“Preliminary” was the operative word at the June 10 school board meeting, with district administrators and board members reviewing a budget and school re-opening proposals that will most certainly evolve over the next few weeks.
At the state level, legislators are negotiating with the governor over more funding for K-12; locally, a school task force consisting of teachers, students, parents, classified staff, and others are honing in on different back-to-school scenarios.
Before the meeting began, however, Piedmont’s newly formed Black Student Union presented a video that shared the experiences of its students in local schools. The group formed earlier this year, and includes around 40 high school students. According to the District’s web site, 3 percent of students in Piedmont schools are African American. In the video, students shared why it was important to organize and talked about some of the alienating experiences that have defined their school days.
Budget uncertainties keep PUSD financial picture murky
Chief Financial Officer Ruth Alahydoian presented a draft budget that was based on the original projected $2 million shortfall first outlined by Governor Newsom in May. She noted that because current negotiations between state legislators and the Governor are expected to result in more funding for schools, PUSD’s financial picture should improve; but as of Friday, legislators and the Governor had yet to make a deal.
Additionally, Alahydoian noted that the $2.6 million Measure H funds set aside for teacher pay and retention will mitigate many of the cuts outlined in the preliminary budget. This placeholder budget — which includes cuts to classified staff — will be replaced with a new one once the funding picture becomes more clear.
Findings on school re-opening show some discrepancy between parent and teacher preferences
Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Wozniak and Director of Instructional Technology Stephanie Griffin shared feedback they received through the ThoughtExchange process, student surveys, and the early work of the advisory task force.
Over 1,600 respondents used the tool to answer this question: What are the most important things our school district needs to think about as we continue to respond to COVID-19 and plan for the future?
Results showed that the health and safety of students and staff was the top priority. Next, learning from, and improving upon, the distance learning experience this spring was cited. Including teachers in the planning process and developing a plan soon were also highlighted as important.
School trustee Cory Smegal noted that the Board had received around 50 emails, 11 from teachers and the rest from parents and community members. She noted that of the teachers who wrote in, the majority were advocating for 100% distance learning, whereas parents were more likely to be in support of in-person school, reflecting the general sentiments also expressed in the ThoughtExchange survey process.
Still, even between the extreme positions posited in the ThoughtExchange process (kids in classrooms full-time vs stay home) there was some common ground around supporting teachers with resources and training, treating elementary school different than upper schools, and agreeing that if you’re sick, stay home.
In addition to gathering this crowd-sourced data, a 105-member advisory task force group (parents, teachers, classified staff, students, administrators, and others) has been meeting (virtually) in small groups since June 4 to brainstorm plans for hybrid school models and full distance learning. (You can view the full list of school schedule prototypes for elementary and secondary schools in the Board materials here.) Their final meeting was today. A draft re–opening plan is expected to come before the Board at the June 24 meeting.
Task force members are:
Student representatives: Victoria Houston, Blaise Harrison, Alyssa Ultreras, Audrey Edel, Eleanor Black, Megan Hiller, Tommy McNeil, Anthony Wong, Wilson Wong, Sadie Tschider, Briggs Settlemier.
Parent representatives: Sara Davison-DeVries (Beach), Ruchi Medhekar (Beach), Teebie Saunders (Havens), Lisa Carnazzo (Havens), Anne Hawkins (Havens), Emily Berning Weisner (Wildwood), Malinda Walters (Wildwood), Jenna Caldwell (PMS), Blair Paige (PMS), Teddy Gray King (PMS), Alissa Welch (PMS), Jim Crawford- Jakubiak (PMS), Ben Daniel (MHS), Sharese Hill (MHS), Verita Molyneaux (MHS), Laura Katter (PHS), Gina Lambright (PHS), Melanie Marcus (PHS), Jen Cavenaugh (PHS), and Tracy Machle (PHS).
Elementary Staff Representatives: Linsey Sandrew, Laura Remer, Louisa Cheung, Anjuna Lohnes, Lianne Morrison, Tracy Broback, Helen Brown, Janine Mortan, Jessica Sprague, Stephanie Valdez- Kaminsky, Claire Stephens, Katherine Thompson, Jessica Hedbavny, Kate MacDonald, Marianne Peirce, Genesis Berrios, Michelle Lucas, Nancy Andrada, Christina Wagg, Christine Petersen
Middle School Staff Representatives: John White, Gabriel Kessler, Annie Holland, Camilla Thayer, Alison Kelly, Karen Bloom, Craig Best, Jennifer Gulassa, Amy Savage, Amy Sharp, Brooke Chin, Colesie Sterling, Virginia Sanseau, Nicole Straley
High School Staff Representatives: Elise Marks, Diana Miller, Aaron Barlin, Amy Moorhead, Jana Branisa, Flint Christensen, Marna Chamberlain, Auban Willats, David Keller, Allison Cota, Emily Boyes, Emily Hook, Laura Holley, Carrie Poole, Jeff Peters, Debbi Hill, Kim Taylor, Dena McManis, Amy Symons Burke, Viki Salazar, Carole Frascati James
District-Wide Staff Representatives: Terra Salazar, Franki Davies, Amy Jo Goldfarb, Carol Menz
Site and District Administrators: Michael Corritone, Anne Dolid, Carol Cramer, Ryan Fletcher, Karyn Shipp, Shannon Fierro, Adam Littlefield, Irma Munoz, Erin Igoe, Hillary Crissinger, Michael Brady, Stephanie Griffin, Cheryl Wozniak
School Board Members: Cory Smegal, Megan Pillsbury