Dear Lakeside Community,
Happy Friday - we're in store for a HOT weekend again.
This message is to debrief the Governing Board Meeting held at 6:30 pm on the Lakeside Campus on Wednesday, July 13th.
An Ad Hoc Committee, appointed by the Governing Board in June, gave a report on the results of Measure J and options for the future of the district.
It was the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee to wait until March or May to have a mail-in only, special election.
Why? The committee took a look at the timeline needed to prepare a resolution and launch a campaign. They considered the trends on parcel taxes results in Presidential elections, as well as what neighboring districts are doing for parcel taxes and bonds campaigns. They also strongly analyzed other potential tax measures and the length of this year's November ballot. The Ad Hoc Committee will continue to meet and will readdress the parcel tax and funding issues at the August 3rd board meeting.
Transitional kindergarten was discussed from a staffing perspective. Right now we have a 5th grade teacher opening. If we do not find a qualified teacher by August 3rd's board meeting, there is a chance that we will reduce to 4 teachers this year, thereby creating combination classes in every grade. Right, now, assuming we hire a teacher, we are looking at the following breakdowns for next year:
TK/Kindergarten
1st/2nd grade
2nd/3rd grade
4th grade
5th grade
We are looking at options to have our two TK students attend school in a non-basic aid district and doing away with hosting TK in our district. This discussion will be held at the August board meeting. Whether we discontinue TK now or next year, it will have to go away if we do not have a new, ongoing funding stream coming into Lakeside. A year from now, we are slated to lose one teacher, and we can't create combination classes with that additional 7th grade level.
We have
three board seats open (Theresa Bond, Michael Kopczak,Maritza Tamayo-Sarver), and the deadline to apply is August 12th and you need to reside in either Santa Cruz or Santa Clara County. You need to file in the county in which you reside.
HERE is the link to the candidate guide for Santa Clara County.
HERE is the link for Santa Cruz County.
The Governing Board approved an
amended resolution for a consolidated election in November 2016. They also approved
two board policy changes on Superintendent Contract and Closed Session, based on new legislation and rules that elected boards need to abide by.
The
Superintendent's report included grade level breakdowns (noted above), the LCAP has been approved from a budgetary perspective by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, interviews for 5th grade teachers is next week. The
Chief Business Officer's report reviewed facility updates including:
- nonslippery paint on all decks
- nonslippery paint on all sitting surfaces
- nonslippery paint on the play structure
- our new air conditioning is being installed as we speak
- timers added to our sprinkler system
- duct replacement on some portables
- replacement of a generator transfer switch
- lots of other little things like door hinges, locks on doors, and more are
being addressed this summer (we had 43 items on the list at last count)
Can you tell we take safety and repairs seriously?
Finally,
a "Friends of Lakeside" group is being started, under the leadership of many parents and community members. The point person for now is Desiree Hedberg. The group will be supporting community involvement in Lakeside with extensive outreach, events, and alumni networking. To be added to the list of supporters and/or to volunteer, please email Desiree at
desiree@uberlink.com
The rest of the information below is included in this message as well as the one sent out on Wednesday. If you find it valuable, pass on to other parents and neighbors!
We hope to see you at the next school board meeting - August 3rd at 6:30 pm.
Warmly,
Interim Superintendent & Lead Learner