Schools supe gets green light on fundraising plan – Benicia Herald

By Keri Luiz

Trustees warm to idea of over-arching strategy.

Benicia Unified School District trustees met early and briefly Thursday so they and staff could attend back-to-school events at the city’s four elementary schools.

Foremost on the abbreviated agenda was Superintendent Janice Adams’s request for direction from the board on development of a plan for coordinated fundraising efforts in the district.

Though there was no formal vote, Adams received strong support from the board for moving forward to develop such a plan.

Adams told trustees of a presentation she attended by Paul Lanning of RPR Fundraising, a Los Angeles company that consults with nonprofits on efficient fundraising strategies.

via Schools supe gets green light on fundraising plan.

School board to strategize on fundraising – Benicia Herald

by Keri Luiz

Superintendent, staff call for ‘coordinated’ effort, greater efficiency

The Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees will meet early Thursday, with a closed session at 5:30 p.m. and open session at 6 p.m. In the open session, trustees will discuss fundraising in the new school year.

Superintendent Janice Adams wrote in a report that she will seek direction from the board for development of a strategic plan for coordinated fundraising efforts.

“In order to support high-quality programs and enhance opportunities for students the district is committed to supporting efforts to enhance revenue for the district,” Adams wrote.

She added that the district is fortunate in its community support from many organizations, including Benicia Education Foundation, parent-teacher groups, booster clubs, service organizations, nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations.

via School board to strategize on fundraising.

Vacaville school board to hear travel expense report – Daily Republic

By Susan Winlow

A review of Vacaville School District travel expenses will be conducted Thursday as the school board prepares to hear a report that its members asked for during the summer.

Superintendent Ken Jacopetti was directed by the board in August 2013 to review all travel requests by air and out-of-state requests for six months and provide a report of the approved travel at the February meeting.

Staff reports list the activities, or pending activities, of nearly 30 employees from July 1, 2013, until April 27, 2014.

via Vacaville school board to hear travel expense report Daily Republic.

Dan Walters: Lawsuit opens new front in California’s school war – Sacramento Bee

By Dan Walters

A new front in the years-long political and legal war over the future of California’s immense and immensely expensive public school system opened this week in a Los Angeles courtroom.

The war pits the education establishment, which argues that more money is the best way to improve academic outcomes, against civil rights advocates and reform groups backed by business interests and wealthy individuals, which contend that structural change is needed.

via Dan Walters: Lawsuit opens new front in California’s school war – Dan Walters – The Sacramento Bee.

Speak up now for what you want – The Reporter

Published by The Reporter

Last Thursday night, I went to two very different meetings. One was about Vacaville’s future and hardly anybody was there. The other was about a stadium, and more than100 people attended. At one meeting, our elected representatives got an accurate accounting of community feeling, while at the other — nothing.

The well-attended meeting was a presentation to the Vacaville Unified School District Governing Board about building a stadium at Wood High School. Organizers explained how they walked neighborhoods, organized community meetings, and met with community organizations.

 

via Speak up now for what you want – The Reporter.

School board to elect new officers, receive Wood stadium report – Daily Republic

By Mike Corpos

The Vacaville school board has a busy night planned Thursday for its regular meeting as its members prepare to wrap up the 2013 calendar year.

On the agenda is the election of new officers for 2014 as well as a major milestone in the potential construction of a football stadium at Will C. Wood High.

First on the agenda, the board is scheduled to elect a new president, vice president and clerk for 2014. David McCallum now serves as board president, Jerry Eaton as vice president and Sherie Mahlberg as board clerk. Superintendent Ken Jacopetti is also expected to be reappointed as secretary of the board in accordance with board bylaws.

via School board to elect new officers, receive Wood stadium report Daily Republic.

Fairfield-Suisun board meets tonight – The Reporter

By Reporter Staff Posted:

Like other California school districts typically do in December, Fairfield-Suisun Unified will reshuffle its governing board when it meets tonight in open session in Fairfield.

