By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

The adoption of new textbooks, layoffs of teachers and other staff, end of year projections, the number of vacant positions and codifying new school start times are among the items set for consideration at Wednesday’s regular Vallejo City Unified School District board meeting.

Public hearings will be held before the adoption of about $1.7 million worth of new K-12 history and social science textbooks, based on the framework adopted by the state department of education in 2016.

The End of Year Projections for 2018-19, required for any district filing a “qualified” or “negative” certification, will show that all VCUSD funds should have positive balances for the period ending April 30.

Source: New textbooks, layoffs on tap for Vallejo school board meeting – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

In a split vote on Wednesday, the Vallejo school board agreed to transition to a “by-trustee area” election system, mostly to avoid a threatened lawsuit.

Trustees Christy Gardner, Tony Gross and John Fox voted yes, while board president Robert Lawson dissented and trustee Tony Ubalde abstained. Therefore, the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Trustees elected to join the City of Vallejo in dividing the town into voting districts. This will avoid a lawsuit by private law firms that are targeting school districts and other agencies statewide for alleged violations of the 2002 California Voting Rights Act.

Source: Vallejo school district to be carved into voting areas – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

The Vallejo City Unified School District board on Wednesday will consider borrowing money against expected tax revenues to cover any cash flow problems, as well as adopting a resolution to transition to a different type of election system starting in 2020.

California Education Code provides for the Board of Supervisors and County Treasurer to temporarily transfer property tax funds to school districts that lack sufficient money and credit to meet their expenses. The loan comes from property tax revenue the district expects for the 2019-20 fiscal year. The Constitutional Advance allows the district to receive the majority of this revenue prior to the standard December and April transfer time line. If approved by the Solano County Board of Supervisors, the transfer could be available on July 1.

Source: Vallejo School District to ask for advance of tax funds disbursement – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

Vallejo City Unified School District board members are expected to decide on a new Chief Business Officer, one less school cop and several campus improvement projects going out to bid, according to Wednesday’s meeting agenda.

District staff is asking the board to approve Adrian Vargas as the new CBO, to replace Hitesh Haria, who accepted a position in another district. Vargas previously served in this position, and “presents us with a seamless transition as we establish a search process to fill the position permanently,” staff said in the agenda. Vargas will be paid $175,000 in 12 approximately equal monthly installments.

Aimed at saving $112,500, board members will also be asked to approve a Third Amendment to the School Resource Officer (SRO) Memorandum of Understanding, reducing the number of SROs from three to two. There was one SRO approved in 2014; that increased to two the following year, and to three in 2017.

Source: Wednesday’s Vallejo school district meeting to deal with new money man, fewer campus cops, other issues – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

The entire Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Trustees headed to Sacramento Tuesday to plead for better funding, board vice president John Fox said Wednesday.

It may have been Prop. 13 or a combination of other factors, but somehow in the past 30 years, California’s school system went from one of the nation’s top to among its lowest in terms of funding. Consequently, it also is among the lowest performing, Trustee Tony Ubalde said.

“(Tuesday), the California School Board Association offered an opportunity for school boards to meet with legislators,” Fox said. “We went to try to get more funds, what with all the cuts we’re facing.”

Source: Vallejo school board pleads for funds in Sacramento – Times-Herald

By John Glidden

City Hall officials have determined that Councilwoman Rozzana Verder-Aliga is eligible to serve another term on the council, should she decide to seek re-election in 2020.

It was originally thought Verder-Aliga’s only move in 2020, if she wished to remain on the council, was to run for a four-year term as Vallejo mayor. However, Vallejo City Clerk Dawn Abrahamson, along with City Attorney Claudia Quintana have confirmed that isn’t so after reviewing the City Charter.

They said the charter allows Verder-Aliga to seek another four-year term as a council member or run for mayor during next year’s election.

The charter prevents a person from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms as either mayor or as a council member, while also prohibiting elected officials from serving in the offices of council member and mayor for longer than three consecutive four year terms.

Source: Verder-Aliga can seek another council term in 2020, Vallejo officials say – Times-Herald

By John Glidden

The Vallejo school board concluded its three-hour meeting Wednesday night by adjourning in honor of the three alpacas killed during a dog attack at Loma Vista Farm last Friday.

