Category Archives: Bond Measure

New school start times, safety course for high schoolers on Vacaville Unified agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Principal Ed Santopadre’s twice-yearly report about Vacaville High, new school start times and necessary transportation changes, a new high school course about public service and safety, and a large Measure A contract are on the agenda when Vacaville Unified trustees meet tonight in Vacaville.

The longtime leader at the West Monte Vista Avenue campus, Santopadre, in a slide presentation, will review and update the seven-member governing board on myriad aspects of the school, from the mission and Advance Placement test results to standardized test results and graduation/dropout rates to school climate and multimillion-dollar Measure A projects.

More than likely, Chief Academic Officer Mark Frazier will present information about new school start times and necessary transportation changes that will occur in the fall.

Secondary schools, that is, high schools and middle schools, will start no earlier than 8:20 a.m., with elementary school start times beginning no earlier than 8 a.m.

 

Source: New school start times, safety course for high schoolers on Vacaville Unified agenda

Dixon Unified leaders to certify Nov. 8 election results – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders, when they meet Thursday, are expected to approve a resolution certifying the Nov. 8 election results (the passage of Measure Q), hear a report on possibly eliminating the seventh and eighth grades at Dixon Montessori Charter School, and review the district’s mission and vision.

The five-member governing board, which includes newly appointed member Luke Foster, a Dixon attorney, likely will approve a resolution to certify the Nov. 8 election results. More than 55 percent of district voters approved Measure Q, a $30.4 million bond that will pay to upgrade several aging schools, including Old Dixon High, built in 1940, and Anderson Elementary, built in 1949.

The action will pave the way for the district to begin actual remodeling and construction, as necessary, at the school sites.

John Calise, director of facilities and operations, will offer an update to the trustees, including recommendations, for unspecified “construction delivery methods” related to Measure Q projects.

 

Source: Dixon Unified leaders to certify Nov. 8 election results – The Reporter

Vacaville school board to elect new officers, hear interim budget report – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

As hundreds of other California school district governing boards will do in December, Vacaville Unified’s will elect new officers tonight for one-year terms.

Also during the meeting — which will include electing district library board officers and the annual meeting of the Public Facilities Financing Corporation — trustees will hear the 2016-17 first interim report; consider a resolution to approve changes in enrollment preferences at Kairos Public School Vacaville Academy; and consider several resolutions to amend Measure A contracts.

Trustees will elect a new board president, vice president and clerk of the board. The board also welcome new trustee Tracee Stacy, a mental health educator and publisher of Prime Time magazine. She was unopposed during the Nov. 8 election campaign season and replaces Nolan Sullivan.

 

Source: Vacaville school board to elect new officers, hear interim budget report

New board officers, interim budget report, and Measure Q update on DUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will welcome new trustee Luke Foster, an attorney, hear the 2016-17 first interim budget report, and hear an update on Measure Q.

Foster, a Measure Q advocate who led the $30.4 million bond measure’s successful campaign, was named to the board last month. He replaces attorney Joe Di Paola and will serve a two-year term.

Lisette Estrella-Henderson, the incoming superintendent of the Solano County Office of Education, will officiate the swearing-in ceremony, and Foster will join on the dais board members John Gabby, Caitlin O’Halloran Guy Garcia and Melissa Maseda.

The board will then elect new officers, as California public school governing boards typically do in December.

 

Source: New board officers, interim budget report, and Measure Q update on DUSD agenda

Measure Q update, teacher wage-and-benefit proposal on Dixon Unified agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

An update on the recent voter-approved Measure Q bond and the “sunshining” of the governing board’s initial wage-and-benefit proposal to teachers are on the agenda when Dixon Unified leaders meet tonight in Dixon.

Superintendent Brian Dolan will update the board about the measure, a $30.4 million bond passed by voters Nov. 8.

Nearly 60 percent of district voters cast “yes” votes, well more than the 55 percent needed for passage. It passed by relatively wide margins in all but a handful of precincts.

When it takes effect, residential property owners will be assessed $40 per $100,000 of valuation. For the median-priced Dixon home of $250,000, it translates into $100 to $115 per year.

 

Source: Measure Q update, teacher wage-and-benefit proposal on Dixon Unified agenda

Terms for project labor pact go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Proposed terms – including a good faith requirement that contractors employ residents of Solano and Napa counties, with a participation goal of up to 30 percent – for a project labor agreement covering the $249 million Measure J bond go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees Thursday.

The labor agreements would only apply to contracts of more than $5 million and not to subcontractors with less than $500,000 in work, according to other proposed terms.

Source: Terms for project labor pact go before Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees

Measure Q message, initial teacher contract proposals on DUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

An update on Measure Q and a teachers union contract for 2016-17 are on the agenda when Dixon Unified leaders meet Thursday in Dixon.

