Monthly Archives: March 2017

Teachers, community address school board over teacher shortage – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

The weightiest topic discussed at Thursday’s school board meeting was not one of the agenda items but rather something discussed during the public comment portion. As with the Dec. 15 meeting, it concerned contract negotiations and teacher shortages.

Back in November, the Benicia Teachers’ Association declared an impasse with the Benicia Unified School District over salary negotiations. A discussion with a mediator was held on Feb. 23, but a settlement was not reached.

Another related topic that was brought up was a shortage of teachers in the district, which educators have said has created some problems. Among the issues most frequently brought up: at least 14 teachers at Benicia High School teaching above their contract, vacancies being filled by non-credentialed teachers, teachers covering an extra class during their prep periods and Spanish teachers monitoring the use of Rosetta Stone.

Source: Teachers, community address school board over teacher shortage

School board votes to set retention of 2 Measure S projects at 10% – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

After a public hearing, the Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District unanimously voted to set the retention for two Measure S projects at 10 percent for being substantially complex at Thursday’s meeting.

The first project in question was a fire alarm upgrade at Benicia High School— not Benicia Middle School as previously reported. Factors that make the project complex include the fact the construction timeline is critical, the system is unique in nature and requires specialized training, and the system is directly related to fire, life and safety at the school.

Source: School board votes to set retention of 2 Measure S projects at 10%

Solano schools chief receives national honor – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson has received a 2017 AASA Women in School Leadership Award.

The American Association of School Administrators recently announced the national honor, which recognizes such qualities as talent, creativity and vision of outstanding women educational administrators in public schools.

Source: Solano schools chief receives national honor

BUSD, teachers union reach tentative agreement on contract negotiations – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

The Benicia Unified School District and the Benicia Teachers’ Association (BTA) reached a tentative agreement Friday over contract negotiations following a four-month impasse.In November, the BTA declared an impasse over salary negotiations and noted that not having a proper competitive compensation was contributing to a teacher shortage in the district. Among the issues frequently brought up were the difficulty in hiring and keeping teachers, vacancies being filled by non-credentialed teachers and teachers substituting for an extra class during their prep periods.

A mediation between the two parties was scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23, but a settlement was not reached. However, at the last mediation, an agreement was reached for the time being.Both Superintendent Charles Young and BTA President Carleen Maselli were pleased with the results.

“We both reached a settlement that we found favorable and both sides can live with,” Young said.

Source: BUSD, teachers union reach tentative agreement on contract negotiations

Implementation Committee looking to finalize BHS bell schedule – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

The road to a new bell schedule at Benicia High School is a long one, but Principal Brianna Kleinschmidt remains optimistic that progress is being made. It will just take a lot of work and feedback.

According to Kleinschmidt, teachers had been working on finding a new replacement to the traditional six-period, non-rotating schedule for at least six years. After a Western Association of Schools and Colleges visitation team suggested a goal of looking at schedules to help increase staff collaboration and meeting student needs, the Schedule Advisory Committee was established in the 2015-2016 school year. The committee— consisting of administrators, teachers, parents and students— looked at data and gathered community input to determine a new schedule for the 2017-2018 school year that would minimize stress for students and increase collaboration for teachers.

Source: Implementation Committee looking to finalize BHS bell schedule

School start times still under review – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

When will Vacaville Unified settle on new school start times for the 2017-18 academic year and beyond?

Not until its next meeting, March 16, at the earliest — and possibly not until April.

One thing is certain: When finally approved, the change will affect all of the district’s 12,500 students, their families, and well more than 1,100 employees.

After several airings of the recommended new start times, trustees, during a Thursday governing board meeting, seemed frustrated, based on their questions and remarks, with a sometimes-confusing, option-filled slide presentation by Mark Frazier, the chief academic officer.

Source: School start times still under review

SCC Dean receives “Patriot Award” – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Solano Community College and Department of Defense officials recently honored an SCC leader for supporting school employees who serve in the National Guard and U.S. military reserve units, it has been announced.

