At its last regularly scheduled meeting of the 2018-2019 school year, the Board of Education took numerous actions to both end the current fiscal year and prepare for the coming 2019-2020 school year.
Click here to listen to the audio of the meeting, and
click here to view the agenda and supporting documents.
Among other things, the Board took the following actions:
- Approved the tentative agreement with the California School Employees Association, which represents classified employees who serve District students both in and outside of the classroom. The Board thanks Marguerite Lindsay, CSEA President, for her leadership and partnership with the District.
- Approved the adoption of the Henretta textbook materials for the new AP United States History course that will commence at San Marino High School in the fall. The Board thanks Assistant Principal Dr. Soomin Chao and the following teachers and parents for their time and expertise in reviewing and evaluating the instructional materials: Mr. Steve Ford, Mr. David Irie, Mr. Peter Paccone, Mrs. Yvonne Chen, and Mrs. Karen Wicke.
- Approved the draft Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), a 217-page document that identifies the District goals, actions, services, and related budget sources. The final LCAP will be presented for the Board's approval in August, after the County has approved the document. Click here for more information about the LCAP and LCAP Stakeholder Committee.
- Approved the LCAP Federal Addendum and the 2019-2020 Consolidated Application for Funding, both of which are documents required by the federal government in order to receive funding under Titles I-IV.
- Approved a change order for the Barth Athletics Complex. The BAC remains on time and under budget, and the change order percentage remains very low at below 2 percent.
- Approved the 2019-20 Proposed District Budget and Long Range Financial Projections and the Certification of the District's Reserves for Economic Uncertainties Disclosure Report. In order to have a balanced budget in 2019-20, the District will exhaust its Cash Flow and Deferred Maintenance funds, and will need to identify an estimated $800,000+ in revenues and/or budget savings. As noted in the June 14 newsletter, there are many reasons for the projected $2.5 million deficit, with a major factor being declining enrollment, which is also an issue for many other public school districts in the San Gabriel Valley area. "The District is seeking opportunities for other sources of revenue to bridge the gap between what the state and federal governments provide for a "free" education and what the San Marino community expects for a top quality education. Incoming Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson will be working with the school site principals and Cabinet members in the coming months to help identify budget savings and possible solutions to the impending budgetary shortfall."
- Approved Project Management Agreement - The District renewed its agreement with SCMC, Inc., a project/construction management firm, on an hourly and as needed basis. When constructing school facilities and/or managing major repair projects, school districts typically hire independent project/construction management firms to manage capital and large maintenance projects on a project-by-project or short-term basis so as to not incur the ongoing and unnecessary costs of a full-time employee. SCMC, Inc. has extensive knowledge about the District's facilities and has been extremely successful managing outside architects, engineers, and contractors. For example, under SCMC, Inc.'s management services, the Barth Athletics Complex project will come in on schedule and under budget. Currently, the District does not have staff with the time or expertise to perform this work, including constructing the Barth Athletics Complex. The District's Maintenance and Operations staff are focused on the every day maintenance and operations needs of the District, which cumulatively spans more than 50 acres or 2.2 million square feet.
In other matters, the Board continued its discussion with Academics Advisory Committee Chair Dr. Michiko Lee about
potential topics of study by the AAC for the 2019-2020 school year. The Board also received an update from Director of Maintenance and Operations Mr. Jim Fahey about continued research into
facilities fees charged by other districts and discussions with various user groups. Given the projected budget deficit, finding sources of revenue is preferable to reducing personnel, but the District will endeavor to determine a fair facilities use fee for its community nonprofit users. As part of its continuing update of Board Policies,
the Board considered revisions to policies relating to student extracurricular and cocurricular organizations and activities.
THANK YOU!
In recognition of the hard work, dedication, and generosity of so many who devote their time, money, and resources to the District,
the Board thanked students, parents, community members, PTA/PTSA volunteers, members of numerous District and Board committees, and nonprofit organizations that partner with the District to provide instructional, athletic, extracurricular and philanthropic support. The Board also thanked the many
teachers, counselors, District staff, school site staff, maintenance workers and administrators who provide an excellent education and learning environment for District students. A special thank you was given to
Cabinet members Linda de la Torre, Jason Kurtenbach, Julie Boucher, and Stephen Choi and Assistant to the Superintendent Tamara Conger, who all went above and beyond their usual job duties to take on extra responsibilities in the absence of a full-time superintendent.
WELCOME DR. JEFF WILSON!
The Board thanked the community of San Marino in advance for welcoming Dr. Jeff Wilson, the new SMUSD Superintendent, with open arms and allowing him the time to get to know the students, families, employees and community of San Marino. With Dr. Wilson comes an opportunity for new beginnings, new strategies and positively looking forward. The Board has worked hard these past few months to improve communications and increase engagement with the community, and it is excited to work with everyone to collectively and collaboratively address the many issues that public education is facing, not only in this wonderful school district, but also in California, for the benefit of the students of San Marino Unified School District.
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 10 - Barth Athletics Complex Open House - 4:00 p.m.
August 13 - School Board Meeting - 7:30 p.m.
August 14 - First Day of School
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