the information. Other parents said the first they had learned of the missing money was in reading about it in newspaper reports Tuesday morning.
Board President Norman Yee told reporters that the district launched an investigation when the matter was reported last year, and has since referred the matter to the district attorney's office.
Local activist Ed Jew, representing a group of frustrated parents at the school, asked the board to reimburse the school for the missing funds. "The district has said they aren't going to take any action while it's under investigation. It's always going to be under investigation."
Buena Vista to Lose Critical FundingA five-year federal grant that has supplied Buena Vista Elementary in the Mission District with close to $300,000 annually sunsets at the end of this week, leaving educators and parents there scrambling to come up with ways to pay for vital school services.
Without the funds, which represents a fifth of the school's budget, Buena Vista will have no money for paraprofessionals, tutoring services and after school programs, school representatives told the Board.
The lack of paraprofessionals could affect student's safety as well as their learning environment, parents said. The school fronts on a park at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Potrero that is a haven for drug dealers and vagabonds. The school has had a paraprofessional stationed at its entrance at all times to prevent unwanted entry. Last year, there was a drive-by shooting in front of the school and a paraprofessional alerted the administration and initiated the lockdown, Buena Vista parent Amy Trusso told the Board.
Parents also expressed concern that the incoming kindergarten classes are slated to have 23 students in a class, with no paraprofessionals, where up to now it has had one teacher or paraprofessional for every ten youngsters. State law mandates no more than 20 kindergartners in a class.
The financial squeeze comes at a time when the school is facing other pressures, such as an a higher percentage of English language learners, a significant number of newcomer students at the higher grade levels and enrollment that is stretching capacity, said parent David Zovickian. "Buena Vista has long been the district's model for Spanish immersion," said Buena Vista parent Amy Trusso, who asked the Board to help the school find other sources of funding. "Now it's on the brink of being identified as an underperforming school."
District Will Pursue Bond Issue in NovemberThe Board began the process to put a bond issue for $400 million to $500 million on the November 7th ballot. The bond would cover safety improvements, class size reduction and school computer equipment upgrades. The debt service would be paid by an assessment of up to $60 per $100,000 of property value. The bond would need to pass with at least 55 percent of the vote.
The Board will discuss the measure further at a Committee of the Whole meeting in late July (date to be determined) and will vote on it at the last regular meeting that month. It has until August 11 to submit the measure for inclusion on the November ballot.
SOMA Child Care Programs Still Without a HomeFamilies of preschoolers and special education students at Bessie Carmichael in SOMA remain in limbo about the fate of their programs, which have been slated to be relocated after the school year ends Thursday. Ashlyn Kalahele, the parent of a disabled four-year-old, was close to tears as she told the Board how she was notified at the end of May that her daughter's program would be moving. With summer school imminent, she has no idea where the program will be moving to or how she will be able to get her daughter there. Affected families entreated the Board to resolve the issue and find a home for their program.
Last-minute Program Cuts at Kate Kennedy CDCParents are also angry about last-minute notification of cuts to the summer program at Kate Kennedy Child Development Center in Noe Valley. Parent advocate Melissa Juedeman told the Board about conflicting memos the families had received. On May 12, according to Juedeman, parents were told that the center would be losing some space but children in the program would not be affected. On May 17, they were told that 5th graders could no longer be accommodated in the summer program. On May 18, "random" kids through the lower grades got notices that they also could no longer be accommodated due to cuts in the program.
District Moves Toward "Green Diesel" BusesThe Board issued a resolution requiring warnings to parents and children riding diesel school buses of the health effects of being exposed to diesel exhaust. The resolution also directed the district to continue its efforts to replace the bus fleet with so-called green diesel buses, which produce far fewer toxic emissions.
In 2005, the district has entered into an agreement with Laidlaw, the transportation provider, to obtain an entirely new fleet of 200 green diesel vehicles by 2007, placing the district among the first to meet strict new clean air emissions standards for California.
Older diesel buses emit nearly twice as much pollution per mile than a big rig truck, and much of the exhaust collects inside the bus, according to the resolution. An estimated 70 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution in the state comes from diesel exhaust, according to the California Air Resources Board; children are especially at risk because their lungs are still developing.
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