School Board Meeting Report by Piedmont High School student Marie Marchant –

On Wednesday, March 11, I attended a School Board meeting at City Hall, which is held every second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. The purpose of the meeting was to go over new courses for the high school, budgets and to hear from the community and any concerns or input about the education system in Piedmont.

During the meeting the main issues addressed were the new middle school and high school pathways for mathematics. Randall Booker, the head of the new program proposal, emphasized how students can choose new pathways that suit them academically and in a way that makes approaching math courses a more comfortable process regarding their understanding and maturity.  Included in the new course pathways is a Summer School option where students can take a course in four weeks over the summer, 3 hours a day, contrary to many other summer courses elsewhere that can take up to 6 weeks.

Doug Ireland, one of the board members, wasn’t in favor for the summer program because of feedback from other summer programs at Piedmont and how few students enroll. He was also concerned it would be a waste of the School District’s money and harm the budget. However, all of the other board members were in favor of the summer program.

Andrea Swenson, another board member, loved how there are so many options for students and because there are so many different types of students, this program will try to relieve some of that stress that Piedmont is notorious for putting on their students.

However, I would be concerned it would put more pressure on students to take the “harder path” or the more advanced pathways because their parents want them to get to a higher level of math quicker or because that is what students feel is expected of them, not because they feel as if they are ready to challenge themselves. I also think that it could possibly make choosing classes more difficult not only for the students but for the counselors as well; the more specialty classes the harder it becomes to figure out schedules for all of the students. Booker also mentioned that support classes are built into the budget, meaning that students have the option of self study, and that there is no requirement to take summer courses to get into calculus AB.

Another large topic was the proposal for a new set of computer science classes. High School Principal Brent Daniels spoke about redesigning the computer course to make the class more relevant, including new subjects such as robotics, web design, computer applications and more. Mr. Mattix, the computer sciences teacher spoke about creating a mobile apps development course, which was suggested by the parent community. The course would be at college level, a 5 unit course, and made for more advanced students looking to challenge themselves. The University of San Francisco has offered to help with the development of the class and try to make it a possible AP course.

A couple other topics were brought up by some people in the audience as well. One woman, she did not state her name, was representing the Parent Clubs and talked about the recent visit WASC paid to the school. It was reported that WASC was extremely pleased by the school and specifically with the new bell schedule, they also highlighted the Wellness Center and how important they thought it was to give support to the students.

The Parent Clubs also reported on creating a mini fundraiser for the teachers lounge because they have felt that it is outdated and has become a storage area.

My interviewee, Ms. Betsy Anderson, Recreation Commissioner, came to the board meeting to encourage people to take a survey on the Piedmont Recreation Department. She said that the Recreation Department is open to all feedback and they want to know what programs are being used the most and if there is more that they can offer to the community for example programming for adults. She said that she has already sent emails out to many in the community, but she just wanted the school board and those at the meeting to take the survey so that the recreational department can get more information about what the community particularly enjoys having around.

The School Board meeting touched on a number of other subjects such as the School District budget, recent activities of the high school students, such as Camp Everytown and much more.

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Report on March 18th Recreation Commission by Piedmont High School student, Austin Willis-

On Wednesday, March 18, 2015, the Recreation Commission met as they normally do on every third Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm. The Recreation Commission is the government body in charge of the Rec Center and all its programs, as well as all the sports fields owned by the city.

The whole meeting was kicked off with a 10 minute long public forum in which three different students spoke on separate issues (including myself). The first student to speak was Xavier Prospero, who suggested that we have a large clock at Hampton in order to make it easier for athletes to tell time while they are playing their sport.

This led into the idea of a possible large clock at Witter Field as well, even though technically the Recreation Commission is not in charge of Witter Field; it is a School District responsibility.

Next, I spoke about a program at the Rec Department known as “Play”. This program allows young teens around Piedmont to put their name on a list, and people who need help doing miscellaneous things (yard work, babysitting, grocery shopping, etc.) will call in and get one of these teens who signed up to come help them out with whatever they need done. I thought this program could use more publicity, since I had been signed up for four months and received only two different people wanting my help with something. If more people knew of its existence, maybe more people would utilize it.Also I talked about more easily accessible work for teens around Piedmont.

