CUCPTSA NEWSLETTER REPORT - DECEMBER 2006
LOCAL
Teacher negotiations
Currently, the district and the Teacher’s Union are at an impasse regarding the size of the teacher’s raise. The district
has offered 4%, with an additional 1%, contingent on district finances at the end of the year. The union has asked for
7%. For every one percent increase that is given to the teachers bargaining unit (this also includes psychologists,
speech pathologists, nurses & counselors), there is a cost to the district of $1.8 million. A state mediator is scheduled
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for December 14 .
Budget
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At the Dec 11 School Board meeting, Mr. McCully will be proposing cuts for both this year (of about $9.4 million) and
next year (of about $9 million). Mr. McCully has said that the mid-year cuts will barely touch classrooms and personnel.
However, the cuts for next year will be much more difficult. Mr. McCully stated that this situation has arisen primarily
due to the fact that the district didn’t make some previously identified cuts nor did it budget for a teacher salary
increase in the 2006-07 school year.
Block Grant funding
Arts & Music Block grant – about $750,000 or $15 per Average Daily Attendance (ADA). This is on-going funding
that may be used for staff development, materials, new teachers & creating district art plans.
Arts, Music & P.E. – about $4 million or $82 per ADA, one-time funds to be used for equipment & supplies. The needs
assessment has been completed and the first parent meeting was held in late November. Further input is being sought
by the beginning of December. No final decisions have been made yet as to how the funds are to be spent. There is a
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county wide meeting on December 8 , where it is anticipated that the state regulations will be made known.
One-Time Discretionary Block grant – about $3.7 million for CUSD split 75% to school sites and 25% to school
districts. School Site Councils at every school are currently developing proposals for the school site money of approx
$56 per ADA . These proposals will be presented at the February Board meeting.
Technology – approx $750,000 district-wide: Scot Sexsmith is working on a matching program with the schools.
Superintendent Search
Leadership Associates, the Mission Viejo-based firm hired by CUSD to find a new superintendent to replace interim
superintendent, Chuck McCully, held community meetings on December 6 & 7, with two public forums on December at
both Ladera Ranch Middle School (MPR) & Aliso Niguel High School (Theater). They hope to have someone named
by around March 1, 2007. If you would like to give input via e-mail, you may do so by e-mailing
leadershipassociates@cox.net.
Special CUSD Board Meeting on Monday, November 27, 2006
The CUSD Board approved two motions at the meeting after hearing public comments. These motions were part of
the Settlement Agreement in the case of Neighborhood Schools for Our Kids vs. CUSD, Orange County Superior
Court, Case No. 05CC07288.
The two motions were as follows:
Motion 1:
Approval of revisions to the Board Policy 5116, Student Attendance Boundaries. The revisions were to eliminate
“neighborhood ethic composition” as a factor in influencing boundary decisions, eliminating “racial and ethnic balance”
when reviewing attendance boundaries, and eliminating the need for schools to be “racially, ethnically identified” for
purposes of boundary adjustments. Approved 7-0.
Motion 2:
Approval of revisions to the high school attendance boundary decision of March 28, 2005. The revisions were to
eliminate specific references to balancing the ethnic diversity of the high schools (including charts on school ethnicity)
and to change the word “should” to “may” in reference to the assignment of some students in the Talega community to
San Juan Hills High School, if and when the extension of La Pata Road is completed. Mr. Casabianca and Dr. Stiff
voted against this. Approved 5-2.
Both Mr. Casabianca and Dr. Stiff asked for clarification as to whether the vote was on the entire set of
boundary recommendations approved on March 28, 2005, or just the revisions. Upon consultation with the
district attorney, President Marlene Draper clarified that it was a vote on the final boundary
recommendations again from March 2005, only now edited with those revisions. Both Mr. Casabianca and
Dr. Stiff voted against the motion.
