Various teachers and friends gathered at the Hollister School
District Board meeting Tuesday night to say good-bye to retiring
teachers and honor teachers and employees of the 2002-03 school
year.
Various teachers and friends gathered at the Hollister School District Board meeting Tuesday night to say good-bye to retiring teachers and honor teachers and employees of the 2002-03 school year.
Thirteen teachers retired at the end of the school year.
“These people have provided to education a total of 270 years,” said Carol Cochran, Board president.
Nineteen employees were honored and praised – a teacher of the year and classified employee of the year at each of the eight school sites, as well as the Early Childhood Education Center. A classified employee of the year was also awarded for the district office. Afterward, the recipients were treated to cake and punch.
The meeting took a more serious turn with the public comment period and approval of an official 2003-04 budget, pending further changes in the state budget.
Kindergarten teacher Michal Cook urged the district for a second consecutive month not to increase class sizes in grades k through 3.
“Here I am again about the same subject. If class size is increased to 32, … I fear the district will be making money on the backs of our children. I fear teachers will get kids that are not prepared,” Cook said.
As of now, schools will not get an increase or a decrease in funding for class-size reduction for next school year. HSD principals have been instructed to staff at 20:1 rations for k through 3, but to prepare for 32:1 in a worst-case scenario, said Judith Barranti, district superintendent.
Teacher Howard Madden delivered letters to the board members and district staff pertaining to contract negotiations which start next week. Madden is the president of the Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association for the 2003-04 school year. Madden spoke of the importance of communication, an “area of great concern” for HESTA.
“Without communication, we feel we’re at a standstill,” Madden said. “Our goal here is to work with you.”
Madden also invited Cochran to attend negotiation meetings between HESTA negotiators and the district.
During public comment, the Board is not allowed by law to respond or take action.
The General Fund Budget for 2003-04 was presented by Dean Bubar, director of business and operations and approved 4-0 by the Board. Trustee Dee Brown had a family engagement.
The budget calls for $27.9 million in revenue limit, $2.75 million in federal sources, $8.22 million in state sources and $860,000 from local sources, for a total of $39.74 million in total revenues. Expenditures total $39.77 million, meaning the district will go into deficit spending of around $30,300, Bubar said. The historical average is 94 percent, Bubar said. The $39.77 million in expenditures includes a 36-percent increase in medical costs as well as a 17-percent increase in transportation costs, he said.
“The bottom line is the lower right-hand corner (total expenses),” Bubar said. “We will have a deficit of $30,300.”
The district is relying on 96 percent Average Daily Attendance for funding, which surfaces in the form revenue limit.
“This is critical to our budget. It’s (revenue limit) close to 70 percent of our budget,” Bubar said.
With the deficit, the district will still be within the mandated 3-percent reserve fund that all school districts must keep, Bubar said.
In other business:
– The Board held public hearings on the 2003-04 budget and a local plan for special education. No one from the public had any comments.
– Lonna Martinez, coordinator of the English Language Learners program, presented the numbers on the 2-year-old California English Language Development Test for the past two years. The CELDT scores will eventually become part of school’s Academic Performance Index. Lonna said it looks like the district is starting to pay more attention to English Language Learners and identifying students more accurately.
– The Board approved 4-0 18 consent items that included the revised school plans at Marguerite Maze and Rancho San Justo middle schools, three service agreements with Easter Seals of Central California and district warrants and personnel actions.
– The Board approved 4-0 a resolution supporting Assembly Constitutional Amendment 4 that would change the voting requirement to pass parcel taxes from two-thirds to 55 percent.
– During her board member report, Trustee Alice Flores discussed the possibility of “not new” teachers having to take a competency test. “Not new” refers to a teacher who received a credential before July 1, 2002. These teachers would have to pass a “high, objective, uniform State standard of evaluation,” or HOUSE even if they’ve been teaching, 15, 20, 25, 30 years – something that isn’t fair, Flores said.
The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. The next Board meeting is set for July 22 at noon at the district office, 2690 Cienega Road.