Shirley Lewis, a dean at the SCC Vallejo Center, was recognized by the college’s governing board during its March 1 meeting.

She also received the Patriot Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense for, according to the citation, “Contributing to the National Security and Protecting Liberty and Freedom by Supporting Employee Participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.”

“It is truly an honor to receive this award and to work for a college whose employees not only work with dedication for our students, but many are also Guard and Reserve service members and veterans,” Lewis, who earned a doctoral degree, said in a press release.

 

Solano College site of planned business ‘hackathon’ – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Small Business Development Center will host a 48-hour start-up “hackathon” for teens and young adults.

The two-day business program will have participants bring their toothbrushes, pillows and overnight bags and, with little rest, work for 48 hours to develop and present to the competition’s judges their idea for the next great start-up, reminiscent of an Amazon or Google, according to an announcement for the event.

First- and second-place winners will be chosen and given a variety of business-related prizes.

Source:  Solano College site of planned business ‘hackathon’

Registration open for Vallejo City Unified Schools – Times Herald

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We are writing to inform you that registration is now open, and we look forward to accepting new students for the 2017/18 school year for the Vallejo City Unified School District. We are proud of our elementary and middle schools, our K-8 magnet schools, and our Wall to Wall Academy high schools. All of our elementary and middle schools have a strong curricular focus on reading and writing, as well as science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). At VCUSD high schools, every student participates in a small learning community, known as an academy, a college and career preparatory program.

Source: Ramona Bishop: Registration open for Vallejo City Unified Schools

Vacaville school district leaders hear ACE parents, continue talks about charter change – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A proposed major change to ACE charter school’s status prompted several parents Thursday to question Vacaville Unified’s administrative process that, in all likelihood, will eventually result in the Hemlock Street campus, mired in red ink, to continue as an “alternative program.”

Yet at the end of a public comment period, trustees, meeting in the Educational Services Center, assured parents that they will support the program in the changed format.

In a February memo to the governing board, Superintendent Jane Shamieh noted that “progressively increasing” staff salaries and benefits are projected to create $72,000 in deficit spending for current academic year — and an estimated $100,000 next year — at the dependent charter school, which has an enrollment of 128 students.

Source: Vacaville school district leaders hear ACE parents, continue talks about charter change

Vacaville Unified employees get a pay boost – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

At the end of March, Vacaville Unified employees will receive two checks, their regular monthly pay and some back pay, the latter following district trustees’ unanimous approval Thursday of a 2.5 percent pay hike retroactive to July 1, 2016.

The contract agreements between several district employee groups came after extensive negotiations.

The new wage-and-benefit pacts affect the 680-member Vacaville Teachers Association, more than 450 members of the Local 1021 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents the district’s classified, or school-support, employees (bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance staff, some clerical staff, among them), and several dozen district administrators, management and confidential employees that are not represented by a union.

Source: Vacaville Unified employees get a pay boost

Vacaville Unified School District grading practices ‘a culture change’ – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

After considerable discussion of the matter during a Vacaville Unified governing board meeting, Wood High English teacher Tracy Ruiz called the district’s grading practices “a culture change.”

Her characterization of the practices, already being used by some of the district’s 700 teachers, came Thursday in the Educational Services Center, where Mark Frazier, chief academic officer, and Kelley Birch, director of secondary education, updated trustees on district grading practices, which sparked considerable discussion, including comments from two student board representatives.

In a computer-aided slide presentation, he and Birch justified the change, noting that the district has adopted a standards-based approach to teaching — one requiring more student participation, including writing and clear communication across the curriculum, in every class — but still uses a 100-year-old practice for grading.

Source: Vacaville Unified School District grading practices ‘a culture change’ – The Reporter

 

Lady Vikes three-peat for Section title, defeat Sacramento 56-47 – The Reporter

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By Michael Morris

They knew it would be a tall order.

But for the undefeated Lady Vikes, Friday night’s game reached newfound heights.

Without its Solano Athletic Conference MVP and undoubted team-leader, Julia Blackshell-Fair, Vanden (26-5) relied upon an unconventional cast of characters en route to back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championships, defeating No. 3 Sacramento (22-9) 56-47 at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton.

