Category Archives: School Board – Travis Unified

TUSD: State funding may not keep pace with inflation, mandated expenses – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’ famous saying attributed to him still rings true 2,500 years later: “The only thing constant is change,” and it echoes down to the near and foreseeable future for the Travis Unified 2017-18 budget process.

In their first slide during a budget presentation Tuesday night in Fairfield, the director of fiscal services, Anna Pimentel, and the assistant director of fiscal services, Sara Smith, reminded the five-member governing board that the state’s and district’s budget process is ongoing “and one thing we know for sure is that most of the numbers” will change.

Speaking in the Travis Education Center, Pimentel, toward the end of an informative and highly detailed 20-minute update, said, “Depending on what happens with the May revision, we’ll have some work to do.” It was a reference to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2017-18 proposed $123 billion budget, released in January and set for revision in May.

 

Source: Travis Unified officials: State funding may not keep pace with inflation, mandated expenses

Kindness video contest, ‘sunshining’ a new wage pact, 2017-18 budget on TUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A Kindness Video Contest presentation, the sunshining of a new teacher contract proposal, and a 2017-18 state budget update are on the agenda when Travis Unified leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

Staff from the offices of Supervisor John Vasquez and District Attorney Krishna Abrams will present information about a contest the two have devised: The Power of Kindness.

In a recent presentation to the Vacaville Unified governing board, Vasquez and Tonya Covington, representing Abrams, told trustees that their families had been affected by bullying.

The contest asks students, through video, to illustrate positive behavior and show others the power that kindness can have on their school and community.

The genesis of the contest was a casual conversation between the supervisor and the district attorney. They hope it will lead to a greater discussion and awareness about the power of simple acts of kindness.

 

Source: Kindness video contest, ‘sunshining’ a new wage pact, 2017-18 budget on TUSD agenda

Travis Unified leaders OK interim supe’s pay and talks to consider teacher signing bonuses – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified trustees approved the interim superintendent’s contract, a proposal to negotiate a signing bonus for certain newly hired teachers, and an energy conservation contract with a Phoenix-based firm.

The five-member governing board made their no-surprise decisions during Tuesday’s regular once-monthly meeting in the Travis Education Center in Fairfield.

The employment contract for Pamela Conklin, who was tapped for the job last month, calls for her to be paid $14,472 monthly for five months, beginning Feb. 1, the day after longtime superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak retires following a long career as an educator.

Additionally, Conklin, currently the district’s chief human resources officer, will receive the standard health and benefits packages accorded to senior district managers, as permitted by law.

 

Source: Travis Unified leaders OK interim supe’s pay and talks to consider teacher signing bonuses

Interim supe contract, teacher signing bonuses, energy conservation contract on TUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Possible approval of the interim superintendent’s contract, a proposal to negotiate a signing bonus for certain newly hired teachers, and the possible approval, after a public hearing, of an energy conservation contract with a Phoenix-based firm are on the agenda when Travis Unified leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

The five-member governing board is expected to approve an employment contract with newly named interim superintendent Pamela Conklin, who replaces longtime superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak, who retires Jan. 31 after a long career in education.

In the meantime, under the contract’s terms, Conklin, currently the district’s chief human resources officer, will receive $14,472 monthly, or $173,664 annually, plus the standard health and benefits packages accorded to senior district managers, as provided by law.

 

Source: Interim supe contract, teacher signing bonuses, energy conservation contract on TUSD agenda

Travis Unified school board taps human resources officer as interim superintendent – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A longtime educator and the interim human resources officer for Travis Unified has been named interim superintendent for the 5.500-student school district.

Pamela Conklin will replace Kate Wren Gavlak, who will retire Feb. 1.

The five-member governing board made the announcement at 6 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after emerging from closed session during the trustees’ once-monthly meeting in the Travis Education Center in Fairfield.

The district hired Conklin, a graduate of University of California, Davis who earned a master’s degree in educational administration from San Francisco State University, on Sept. 6. Before coming to Travis, which includes two elementary schools in Vacaville, she served as superintendent of Oakley Union School District, an east Contra Costa County K-8 district with 5,000 students. Before that, she worked for 20 years in Novato Unified, a north Marin County district with 8,000 students.

Source: Travis Unified school board taps human resources officer as interim superintendent

At TUSD tonight: Oaths of office, new officers, 2016-17 budget report – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Like governing boards in other California school districts in December, Travis Unified’s tonight will swear in trustees, elected or unopposed, elect new officers of the board, and hear a report about the first interim budget for 2016-17.

At 5 p.m., before the open session begins, Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak will administer oaths of office to trustees Ivery Hood and Angela Weinzinger, who were unopposed during the fall general election campaign and, thus, automatically re-elected. The five-member governing board will convene in closed session immediately afterward.

At the outset of the open session, at 6, trustees, observing their annual custom and practice, will elect new officers of the board: president, vice president and clerk.

