April 19, 2012 Board Meeting
4:30 p.m. Closed Session
6:30 p.m. Open Session
Agenda Items
8.0 BOARD WORKSHOP/STRATEGIC PLAN AND OTHER INITIATIVES
8.1 Transition Plan Update for Freeport Elementary School
8.3 Budget Overview Information
8.4 Resolution No. 2700: Resolution in Support of Statewide Education Funding Initiatives
9.0 CONSENT AGENDA
9.1b Approve Personnel Transactions
9.1c Business and Financial Report: Warrants and Checks Issued for the Period of March, 2012
9.1d Approve Board of Education Meeting Minutes for March 1 and 15, 2012 Regular Meetings Updated 4/16/12
10.0 BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION / REPORTS
10.1 Business and Financial Report:
Video Archive
Contact the Board of Education Office at (916) 643-9314.
Response to Public Questions
1. Is the school board aware that by cutting custodial staff 50 percent, this will impact children’s health and safety? If school classrooms can’t be regularly maintained, children could be exposed to unsafe conditions.
Response: The Board is aware of the impact of all of the cuts to classified and certificated staff.
2. What happens if a child vomits in the lunchroom and there is no custodial staff to clean it up because there isn’t enough custodial staff? Isn’t this a health and safety hazard?
Response: Appropriate training will be provided to site staff to deal with emergency situations.
3. If there isn’t enough maintenance and operations staff, how will the buildings be properly maintained? If buildings are not properly maintained, won’t this create health and safety hazards for the children?
Response: Because the District faces a $28 million deficit next year – and another $15 million in mid-year “trigger cuts” if Governor Brown’s tax initiative fails with voters in November – painful decisions must be made, including reductions of the maintenance staff. However, we believe we have preserved staff in areas to address the most critical needs. Health and safety issues will continue to get the highest priority of our limited resources.
4. Isn’t it true that there have been instances in the past in which maintenance and operations work was outsourced to private contractors and it had to be redone?
Response: There have been a few instances in which a contractor failed to perform per the contract. In those cases, we withheld payment. Therefore, they were not paid for work they did not perform.
5. Maintenance and operation workers take pride in their work. Isn’t true that the school board can’t guarantee that a private contractor who has no ties to the school will produce the same high quality service?
Response: The District requires the contractor to post a performance bond and via the plans and design specifications set the standard for performance.
6. If the majority of the school district’s painters are laid off, how can graffiti be cleaned up in a timely manner?
Response: Unless there is an above-average amount of graffiti each week, there will be a sufficient painter work force available to remove graffiti in a timely manner. This was determined by examining a painter work order report for graffiti removal /emergency requests for the last two years and averaging the labor hours per week.
7. If we are laying off permanent employees, why does the District continue to employ per diem or temporary employees?
Response: Per diem staffing late in the year is common practice for most districts. Per diem staff is hired for short-term projects or assignments.