Vanden’s Blackshell-Fair, who played the entire semifinal against Elk Grove, was held to just 12 minutes Friday as she picked up three fouls in the first seven minutes of the opening quarter and then fouled out in the third after a charge that was followed up with a technical. However, the University of Houston commit was just happy that the team didn’t let her mistakes get in the way of the team’s objective.

Source: Lady Vikes three-peat for Section title, defeat Sacramento 56-47

Teacher training in Finland gets high marks – Daily Republic

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By Mayrene Bates

Doug Ford, my colleague on the Solano County Board of Education, loves to compare American education to that of other industrialized countries. Months ago, he shared a book, “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way,” and passed out several copies but only recently have I had an opportunity to read my copy.

Several years ago, author Amanda Ripley of Time magazine followed three American teenagers for a year who went to live and study in three different countries: Finland, Poland and South Korea. Her book was published in 2013. The American Field Service and Rotary Clubs have been sponsoring such student exchange programs for many years.

Source: Teacher training in Finland gets high marks

Educators share joy of reading on Read Across America Day – Daily Republic

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By Ian Thompson

If there is one thing that California Teachers Association Vice President Theresa Montano loves, it’s reading.

She got to read Thursday to one of her favorite audiences – two classrooms of young children at Laurel Creek Elementary School.

“I just love this. It brings me closer to the kids,” Montano said just before she started her day of reading.

Montano armed herself with the children’s book, “Creature Features,” by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. She first read to Stephanie Cobb’s second-grade class and then to Lisa Rushing’s first-grade class.

Source: Educators share joy of reading on Read Across America Day

Trump Highlighted This Unusual School Choice Idea Last Night : NPR Ed

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By Anya Kamenetz

It’s not clear yet exactly how a program like this could be funded. “There isn’t that much money that is fungible from the federal education budget,” points out Samuel Abrams, an expert in education policy at Teachers College, Columbia University.

There is currently a bill in the House that would replace the major federal education law with block grants, including for vouchers. However, that law was reauthorized with broad bipartisan support in 2015, making such a reversal difficult.

Source: Trump Highlighted This Unusual School Choice Idea Last Night

Measure to Overturn ESSA Accountability Rules Introduced in Senate – Education Week

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By Andrew Ujifusa

A measure to block the Obama administration’s regulations governing accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act was introduced on Tuesday by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate education committee.

Senate Joint Resolution 25, if it’s approved, would mean the end of regulations finalized late last year that govern state plans and issues ranging from testing opt-outs to school turnarounds. The House of Representatives approved a similar measure last month. In addition, not long after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, his administration paused these regulations.

If the Senate passes Alexander’s resolution and Trump gives the thumbs-up, the Obama-era rules for accountability and state plans would have no force, an alarming prospect for Democrats in Congress and civil rights advocates, who say these regulations include crucial protections for disadvantaged students. However, congressional Republicans and some school groups have supported the move, saying that state K-12 leaders and schools need more flexibility, and that the U.S. Department of Education can still provide nonregulatory guidance and technical assistance to states seeking more clarity or other help with accountability provisions of the law.

Source: Measure to Overturn ESSA Accountability Rules Introduced in Senate – Politics K-12 – Education Week

Budget development, LCAP goals, configuration of elementaries on DUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

An update on the 2017-18 budget development process, a review of several LCAP goals, and configuration models for elementary schools are on the agenda when Dixon Unified leaders meet Thursday in Dixon.

The rural school district’s chief financial officer, Adrian Vargas, will lead the discussion about the 2017-18 budget development.

In fewer than a dozen slides, he will cover the Local Control Funding Formula “gap funding” percentages, enrollment projections, Local Control Accountability Plan actions, and highlight major ongoing commitments.

In an interview Tuesday, Vargas said his presentation will take into account subjects that will affect his second interim budget report, set for March 16.

 

Source: Budget development, review of LCAP goals, configuration of elementaries on DUSD agenda