Later in the meeting, Chief Business Officer Jamie Metcalf will update the five-member governing board on the 2016-17 first interim budget numbers.

Source: At TUSD tonight: Oaths of office, new officers, 2016-17 budget report – The Reporter

 

Travis trustees return; hunt for superintendent continues – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

Ivery Hood and Angela Weinzinger are scheduled to be sworn back onto the Travis School District board of trustees on Tuesday, and will get right back to work on finding a new superintendent.

Kate Wren Gavlak is retiring in February after more than 11 years as the top administrator at the district. She started in August 2005.

After the oaths of office for Hood, who was first elected in 2003, and Weinzinger, first elected in 2011, the board will adjourn to closed session to discuss the appointment of an interim superintendent and to do an evaluation of Wren Gavlak, the meeting agenda states.

Source: Travis trustees return; hunt for superintendent continues

Smith, Gaut, Silva lead Fairfield-Suisun School District races – Daily Republic

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By Susan Hiland

Bethany Smith was leading in the Fairfield-Suisun School District Trustee Area 1 race as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday with 1,676 votes compared to 1,279 for Spencer Marks and 1,075 votes for Mike Wright.

Smith was optimistic about the results but remained guarded until the final count comes in later.

“I am feeling very good about where things are at,” Smith said, “but don’t want to count it done yet.”

Joan K. Gaut was clearly the winner for the Area 2 seat with 3,356 votes. Melvin L. Cockhren II had 1,037 votes.

Source: Smith, Gaut, Silva lead Fairfield-Suisun School District races

A one-time payment to teachers, $1.4M portable classroom contract on TUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

A one-time, off-schedule payment to teachers and confidential employees and a $1.4 million contract to build and install portable classrooms at an aging Travis Air Force Base elementary school are on the agenda when Travis Unified leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

The 282 members of the Travis Unified Teachers Association and a small group of confidential district employees, that is, those who have access to confidential personnel, contract and labor relations documents, will receive a 1.7 percent one-time payment.

Union negotiators and district officials agreed on the employee compensation, plus money that will upgrade district safety systems, such as fire alarms, said Shari Herout, president of TUTA.

Source: A one-time payment to teachers, $1.4M portable classroom contract on TUSD agenda

Two Travis Unified candidates unopposed, will be re-elected – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Like their counterparts in Vacaville and Dixon, two Travis Unified trustees are unopposed for their four-year seats and, thus, will be re-elected on Nov. 8, Election Day.

Ivery Hood, a Naval Junior ROTC instructor at Bethel High in Vallejo, and Angela Weinzinger, a dental hygienist, in Vacaville, will be re-sworn in during the annual governing board reorganization meeting in early December.

Board President John Dickerson was unsure why exactly no one else declared their candidacy for a seat on the five-member board.

“It’s an election year, and many people are tired,” particularly about the rancor and divisiveness roiling the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, he said, adding, “We have an excellent board.”

 

Source: Two Travis Unified candidates unopposed, will be re-elected

TUSD trustees face light agenda tonight – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, face a light agenda, with one noteworthy item, a proposed off-schedule, one-time payment to district teachers.

During the September board meeting, Jamie Metcalf, the chief business official, noted an additional $1.2 million in state ADA (average daily attendance) had been found in the budget and was available for a possible payment to teachers.

“It was more than they thought they would have,” Shari Herout, president of the 280-member Travis Unified Teachers Association, said Monday. “The district got permission (from the governing board to bring it to the (negotiating) table.”

“It could be used for employee compensation and/or safety issues,” such as blacktop repairs, fire alarms and school bells, she added.

 

Source: TUSD trustees face light agenda tonight

Travis leaders OK slight budget revision – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

One week after a budget workshop, Travis Unified leaders on Tuesday approved a slight revision to the Fairfield district’s 2016-17 budget, with $54.5 million in expenses and more than $850,000 in deficit spending.

As required by law, 45 days after the governor signs the new fiscal year’s budget, California school districts must provide for public review any changes in revenues and expenses that have been made.

In her slide presentation in the Travis Education Center, Jamie Metcalf, the district’s newly hired chief business officer, noted a loss of about $100,000 in revenues from the budget adopted during a June governing board meeting.

Source: Travis leaders OK slight budget revision

Budget revision, portable classrooms on TUSD agenda – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

One week after a budget workshop, Travis Unified leaders tonight are expected to approve a revision to the Fairfield district’s 2016-17 budget.

Supporting agenda documents with budget details and commentary, if any, were not available at press time Monday, but district officials said they would be posted online today.

As required by law, 45 days after the governor signs the new fiscal year’s budget, California school districts must provide for public review any changes in revenues and expenses that have been made.

At the Aug. 2 workshop, Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak, the governing board and Jamie Metcalf, the chief business officer, reviewed the recently approved $54.5 million budget. No action was taken during the meeting.

 

Source: Budget revision, portable classrooms on TUSD agenda

Travis Unified leaders to hold budget workshop tonight – Daily Republic

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders tonight will lead a workshop about the Fairfield district’s 2016-17 budget.

Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak, the five-member governing board and Jamie Metcalf , the district’s newly hired chief business officer, will discuss the recently approved $54.5 million budget, which has $1.7 million in deficit spending and an ending balance of $3.4 million. No action will be taken during the meeting.

In a June 14 presentation, Metcalf, citing information from the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office in Sacramento, advised trustees to prepare for slower growth, which, in the coming years, likely will mean hiring freezes.

Source: Travis Unified leaders to hold budget workshop tonight

Travis Unified leaders convene budget workshop tonight – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders today will lead a workshop about the Fairfield district’s 2016-17 budget.

Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak, the five-member governing board and Jamie Metcalf, the district’s newly hired chief business officer, will discuss the recently approved $54.5 million budget, which has $1.7 million in deficit spending and an ending balance of $3.4 million. No action will be taken during the meeting.

In a June 14 presentation, Metcalf advised trustees to prepare for slower growth, which, in the coming years, likely will mean hiring freezes.

Source: Travis Unified leaders convene budget workshop tonight

Area school board candidates begin to file election papers – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The local election season is underway for incumbents, challengers and others who want to serve on central and eastern Solano County school boards.

Candidates seeking four- and two-year terms have begun to file documents to place their names on the Nov. 8 ballot, said John Gardner, the assistant at the Solano County Registrar of Voters.

In Vacaville Unified, where five of seven seats are up for grabs, incumbent trustee Michael Kitzes, manager of the Vacaville Children’s Mental Health Clinic for Solano County and the longest-serving governing board member, turned in on Monday his notice that he will seek re-election.

In a Wednesday text message to The Reporter, trustee Nolan Sullivan, a manager with Yolo County, wrote that he was “still deciding” whether to run for re-election.

 

Source: Area school board candidates begin to file election papers

Travis Unified leaders expected to OK 2016-17 budget, LCAP – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, are expected to approve the school district’s $54.5 million proposed budget for 2016-17 and its accompanying Local Control Accountability Plan, or LCAP.

An LCAP, or Local Control Accountability Plan and a key part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula, is essentially a school district’s guide on how it will spend its money on programs that largely affect “unduplicated” students, that is, English language learners, low-income children, ethnic minorities, and foster youth.

Both documents must be submitted to the Solano County Office of Education by 5 p.m. Thursday, as required by law.

At their June 14 meeting, trustees heard newly hired Chief Business Officer Jamie Metcalf lay out, in a slide presentation, the proposed budget, with $1.7 million in deficit spending and an ending balance of $3.4 million. She noted that state officials predict slower growth this year and for the next two outlying years, which likely will mean hiring freezes.

 

Source: Travis Unified leaders expected to OK 2016-17 budget, LCAP

In TUSD, parental involvement is a major focus of the LCAP – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders, when they gather tonight in Fairfield for a special governing board meeting and workshop, will hear from a district official about the importance of parental involvement in their children’s academic life.

Parental involvement will be a “major focus” of the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan through 2019, Sue Brothers, assistant superintendent for student learning and educational services in the 5,100-student district, wrote in an email to The Reporter late Monday.

Among the changes to the LCAP — basically, the document that typically guides all of a California school district’s spending under Gov. Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula — will be the addition of the Parent Project and Parent Project Jr. training next year.

Source: In TUSD, parental involvement is a major focus of the LCAP

TUSD trustees face light agenda tonight – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Travis Unified leaders, when they meet tonight, face a relatively light agenda, including approval of several textbooks, approval of year-end budget transfers, and approval of a notice that the new Vanden High School Library has been completed.

Sue Brothers, assistant superintendent for educational services, will recommend the governing board adopt “Wonders,” an English textbook series for grades K-5, at a cost of more than $800,000 for eight years; adopt “Springboard English,” English language texts for grades 6-8, at a cost of $160,000 for five years; and “California Collections,” an English textbook series for Vanden students, at a cost of $272,000 for eight years. For the all the book purchases, the money will come from three funding sources: mandated, instructional materials and the California Lottery.

Source: TUSD trustees face light agenda tonight

Food costs, budgets, contract proposals on TUSD agenda tonight – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

The costs of breakfasts and lunches, the second interim budget report, and adoption of a district initial contract proposal to teachers is on the agenda when Travis Unified leaders meet tonight in Fairfield.

Ken Forrest, the district’s chief business official, will tell the five-member governing board that cafeteria meal costs largely match those of surrounding districts.

However, a reduction in the state’s reimbursement rate and an increase in labor, food and supply costs require a 10-cent increase for breakfasts and lunches.

The price increase will help the cafeteria fund to continue to bear “indirect costs” from the general fund and continue with program improvements, he will report, according to agenda documents.

Trustees are expected to approve the increase, which will take effect at the outset of the new fiscal year, July 1.

Source: Food costs, budgets, contract proposals on TUSD agenda tonight