At its Tuesday, December 10, 2019 regularly scheduled meeting, the Board of Education took action on several matters. Click here to listen to a digital audio recording of the full meeting, and click here to view documents related to the various agenda items.
Recap of 2019
In her final speech as Board President, Lisa Link highlighted some of the important work that had been accomplished during the 2019 year. There were 28 School Board meetings: 18 regularly scheduled and 10 Special Meetings related to hiring a new superintendent and Board governance training and goal setting. In addition to the 28 School Board meetings, the Board collectively attended 7 town halls relating to the superintendent hiring process and the facilities bond in order to engage with and hear from the community.
There were several major accomplishments in 2019:
- The Board hired a new superintendent, Dr. Jeff Wilson
- The Board put a parcel tax on the ballot, and the community gave its support in renewing support for important teaching and support positions that would not otherwise be affordable with the limited state funding that the District receives
- The Board created a Facilities Advisory Committee that spent months studying the District's facilities needs and concluded that a facilities bond was necessary, resulting in the placement of a facilities bond on the March 3, 2020 ballot.
In addition, the Board heard presentations about and took action on many different topics:
- Curriculum and instruction: LCAP, WASC, dual enrollment, CTE pathways, instructional minutes, the California Healthy Youth Act, safe school plans, Homework, AP US History, AAC study areas, CAASPP scores, Dashboard results, College Acceptance data, and more
- Business services: Barth Athletics Complex, facilities needs, numerous budget reports, Fiscal Responsibility Task Force, ERT, facilities fees, and agreements for shared services with the City of San Marino, and more
- Human resources: enrollment, safety and security on campus, collective bargaining agreements, early retirement programs, various health and welfare benefits for employees, and more
- General: updated Board policies and procedures, such as Social Media, Homework and Civility, made changes in its communications and Public Comment policies and procedures in order to encourage public engagement and enhance transparency.
All of these accomplishments could not have occurred without the hard work and collective effort of District administrators and staff, school site administrators and staff, teachers, aides, parents, volunteers, the PTSA/PTAs/PTAffiliates, the San Marino Schools Foundation, many school-related and community organizations, the School Board and Student Board Member. Thank you all for the important role that you played in working toward our common goal of providing an excellent education and enriching opportunities for our students.
Organization of the Board of Education
The Board and District would like to congratulate and appreciate Mrs. Lisa Link, the immediate Past Board President. Your leadership, hard work and diligence in the last 12 months have greatly benefited our School District. You are a valuable asset to our District. Thanks for your time and effort.
During its annual reorganization of officers, the Board unanimously elected C. Joseph Chang as President, Shelley Ryan as Vice President and Corey Barberie as Clerk for the 2019-2020 year. The Board unanimously agreed to donate the statutory compensation of $240 monthly to the District. Pending application, the Board nominated Chris Norgaard to run for the CSBA Delegate Assembly representative position for our local area. The Board also appointed members as representatives or liaisons on the following committees and community organizations:
- Academics Advisory Committee: Chang and Ryan
- City of San Marino Liaison: Norgaard
- FiRST Task Force: Chang
- Health Benefits Committee: Chang
- Legislative Representative: Norgaard
- PTA Council Representative: Chang
- San Marino Recreation Committee Representative: Barberie
- Safety & Wellness Committee: Ryan and Link
- San Marino Schools Foundation: Chang
Recognition of Facilities Advisory Committee
Pursuant to the tradition of recognizing advisory committee members when their term has expired, the Board thanked and presented certificates to members of the Facilities Advisory Committee.
Jeanie Caldwell - Community Member, FAC Chair
Jim Barger - Community Member
Michael Berger - Parent
Jose Caire - Teacher, FAC Secretary
Paul Callahan - Community Member
Paul Chan - Parent
David Duong - Parent
Marla Felber - Community Member
Jesse Hong - Parent
Bob Horgan - Community Member
Joan Huang - Community Member
Chris Maling - Parent
Jeff Morris - Parent
Tony Poneck - Community Member
Hal Suetsugu - Parent
Weiming "Tommy" Tang - Parent
Justin Wang - Student
Dual Enrollment Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pasadena Community College (PCC)
The Board heard a first reading of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pasadena Area Community College District as part of a continuing process of creating a partnership between PCC and the District. Dr. Terry Giugni, Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Instruction, and Dr. Isela Osugueda explained that before PCC can offer dual enrollment classes, both the SMUSD Board and the PCC Board need to approve a MOU. Once the MOU is approved, discussions would begin regarding possible programs and scheduling.