It should be noted that while the vote on the revisions to the high school boundary decision of March 28, 2005 changed
some verbiage in the recommendations; it did not change the boundaries with the exception of the final assignment of
the Talega communities depending on the uncertainty regarding the future of La Pata Road.
Compiled with input from Julie Evans, Capo Valley Legislation Rep & Martha McNicholas, Niguel Hills PTSA President.
CUSD Presentation on New & Modernized Schools
CUSD held a presentation on the planning, funding, construction & remodeling of schools and other district facilities on
Tuesday, November 28 at the CUSD Education Center, presided over by interim Superintendent, Chuck McCully. A
panel of three experts in school facilities gave an overview of the state school building program - Ron Bennett,
President of School Services of California; Kathleen Moore, Director of School Planning, California Department of
Education; and Dr. Thomas Duffy, Coalition of Adequate School Housing. Following their presentations, two CUSD
representatives, Dave Doomey – Dept. Superintendent, Administrative Services and Sherry Hahn – CFO, explained
where facilities funding comes from and then summarized how state and local funds totaling about $807 million since
1990, were used to build new schools, modernize existing schools and build other district facilities. The state provided
$358 million of the $807 million.
Between 1990 and 2006, CUSD has:
Built 26 new schools at a cost of about $497 million, including $238 million from the state
Spent about $70 million on other construction, including $10 million in state funding. About half of this went to
building the new Education Center at a cost of $35.5 million.
Modernized more than 20 schools at a cost of about $66 million, including $41 million from the state
Plans to spend about $173 million for current & future construction projects, including $69 million from the
state. $140 million of this will go to building San Juan Hills High School, scheduled to open Fall 2007.
Originally, the state and local matching fund split for modernization was 80/20 respectively. It was changed to 60/40 in
2002 when Prop 47 passed (Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act), as the California Senate
was concerned that if the ratio didn’t change, the state money would run out too quickly. This same match exists today.
For new construction the match is 50/50.
A separate breakdown was given for both San Juan Hills High School and the Education Center.
San Juan Hills High School was built with a combination of Measure A funds, Developer fees and CFD’s (also known
as Mello-Roos) from Talega, Ladera and Rancho Madrina.
The Education Center was built using funds from the following:
Certificate of Participation - $22.5 million
CFD 87 -1 Aliso Viejo/ Mission Viejo Improvement Area 1 - $12 million
CFD 2004 – 1 Rancho Madrina - $ 0.5 million
Fund 25 – Capital Facilities - $ 0.5 million
Total - $35.5 million
The Rancho Mission Viejo project was also discussed. This is planned to have 14,000 new homes on approximately
25,000 acres. New schools will be needed but not in the first phase.
After all the presentations had concluded, there was a Q & A session. Audience members wrote down their questions
on index cards and they were then forwarded to Chuck McCully. Questions covered a wide range of issues including:
portables – size, quantity, age, air quality; planning needs for special education students; state input on new school
sites; facility priorities; seismic regulations; accessing state funds; Measure A funds still available; Redevelopment
Agency funds and surplus property. Many of the questions were in regard to the new Education Center and why the
community wasn’t told that Mello-Roos from both Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo were used to help fund this project but
was instead told that San Juan Capistrano Redevelopment Agency funds were being used. Dave Doomey
acknowledged that there was misinformation out in the community and he apologized for that. He stated that Mello-
Roos funds “were used in the building and that’s the way it should have been stated from the beginning.”
Mr. Doomey also shared that there is no direct benefit to Mello-Roos, only a general benefit, meaning that, under the
law, Mello-Roos from any particular city may be spent anywhere within the school district boundaries. The state does
not provide matching funding for any administrative facilities.
Orange County Board of Supervisors
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As Lou Correa will be the new 34 District California Senator, that creates a vacancy in the 1 district for the OC
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B.O.S. A special election will be held on Feb 6 and the person elected will take office sometime in March.