In other matters, the seven trustees likely approve the first interim budget report, as presented by Kelly Morgan, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, and Laneia Grindle, director of fiscal services.

They project revenues to be nearly $160 million, expenses $168 million, with $8 million in deficit spending.

Trustees are expected to approve a motion to postpone more expansion at Laurel Creek and Suisun Elementary schools until the potential impacts of class-size reduction can be studied in greater detail.

via Fairfield-Suisun board meets tonight – The Reporter.

Budget Deal Could Offer School Districts Relief from Sequestration – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

School districts would get some relief from the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration under an agreement announced Tuesday by a bipartisan pair of House and Senate negotiators.

The plan would roll back most of the so-called sequester cuts for the next two years, leaving the door open for federal lawmakers to boost spending on disadvantaged children and students in special education.

via Budget Deal Could Offer School Districts Relief from Sequestration – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Dan Walters: Brown’s overhaul of California school finances sparks infighting over details – Sacramento Bee

By Dan Walters

Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark overhaul of public schools’ finances was aimed at their most vexing issue – chronically low academic achievements among poor or “English-learner” students.

Not only would more money be spent – billions more, in fact, thanks to a tax increase – but state aid would be “weighted” toward districts with large numbers of targeted kids.

via Dan Walters: Brown’s overhaul of California school finances sparks infighting over details – Bee Capitol & California – The Sacramento Bee.

Some sober words for school boards amid predictions of plenty | EdSource Today

By John Fensterwald

For the first time since the Great Recession, school districts are getting more money this year from the state; some – big beneficiaries of the new Local Control Funding Formula – are getting a lot. And that increase is expected to be larger next year, in one-time and ongoing money, if the Legislative Analyst’s predictions for a rebounding economy are on target.

School finance experts John Gray and Joel Montero, however, injected a cautionary note during a presentation Friday at the California School Boards Association’s annual convention in San Diego.

via Some sober words for school boards amid predictions of plenty | EdSource Today.

Financing the Education of High-Need Students : Education Next

By Chester E. Finn, Jr.

America’s approach to the education of children with disabilities is antiquated, costly, and ineffective. “Special education” as we know it is broken—and repainting the surface won’t repair it. It cries out for a radical overhaul. Far too many children emerge from our special-ed system without the skills, knowledge, and competencies that they need for a successful life that fully capitalizes on their abilities. This ineffectual system is also very, very expensive. Yet for a host of reasons—inertia, timidity, political gridlock, fear of litigation, fear of interest groups, ignorance, lack of imagination, and so on—neither our education leaders nor our policy leaders have shown any inclination to modernize it. Instead, they settle for “paint jobs”—waivers and the like.

 

via Financing the Education of High-Need Students : Education Next.

Parents know little about funding law but want to get involved, EdSource survey finds | EdSource Today

By Susan Frey

A new statewide survey by EdSource suggests that parents are eager to get involved in school district spending decisions, but underscores the need for districts to actively engage parents if they are to fulfill their new role under the state’s Local Control Funding Formula.

Across the board, parents are generally satisfied with their children’s schools, but the survey revealed differences between high- and low-income parents. The survey suggests that districts will need to make extra efforts to connect to low-income parents, who reported a higher degree of dissatisfaction with their child’s school than parents with higher incomes. Lower-income parents were also more likely to feel that only a small group of parents are engaged in decision-making opportunities at their child’s school.

via Parents know little about funding law but want to get involved, EdSource survey finds | EdSource Today.

Vallejo schools win $50,000 grant to address trauma – Vallejo Times Herald

Times-Herald staff report Posted:

The Vallejo school district has secured a $50,000 grant to develop a youth trauma recovery program.

During a ceremony commemorating the grand opening of Kaiser Permanente Vacaville’s Level II Trauma Center Thursday, officials announced that the Vallejo City Unified School District’s Positive Youth Justice Initiative would benefit from the grant, along with two other programs in the county, according to an email from Kaiser officials.

via Vallejo schools win $50,000 grant to address trauma – Vallejo Times Herald.