Superintendent Brian Dolan will encourage trustees, district staff and the general public to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, as “an encouragement for all eligible voters to get out and exercise their right” to vote.

If approved by 55 percent of voters, the $30.4 million general obligation bond will pay for upgrades and modernization of several of the rural district’s campuses, including Old Dixon High, built in 1940, and Anderson Elementary, built in 1949.

Leanne Medina-Estrada, director of human resources, and Shawn Tutt, president of the Dixon Teachers Association, will present the DTA’s initial collective bargaining proposal, or “sunshine” proposal, for the current academic year.

 

Source: Measure Q message, initial teacher contract proposals on DUSD agenda

VUSD agenda: Final Wood Stadium EIR, large Measure A contract – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The final environmental impact report for the Will C. Wood High football stadium project and a $938,000 Measure A contract for Sierra Vista science classrooms are on the agenda when Vacaville Unified trustees meet Thursday night in Vacaville.

Members of the five-member stadium project team — Dan Banowetz, facilities director; Arron McGuire, district project manager; Jim Kordakis, capital program management; Dave Davis, a CEQA consultant; and Brian Meyers of HMC Architects — likely will begin their presentation with a brief review the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. Basically, it requires state and local agencies to follow a step-by-step analysis and public disclosure of environmental impacts of proposed projects and adopt measures to lessen the severity of any impacts. CEQA makes environmental protection a mandatory part of every state and local agency’s decision-making process.

Source: VUSD agenda: Final Wood Stadium EIR, large Measure A contract

Dixon Unified leaders optimistic about Measure Q – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

With 17 state propositions crowding the Nov. 8 ballot, including three related to schools, it is ultimately anybody’s guess if Dixon voters will approve Measure Q, a $30.4 million bond to upgrade aging local schools.

Trustees approved the measure in August, after airing a detailed needs assessment, followed by a commissioned survey to gauge voter sentiment, and, afterward, lengthy public comment, pro and con, during governing board meetings.

If it passes, requiring the final tally to reach a 55 percent threshold, the money will be used, among other things, to remodel Old Dixon High, built in 1940, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and renovate Anderson Elementary, built in 1949, when Harry Truman was president.

Source: Dixon Unified leaders optimistic about Measure Q

Trustees eye labor pact for $249M Measure J school construction projects – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

A project labor agreement for the $249 million Measure J bond was praised and panned Tuesday at a meeting of Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees, who are expected to vote Wednesday on whether to negotiate such a pact.

Austin Sarna, one of more than 50 people who went to the meeting representing the union group Carpenters in Action, told trustees he supports the labor agreement.

“PLA’s help protect me, my wages, my benefits,” Sarna said.

But Mike Messer, an electrical contractor in Fairfield, later said the agreements increase costs and that if voters knew the pacts would be part of construction projects paid for by Measure J, “I don’t think it would have passed.”

Source: Trustees eye labor pact for $249M Measure J school construction projects

Dixon school leaders to hear updates on Measure Q, mental health services – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will hear an update on Measure Q, resolutions in support of two school-related propositions, and a presentation on mental health services.

Superintendent Brian Dolan will update the five-member governing board about Measure Q, the $30.4 million bond trustees approved for placement on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. If passed by voters, it will provide money to upgrade the district’s aging schools, including Old Dixon High, built in 1940, and Anderson Elementary, built in 1949.

Trustees are expected to approve a resolution to support Proposition 51, the K-12 School and Community College Facilities initiative, a $9 billion state bond for new construction and modernization of K-12 schools, including charter schools, and California community colleges. Like the schools in Dixon, Vacaville and Fairfield-Suisun unified districts, many schools in the state’s more than 1,000 districts are 50 years old and older.

 

Source: Dixon school leaders to hear updates on Measure Q, mental health services

Vacaville Unified supe offers A-to-Z district snapshot – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Despite recent bad news that several Solano County unified school districts have some of the lowest average-daily-attendance funding in California, Vacaville’s can still lay claim to some decidedly positive news.

Science kits in elementary classrooms, Chromebooks for every student across 16 district campuses, Measure A projects, PE teachers at every elementary school, and increased pay for employees were among the highlights cited by Superintendent Jane Shamieh during her 2015-16 annual report when she updated trustees and the public during last week’s governing board meeting.

Stepping down from the dais in the Educational Services Center and standing behind a lectern to face trustees, she moved quickly during her slide presentation, recalling last year’s major board actions and initiatives for students and employees, something of an A-to-Z snapshot of the district.

 

Source: Vacaville Unified supe offers A-to-Z district snapshot

Updates on charter schools, transportation, a large Measure A contract on Vacaville Unified agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Updates on ACE and Buckingham High, two charter schools, and revisions to their charters, an update on the district’s transportation department, and the likely approval of a $300,000 Measure A contract are on the agenda when Vacaville Unified leaders meet tonight.