West San Gabriel Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Liability, Property and Workers Compensation Programs
The Board heard a presentation from Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., a broker that works with the District and the West San Gabriel Joint Powers Authority to deliver insurance resources to protect the organization. The West San Gabriel JPA consists of eleven school districts that pool resources to provide insurance coverage, including general liability, cyber liability, and workers' compensation, to name a few. In addition to insurance coverage, the JPA provides numerous resources that the District can use, such as legal advice, anti-bullying programs, and athletic liability best practices training. Lilian Vanvieldt, Sr. Vice President of Alliant, commended the District for having among the lowest workers' compensation experience modification rates in both the JPA and the state.
Special Education Programs and Budget
The Board heard a presentation from District administrators about the special education programs and services offered in and by the District, from intensive preschool starting at age 3 to adult transition for special education students up to age 22. The District is part of a Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) that includes 14 school districts that have joined together to provide programs and services to special education students at all levels. Services include speech and language, adapted physical education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, mental health counseling, and home support services.
Although the percentage of District students receiving special education services is lower than the state average and has declined to below 8% in 2018-19, the cost of providing those services has increased substantially over the years, with 21% of District employees dedicated to addressing special education needs. Despite the federal government's statutory commitment to fund 40% of special education costs, the District only received reimbursement of 6.9 percent. The difference between the amount of funding received from the federal and state governments for special education services and the actual cost of providing those important services to District students is $4.7 million, which comes from the District's unrestricted General Fund monies. Given that state funding is based on average daily attendance (ADA) and not the actual number of students receiving services or the type of services necessary to provide an appropriate education, the District is substantially underfunded.
The District is currently analyzing its special education programs to ensure proper staffing and services to meet the needs of its students and budgetary constraints.
Barth Athletics Complex Project Report
At her last Board meeting during a career that spanned 21 years just in this District, Julie Boucher, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, provided the Board with her final report about the status of the Barth Athletics Complex Project. Mrs. Boucher reported that the BAC is being enjoyed by Huntington Middle School students during school hours, as well as others participating in SMCAA and the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club after school. While there are a few remaining items on the punch list and warranty work in progress, the project is complete. The total project cost of the BAC was just over $15.1 million, with less than one percent ($67,508) in change orders.
In other BAC-related matters, the Board approved Notices of Completion (contracts related to lockers and the shell) and a credit change order of $30,388.09 for changes in scope of work completed by NSA Construction Group, Inc.
2019-2020 First Interim Financial Report and Long Range Financial Projections
State law requires that school districts provide periodic reports to the appropriate county and state education departments, and as well as to the Board and the public. The First Interim Financial Report is based on actual expenditures as of October 31, 2019, and requires a certification of whether or not a school district is able to meet its financial obligations. After a review of the Report, as well as a summary of the report, the Board approved the recommendation of a "positive certification," which means that the District will be able to meet its financial obligations during the current year and two subsequent fiscal years.
Given a projected budget deficit of $2.5-$3.0 million in 2020-21 and an additional projected budget gap of $1.2-$1.5 million in 2021-22, significant work is currently being done to achieve budget savings by looking at staffing adjustments, containing increases, and reducing department budgets.
Interfund Transfer from Capital Fund to Cash Flow Fund
On February 25, 2019, the Board approved an interfund transfer of $838,000 from the Cash Flow Fund to the Capital Projects and Improvement Fund for construction costs related to the Barth Athletics Complex, pending receipt of state funding. As the funds are no longer needed now that the BAC project is closed out, the Board approved restoring the temporarily transferred money back to the Cash Flow Fund. The Board requested that the funds not be expended without Board notice and approval.
The Board wishes District students, employees and families a wonderful holiday break and invites the community to attend its next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. in the District Board room, 1665 West Drive, San Marino.