LAO projects huge Prop. 98 increase for K-12, community colleges next year | EdSource Today

By John Fensterwald

From gloom to boom, how quickly things change. A resurgent economy and recalculations of revenue from the past two years will leave the state budget with a multi-billion-dollar surplus next year and K-12 schools and community colleges with unexpected billions more to spend, according to a projection that the Legislative Analyst’s Office released on Wednesday.

“The state’s budgetary condition is stronger than at any time in the past decade,” the LAO concluded in its 2014-15 Fiscal Outlook. “The state’s structural deficit – in which ongoing spending commitments were greater than projected revenues – is no more.”

via LAO projects huge Prop. 98 increase for K-12, community colleges next year | EdSource Today.

BUSD trustees OK 5-year assessment | The Benicia Herald

By Keri Luiz

The Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Thursday to OK a report outlining an array of repairs and expenses the district will face in the next five years.

Trustees approved the Five-Year Facility Ass-essment Report and gave Superintendent Janice Adams direction on how to begin seeking funding options.

In other business, the board withdrew consideration to have trustees’ dental benefits restored.

The five-year report lists items in three categories: deferred maintenance, major repair and replacement, estimated to cost $13,294,800; deferred maintenance adjusted for capital improvements — a higher level of deferred maintenance — estimated to cost $32,664,804; and deferred maintenance adjusted for capital improvements and new construction, or facility needs that would be new to the district, at an estimated cost of $49,611,259.

via BUSD trustees OK 5-year assessment | The Benicia Herald.

Dan Walters: Conflict hits California’s new school finance plan – The Sacramento Bee

By Dan Walters

When Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature overhauled the distribution of state aid to California schools this year, their stated purpose was to improve the educations of poor and “English-learner” students.

Spending more on those kids to improve their subpar academic skills had wide support, not only in the educational establishment but also from civil rights groups and business leaders worried about having competent employees.

via Dan Walters: Conflict hits California’s new school finance plan – Dan Walters – The Sacramento Bee.

Parents push for more prominent place at the school budget table | EdSource Today

By Jane Meredith Adams

Four months into the rollout of the new state education funding law, parent leaders across California are trying to ensure that “local control” over school spending truly includes parents.

The law, known as the Local Control Funding Formula, is a landmark shift that gives school districts more control over spending decisions that had previously been mandated by the state, and outlines eight key priorities that districts must consider when allocating their resources. One of those new priorities is parent involvement, and implementation of the law begins with the requirement that districts engage parents in crafting budgets.

via Parents push for more prominent place at the school budget table | EdSource Today.

Spending plan for Common Core funds OK’d in Fairfield – Daily Republic

By Ryan McCarthy

No citizen spoke Thursday and the board of trustees didn’t discuss a $4.2 million spending plan for Common Core before unanimously approving the measure.

Fairfield-Suisun School District trustees at their Sept. 10 meeting had reviewed plans for the state funds when the school district staff said $2.1 million would go toward technology such as computer labs, $1.3 million for instructional materials and $750,000 for professional development of teachers.

via Spending plan for Common Core funds OK’d in Fairfield Daily Republic.

SACS2013ALL Software (Updated October 18, 2013) – Financial Reporting (CA Dept of Education)

The SACS2013ALL software contains the components necessary to prepare the 2013–14 budget and interim reports and the 2012–13 unaudited actual reports. This special October 18, 2013 updated version includes the minimum changes needed for the 2013–14 interim reports due to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). See the Details of SACS2013ALL Software Update section below for a description of changes. Note that the User Guide was not updated in this release. CDE is working through the remaining details of the new funding formula and will include additional LCFF-related changes in next year’s SACS2014 and SACS2014ALL software.

via SACS2013ALL Software (Updated October 18, 2013) – Financial Reporting (CA Dept of Education).

Funding for School Construction and Modernization – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

The State Allocation Board (SAB) [http://www.dgs.ca.gov/opsc/AboutUs/sab.aspx] today disbursed $285 million for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools throughout the state for new construction and modernization projects, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

via Funding for School Construction and Modernization – Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education).