Upcoming schedule for the Legislation Team (tentative)
December 6: Legislation Co-Chairs make one day trip to Sacramento
January 28 -30: California State PTA Legislation Conference
January 30: One day trip to Sacramento for legislative team members
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March 13 – 14: 4 District Sacramento Safari
March 14: One day trip to Sacramento for legislative team members
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April 17 : One day trip to Sacramento for legislative team members
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April 19: 30 Annual EdSource Forum. Money Talks: New Research & Candid Conversations about
California School Finance
May 3 – 6: California State PTA Convention in Sacramento
June 5- 6: CUCPTSA entire legislation team’s two-day trip to Sacramento
STATE
Elected officials are sworn in and the 2007-2008 Regular Session convenes at noon on 12/4/06. The legislators will
break for the holidays and return on 1/3/07 and the Governor must submit his budget on 1/10/07.
Here is a first look at next year’s budget by the California Legislative Analyst Office from their publication “California's
Fiscal Outlook: LAO Projections, 2006-07 Through 2011-12” of November 15, 2006:
Following a year in which major revenue increases were allocated to education and other state programs, California
policymakers will face a much tougher budget in 2007-08. According to our updated forecast, the state’s budget faces
operating shortfalls in excess of $5 billion in both 2007-08 and 2008-09, which will require significant actions to
eliminate.
In this report the LAO also believes that education funding in the state should be reformed, one of the Legislative
Team’s messages.
Opportune Time to Plan for Education Reform. These large projected increases in Proposition 98 funding provide
the Legislature with a special opportunity to plan for major new investments in K-14 education. Because the additional
resources would become available over the next five years, the Legislature could use 2007-08 to develop a coherent,
overarching reform plan. We believe the K-12 component of the plan should include clear student achievement goals
and flexibility in how to meet them as well as fiscal reforms that would allow monies to be pooled and administration to
be streamlined. This part of the plan might benefit from more than twenty academic studies relating to K-12
governance, efficiency, and adequacy that are to be released in early 2007. We believe the CCC component of the
plan should identify desired educational outcomes (such as improved course and program completion rates) and link
new funding to the achievement of those outcomes. For both K-12 and CCC, the plan should distinguish between
limited-term and ongoing costs.
In addition, the Legislature could consider ways to integrate recent initiatives (including the Quality Education
Investment Act, which provides $2.6 billion to K-12 and about $300 million to CCC) into a broader reform plan. In short,
by creating a long-term plan for the strategic use of additional education monies, the Legislature would be able to
maximize the benefit of the new funds-providing school districts and community colleges with time to become familiar
with reform objectives and implement them in an effective manner.
There will continue to be dialogue with our policy makers by our Legislative Team in making the best choices for not
only our students here in CUSD, but throughout the state. In keeping with this action plan, our 3 Co-Chairs will be
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visiting Sacramento on December 6 , delivering letters from our parents and meeting with legislators and state
employees regarding education.
FEDERAL
Budget
Work on the nine annual spending bills has yet to be completed will not continue until the new Congress convenes on
January 4, 2007. So far, Congress has adopted only two of the 11 fiscal year 2007 (FY07) spending bills-those for
Defense and Homeland Security. Congress adopted a continuing resolution to extend funding for those programs not
covered by the Defense and Homeland Security appropriations bills through December 8 at fiscal year 2006 (FY06)
levels.
PTA Launches Video Game Education Campaign
Furthering their shared commitment to educating parents about video games, PTA and the Entertainment Software
Rating Board (ESRB) have launched OK to Play, a nationwide video game ratings education campaign. The campaign
is distributing 1.3 million brochures to more than 25,000 PTAs across the nation to encourage and enable PTAs to
educate parents about video game ratings. The brochures are available in both English and Spanish. Additional
information on video game safety and the campaign is available at www.pta.org/videogames. Visit the Media and
Technology section of www.pta.org for more tips on managing kids' video game play, television viewing, and Internet
use.
(Courtesy of the National PTA’s publication, “This Week in Washington” dated November 22, 2006).
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