Kim Forrest, director of instruction, curriculum and assessment, will lead the charter schools update discussion, with the participation of ACE principal Jennifer Buzolich and Buckingham Principal Mike Boles.

She will ask them a pointed question, in keeping with state charter school law and the Education Code, the ways and means for how they will achieve a racial and ethnic balance that reflects the district to which they are aligned, Vacaville Unified.

Source: Updates on charter schools, transportation, a large Measure A contract on Vacaville Unified agenda

Dixon Unified agenda: Updates on state test scores, Measure Q – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, will hear a presentation on state standardized test scores, an update on Measure Q on the November ballot, and the Dixon High Farm.

The assistant superintendent of educational services, Mike Walbridge will tell the five-member governing board that, of the 1,700 out of 3,500 students tested last spring in grades three to eight and 11, 32 percent met or exceeded state standards in math and 41 percent did so in English.

Dixon’s scores on the 2016 California Assessment of Student Proficiency and Progress (CAASPP) roughly matched those of Solano County as a whole but fell well below the state averages.

Source: Dixon Unified agenda: Updates on state test scores, Measure Q

Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees to review project labor agreements – The Reporter

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By Ryan McCarthy

A study session by Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees to review project labor agreements will take place Tuesday.

The trustees decided Sept. 8 to have sessions about the agreements and the $249 million school facilities bond voters passed in June. Trustees can ask questions and request information at the Tuesday session.

A second study session is scheduled Oct. 3 to hear information from representatives of local trade unions and other labor agreement advocates. A third session will occur Oct. 25 for opposition groups to present their viewpoint.

Source: Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees to review project labor agreements

Measure Q committee views Solano College library, theater, airport projects with skepticism – Daily Republic

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by Todd R. Hansen

The committee charged with reviewing how Measure Q bond funds are spent at Solano Community College raised several concerns in its report to the board of trustees while offering a generally positive opinion.

“I think the first thing, as far as we can tell, things have been done above-board,” said Lyman Dennis, chairman of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, who is at the end of his second and last three-year term.

The one exception, perhaps, is the committee had hoped to sit in on the performance and financial audits involving the measure, and Dennis said that members were put off several times until learning the audits had been completed.

Source: Measure Q committee views Solano College library, theater, airport projects with skepticism

School board to consider new Bond Oversight Committee members – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

The Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District will be considering the appointment of members to the Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee at tonight’s meeting.

Per the Measure S General Obligation Bonds, which were approved by voters in 2014 to provide funding for special projects at all the district schools, it is required for Benicia Unified School District to have a Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, which is comprised of seven members who meet four times a year to go over quarterly bond expenditure reports. The seven members consist of a business community representative, a senior’s organization representative, a taxpayer’s association representative, a parent or guardian of a BUSD student, a parent-teacher organization or school site council representative who is also a parent of a BUSD student and two community-at large representatives.

Source: School board to consider new Bond Oversight Committee members at tonight’s meeting

Dixon Unified leaders to hear another update on Measure Q – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified leaders face a relatively light agenda when they meet tonight in Dixon.

Superintendent Brian Dolan will provide an update on Measure Q, a $30.4 million bond on the November general election ballot.

If passed by voters it will provide money to upgrade the district’s aging schools, including Old Dixon High, built in 1940, and Anderson Elementary, built in 1949.

The five-member governing board also will hear information about bylaws that cover trustee vacancies. Three trustee seats — those now held by Guy Garcia, Joe Di Paola and Melissa Maseda — are up for election on Nov. 8.

Source: Dixon Unified leaders to hear another update on Measure Q – The Reporter

All 7 trustees will ponder labor pacts for $249M Fairfield-Suisun school bond – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

No committee of trustees for the Fairfield-Suisun School District will consider project labor agreements, the school board decided Thursday, agreeing to instead hold sessions with all seven trustees to hear about such pacts for the $249 million Measure J school bond.

“This is a very, very important decision,” Trustee Pat Shamansky said. “Why would we not want all board members to hear all the information at the same time?”

Source: All 7 trustees will ponder labor pacts for $249M Fairfield-Suisun school bond

Panel may ponder project labor pacts for Fairfield-Suisun School District – Daily Republic

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By Ryan McCarthy

Trustees will meet with supporters and critics of project labor agreements for building paid for with Measure J funds, the $249 million bond voters approved in June, if Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees follow a recommendation.

Two to three trustees from the seven-member board would be appointed to the committee in the proposal the school board takes up Thursday.

Phil Henderson, an attorney for the school district, reviewed project labor agreements at the school board’s Aug. 25 meeting.

Source: Panel may ponder project labor pacts for Fairfield-Suisun School District