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Update on the postponed meeting with the Superintendent Dr. Ed Brand!!!
PLEASE PASS THIS EMAIL ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS THAT PAY MELLO-ROOS or anyone with a child 4th grade and up since they will be affected by the overcrowding the Open Boundaries causes (students stay at the school until finished = 4 years) Hello Concerned Parents and neighbors/taxpayers, I apologize that some of you did not get the notice changing the venue in time to attend the meeting in the different location. Dr. Brand had cancelled his attendance at a very late date and so did not approve of the use of the theater for our meeting. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to discuss the issues with you, so we met with some of you at the Mall food court. In hind sight we should have posted someone at the theater to redirect you to our new location. Bertha Lopez (Board Member) did attend to hear our concerns. We have an update to provide. Dr. Brand agreed to reschedule the public forum to the 2nd week of September. We have asked for the meeting to be on Wed, Sept 12th at 7pm. He has not confirmed this date yet. He did post a video addressing Open Boundaries and Mello-Roos on the district web site http://www.sweetwaterschools.org/superintendent-speaks-about-enrollment-and-mello-roos/ . We don’t think it addresses our issues and questions and wish he would spend his time talking with us. It states in the video and FAQ that he uses Mello-Roos (17 CFDs) all combined into one fund. I’d like to know if that is what is supposed to happen with Mello-Roos money. I could be wrong, but I always thought my Mello-Roos was for our local CFD schools (new construction) not the entire district. Dr. Brand has offered to allow us to visit school sites to see that there is ”no impact” from the Open Boundaries policy. We asked that instead of Bernardo and me, that a few parents visit their child’s school at a time they wish and have access to review whatever they need to. The schools of most impacted by the Open Boundaries (and the ones we will review) are: Eastlake Middle and High, Bonita Middle and High, Otay Ranch High and Rancho Del Rey Middle. If you would like to be one of our on-site parent researchers please let Bernardo [email protected] and Wanda [email protected] know ASAP to set up the visit before our public forum. We need to have a LARGE attendance at our upcoming Public Forum and school board meeting so that the board will need to address these issues. We have demonstrated that we have organized our efforts and several of us are working on various parts of these issues (Open Boundaries and Mello-Roos). I appreciate all the help and we all look forward to finding out what you have found. We would all like to have a Mello-Roos expert answer our questions, so if you have access to that expert please let us know. If you have experienced impacts that you believe are from the new Open Boundaries policy, I ask that you email me with your name, phone number, school and your specific issue/impact. I will compile them. We have heard things from multiple schedule changes that affected the student grades, not enough books, 50 students in a class, students not able to change to a class they need/want, teachers teaching an extra 6th class because no other teachers were hired/available, traffic issues, bathroom issues, P.E. Locker issues, extremely large sports teams now have transportation issues, food service issues, seniors being asked to take only 5 classes and not 6 to save on teachers, etc. Please ask your child about their day and ask specific questions. Children adapt and “make due” when they are faced with the impacts they have been dealing with (don’t just let them tell you things are “fine” but ask for details). We need to make the board aware of these impacts otherwise this will continue and will affect students next year too. Dr. Brand told me that he saved millions because students stayed in the district, but I stated it also had a cost. He disagreed. I would like to outline for him the costs our students paid for this Open Boundaries policy. The board is thinking about calling a special meeting on Sept 6th to discuss Dr. Brand’s new contract. He is currently a contractor and the board should have been looking for a permanent Superintendent this past year and a half. Apparently they haven’t find anyone. The board is considering giving him a new contract for the remaining 2 years (at $20,000 per month!!!). Keep an eye on the School Board’s web site to see if they post a notice 24 hours in advance of their meeting. http://boarddocs.suhsd.k12.ca.us/Board.nsf/Public (under Meetings Tab) SAVE THE DATE: Monday, 9/24/2012 Next Regular Board Meeting Time 6:00pm at Board Room, Administration Center, 1130 Fifth Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911 (Its possible they might move the location if they expect large numbers of parents to attend.) To contact the superintendent you can email him at [email protected] or contact his office at Office of the Superintendent (619) 691-5555 You can also email the Board of Trustees at their individual addresses found at: http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/schoolboard/members.asp If you haven’t yet, please sign in at my Googledoc (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmMqjp2gamQJdERsamZJWEJRcWlrTi0xVEFIUFRYTGc ) and let us know who you are and why you are interested (name of school or taxpayer, etc.). We are having difficulty determining how many we are since so many of you have been forwarding my emails to several of your friends and neighbors (THANK YOU for that). Check out the issues on Facebook (and “LIKE” us!): SAFEGUARDING EDUCATION IN CHULA VISTA https://www.facebook.com/?sk=welcome#!/SafeguardingEducationInChulaVista Or an education issue Blog at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/south-bay-education-issues/ Check out Twitter: William Richter @wrichter00 ________________
Update on the postponed meeting with the Superintendent Dr. Ed Brand!!!
