Planning Strategically; Climate Strike Information; Negotiations Update (Newsletter, September 19, 2019)

September 19, 2019

In This Issue

Superintendent's Letter: "Planning Strategically"

Introducing Our New Chief Academic Officer

Negotiations Update

Students' Project Gains Support from Amnesty International

Global Climate Strike Information

Kudos to...

Reminders

Upcoming Events

Planning Strategically

In his letter this month, Superintendent Scuderi writes about this year's strategic planning process, how family and employee engagement will occur, and why developing a graduate profile first is so important.

"The graduate profile won't just be about what our students know - i.e., the academic content and skills they will have mastered by the end of their senior year," he writes. "It will also be about who they are as people."

The full letter is here.

Meet Sara Stone

Our new Chief Academic Officer, Sara Stone, has worked as a teacher, data coach, reform coordinator, and principal. Most recently, she served as a Network Superintendent in Oakland Unified School District. She is a fierce advocate of equity and inclusion in public education, as well as a talented architect of programs and curricula.

R ead Sara's introductory letter.

Negotiations Update

Maintaining high-performing schools is a priority for our island community, and supporting our educators is a priority for our district. Yet for some years now, AUSD teachers and staff have been among the lowest paid in the county.

We are excited to announce that at a meeting earlier this week, the AUSD bargaining team offered the Alameda Education Association a 4% raise for this year and an 8% raise beginning next year, contingent on the passage of a parcel tax dedicated solely to employee salaries. We have more details about the negotiations in this community bulletin.

Butterfly Project Soars with Amnesty International

A 6th grader at Wood Middle School has started a project to draw attention to the 15,000 children currently being held in detention centers along the border and across the United States.

Called the Butterfly Effect Migration Project, the initiative is now being picked up around the world and has gained the support of Amnesty International.

You can learn more about this inspiring young woman's vision here.


	Students rallied at City Hall in March 2019 as part of a march against climate change.

Students to Join Global Climate Strike

Tomorrow (September 20) students across AUSD are planning on participating in the Global Climate Strike to demand immediate action on climate change. Millions of youth around the world will be taking to the streets that day to advocate for an end to the use of fossil fuels. Here in Alameda, different schools have different plans, but students at AUSD's four high schools are planning an 11-minute Moment of Acknowledgement on their campuses at 8 am. Some students are also planning on leaving school to join the Youth Climate Strike March in downtown San Francisco.

AUSD supports students' right to free speech and collective actions, and students attending the Moment of Acknowledgement in the morning will not be penalized for missing part of class. Under state law, however, only certain kinds of whole-class or all-day absences can be excused, such as for illness, doctor's appointments, or religious observances. AUSD cannot legally excuse absences for student walkouts.

As such, students will receive "unexcused" absences for the periods during which they walk out on September 20. In some cases, unexcused absences can lead to other consequences (such as being unable to attend school activities) if a student ends up having too many in total over the course of a semester or year. Students and families should check with their principals if they have questions about this.

Kudos to...

...Two AUSD seniors who have been named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program: Samantha Zimmerman (ASTI) and Alexander Lack (Encinal). Congratulations, students!

...Keelan Doss (Alameda High School, '14), who has signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders. Doss played for the UC Davis Aggies for five years after graduating from AHS.

Free & Reduced Price Meal Applications Available

Don't forget that the 2019-20 application for Free and Reduced Price Meals (FRPM) is available online. Benefits of the FRPM program include affordable, healthy school meals, as well as reduced fees for the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and AP exams and free college applications. You can sign up quickly and confidentially via myschoolapps or AUSD's Food & Nutrition Services web page. Please note: A new application must be filled out each school year.