While most of the meeting centered around the board’s need to make $7.25 million in cuts, a bulk of those reductions to district positions, Vallejo City Unified School District Superintendent Adam Clark did take time to offer his condolences for the loss.

“I just wanted to share in my condolences for the farm animals that we lost over at Loma Vista Farm,” he said during his report to the trustees. “It was absolutely tragic, I was sick to my stomach when I heard about it Saturday morning, sick to my stomach when I went by there Sunday, and still, sick to my stomach about that unfortunate event that took place.”

Source: Vallejo school board dedicates meeting to killed alpacas – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

The specific $7.2 million in budget cuts recommended by Superintendent Adam Clark last week are expected to be approved at the Vallejo City Unified School District meeting on Wednesday, despite impassioned appeals last week by many of those impacted.

The school district finds itself in financial trouble as a result of declining enrollment, including encroachment of charger schools, high chronic absentee rates, and rising contributions to employee health and benefits. The district is still repaying — at some $3 million per year — a $60 million state bailout loan from the last time it got into trouble.The district must maintain fiscal solvency to avoid being taken over the state again, by making appropriate revisions to the budget to eliminate structural deficits.

Source: Specific program, personnel cuts on Vallejo’s school board agenda – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

There were long faces on the dais as well as in the crowded gallery at Wednesday’s Vallejo City Unified School District meeting. There were even tears, as some of the people in positions recommended for budget-balancing cuts took to the podium to plead with officials to reconsider.

It was reiterated that the district faces a $22 million structural deficit, and that if a way is not found to staunch the financial bleeding, the district could wind up under state control again. The reasons this has happened again to the district, which is still repaying a $60 million bailout loan to the state of California, are several-fold.

For one thing, it’s been losing students at a precipitous rate — having gone from some 20,000 just 20 years ago, to less than 12,000 today, and dropping by hundreds each year. Some of that is a result of charter school encroachment, officials said. Also, the district has among the state’s worst chronic absenteeism rates, which costs it money as well.

Source: Proposed Vallejo school board cuts draw tears – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

The empty seat on the Vallejo school board was filled and initial school closures agreed to at the Vallejo City Unified School District’s meeting Wednesday.

Just before voting to change the board’s bylaws to “allow more leeway” in filling empty seats by removing the clause stipulating they must appoint the next highest vote-getter in the previous school board election, trustees did just that. They named Christy Gardner to the seat vacated by Marianne Kearney-Brown’s December resignation. Gardner placed fourth in the November election’s race for three board seats.

Trustee Tony Ubalde said he’d met with Gardner earlier in the week and while he still has some concerns, said he felt better about her appointment. It was noted that the bylaws’ new wording doesn’t prevent the next highest vote-getter from being appointed should such a circumstance arise again.

Source: Gardner officially sworn in at Vallejo school board meeting – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

If there’s one thing just about everyone who keeps up with the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Trustees agrees on, it’s that the board is in need of a culture adjustment.

With the swearing in of the newly elected trustees on Wednesday, some think that change is already under way.

“It’s a new dawn for our school board with the swearing in of John Fox, Tony Gross and Tony Ubalde,” said Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan on Facebook. “Do what’s right for the students and Vallejo. We see great things happening with the new makeup of our school board!!”

Source: New Vallejo Unified School Board members sworn in – Times-Herald

By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen

A special meeting of the Vallejo City Unified School District is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to adopt the initial joint re-opener proposals for the Vallejo Education Association.

The meeting will be held in the District’s Governing Board Room, 665 Walnut Avenue, with a public session sometime after 7:30 p.m., according to the meeting agenda.

GiGi Patrick will present the initial joint re-opener proposals for 2018-2019 year from the Vallejo City Unified School District (VCUSD) and the Vallejo Education Association (VEA).

All initial proposals of exclusive representatives and of public school employers, which relate to matters within the scope of representation, are required by law to be presented at the public meeting of the public school employer “and shall thereafter be public record,” according to the agenda.

Source: Vallejo school district, teachers union, re-open negotiations – Times-Herald