PLEASE PASS THIS EMAIL ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS THAT PAY MELLO-ROOS or anyone with a child 4th grade and up since they will be affected by the overcrowding the Open Boundaries causes (students stay at the school until finished = 4 years) Hello Concerned Parents and neighbors/taxpayers, I apologize that some of you did not get the notice changing the venue in time to attend the meeting in the different location. Dr. Brand had cancelled his attendance at a very late date and so did not approve of the use of the theater for our meeting. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to discuss the issues with you, so we met with some of you at the Mall food court. In hind sight we should have posted someone at the theater to redirect you to our new location. Bertha Lopez (Board Member) did attend to hear our concerns. We have an update to provide. Dr. Brand agreed to reschedule the public forum to the 2nd week of September. We have asked for the meeting to be on Wed, Sept 12th at 7pm. He has not confirmed this date yet. He did post a video addressing Open Boundaries and Mello-Roos on the district web site http://www.sweetwaterschools.org/superintendent-speaks-about-enrollment-and-mello-roos/ . We don’t think it addresses our issues and questions and wish he would spend his time talking with us. It states in the video and FAQ that he uses Mello-Roos (17 CFDs) all combined into one fund. I’d like to know if that is what is supposed to happen with Mello-Roos money. I could be wrong, but I always thought my Mello-Roos was for our local CFD schools (new construction) not the entire district. Dr. Brand has offered to allow us to visit school sites to see that there is ”no impact” from the Open Boundaries policy. We asked that instead of Bernardo and me, that a few parents visit their child’s school at a time they wish and have access to review whatever they need to. The schools of most impacted by the Open Boundaries (and the ones we will review) are: Eastlake Middle and High, Bonita Middle and High, Otay Ranch High and Rancho Del Rey Middle. If you would like to be one of our on-site parent researchers please let Bernardo [email protected] and Wanda [email protected] know ASAP to set up the visit before our public forum. We need to have a LARGE attendance at our upcoming Public Forum and school board meeting so that the board will need to address these issues. We have demonstrated that we have organized our efforts and several of us are working on various parts of these issues (Open Boundaries and Mello-Roos). I appreciate all the help and we all look forward to finding out what you have found. We would all like to have a Mello-Roos expert answer our questions, so if you have access to that expert please let us know. If you have experienced impacts that you believe are from the new Open Boundaries policy, I ask that you email me with your name, phone number, school and your specific issue/impact. I will compile them. We have heard things from multiple schedule changes that affected the student grades, not enough books, 50 students in a class, students not able to change to a class they need/want, teachers teaching an extra 6th class because no other teachers were hired/available, traffic issues, bathroom issues, P.E. Locker issues, extremely large sports teams now have transportation issues, food service issues, seniors being asked to take only 5 classes and not 6 to save on teachers, etc. Please ask your child about their day and ask specific questions. Children adapt and “make due” when they are faced with the impacts they have been dealing with (don’t just let them tell you things are “fine” but ask for details). We need to make the board aware of these impacts otherwise this will continue and will affect students next year too. Dr. Brand told me that he saved millions because students stayed in the district, but I stated it also had a cost. He disagreed. I would like to outline for him the costs our students paid for this Open Boundaries policy. The board is thinking about calling a special meeting on Sept 6th to discuss Dr. Brand’s new contract. He is currently a contractor and the board should have been looking for a permanent Superintendent this past year and a half. Apparently they haven’t find anyone. The board is considering giving him a new contract for the remaining 2 years (at $20,000 per month!!!). Keep an eye on the School Board’s web site to see if they post a notice 24 hours in advance of their meeting. http://boarddocs.suhsd.k12.ca.us/Board.nsf/Public (under Meetings Tab) SAVE THE DATE: Monday, 9/24/2012 Next Regular Board Meeting Time 6:00pm at Board Room, Administration Center, 1130 Fifth Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911 (Its possible they might move the location if they expect large numbers of parents to attend.) To contact the superintendent you can email him at [email protected] or contact his office at Office of the Superintendent (619) 691-5555 You can also email the Board of Trustees at their individual addresses found at: http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/schoolboard/members.asp If you haven’t yet, please sign in at my Googledoc (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmMqjp2gamQJdERsamZJWEJRcWlrTi0xVEFIUFRYTGc ) and let us know who you are and why you are interested (name of school or taxpayer, etc.). We are having difficulty determining how many we are since so many of you have been forwarding my emails to several of your friends and neighbors (THANK YOU for that). Check out the issues on Facebook (and “LIKE” us!): SAFEGUARDING EDUCATION IN CHULA VISTA https://www.facebook.com/?sk=welcome#!/SafeguardingEducationInChulaVista Or an education issue Blog at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/south-bay-education-issues/ Check out Twitter: William Richter @wrichter00 ________________