Third to speak was Kennedy Christiansen who spoke about giving more publicity to the Piedmont pool free times so people understand they can come swim for free. She also asked for more free pool time. There is no doubt there is a general lack of student presence at these Recreation Commission meetings.  You could tell by the way they simply loved our ideas.

After the public forum came the first item on the agenda, an approval of the minutes for the February 10 meeting. This was approved unanimously. The second item on the agenda was the Chair’s report. Chair Levinson made a report including that the school district had approved a major fee increase on school sports using the fields. Then the issue of non-school sport users using the field was discussed, and the commission was informed by Chair Levinson that non-PHS sports would have to pay as well. This concluded the Chair’s report.

The third item on the agenda was the Director’s report. Director Sara Lillevand made a thorough report of several things including the Beach Field turf project (which was almost on budget), the lack of parking around the Community Hall, the possible renovation of Hampton Field within the next year (if funds are fully acquired), the installation of new locker rooms at the Pool, registration for summer camps, and the Sunday Easter egg hunt. The final item discussed in the Director’s report was the first ever family triathlon. This was all very straight forward reporting done by Director Lillevand.

The fourth and largest item on the agenda was the Community Outreach Project Update. This item was broken down into five components. The first was the On-line survey, which had launched in early March. So far there is a good amount of feedback, but the Commission really wants people who are not avid users of the Rec Department’s facilities to be giving feedback.

The second component was the town hall meetings that were being held on March 21st and 25th in order to gain more feedback on the Rec Department. Here a woman with the first name Jen ( I never caught her last name) got up to speak. She is actually the one facilitating the town hall meetings.

The third component was competitive analysis. Director Lillevand had made a rough draft list of some cities similar to Piedmont, and she was to assign them all out equally to the members of the Commission. The commissioners would then do some research, as well as get in contact with the Commissions of these cities to see how they were doing things. The point of this was to see if the other cities are doing anything really well that Piedmont could start doing also.

The fourth component was a suggestion box. The suggestion box is currently working through email and lots of emails are flowing in. They are considering getting an actual physical suggestion box (I think the physical suggestion box might just lead to pranks). The last component was the issue of focus groups in that they need a larger sample size.

I believe that in general the Rec Department should be thinking about and reaching out to more middle school and high school students. Most of these students do not realize that they have the capability to change things, and that if they use their voice, people might listen.

Item number 5 on the agenda was the Capital Improvement Program update. This program is one which the city gives out money to different projects with the extra money it has left over. Chair Levinson asked the Commission to think of possible projects for the Rec Department that they might want to submit.

The last item was Announcements and Old Business. This included the fact that the City Budget meeting is in May, and that Women’s Basketball was playing in the Northern California Championships on Saturday. As well as the fact that this was Commissioner London’s last actual meeting, and that Chair Levinson’s term would be over in April.

Here the meeting was adjourned. However, I stuck around to interview the only other person in the audience were five students, Jen, and one more woman, Teddy King. Teddy King is a member of the City Council. She used to be on the Recreation Commission, and because of this prior experience she was chosen to be what is essentially, “the City Council’s Liaison to the Rec Commission.”  She goes to the Commission meetings and then reports back to the City Council.

Going to this meeting allowed me to realize that I can actually actively participate in the government body. By attending meetings like School board, and City Council and all the other branches, I can actually affect the way the government runs and what they do. I found that to be exciting. I would encourage other students who want to affect their city or town to participate in these meetings.

by Austin Willis, Piedmont High School Student

Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Piedmont’s Board of Education will present our next Superintendent of schools at its next regular meeting on March 25, at 6:00 pm in the City Chambers. I do not know who the appointee is, but I want to welcome him/her. I am sure that our entire community will rally to support him/her for the benefits of all our students.

Bernard Pech

Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

On Saturday my 10 year old daughter Eva and I had the opportunity to watch the Piedmont High women’s basketball team play in Sacramento.  Eva’s on her fifth grade basketball team at Turtle Bay School in Redding.  I graduated from Piedmont High School in 1972.  Eva attended the game wearing her grandfather’s (Art Hecht’s) Piedmont High School rooter jacket. Neither one of us had ever seen anything as magnificent as the beautiful game the Piedmont women played that night.  The athleticism was amazing.  The tenacity to struggle from behind and win decisively was inspirational.  The most impressive feature we observed, that moved us deeply, was that the athletes truly loved each other, worked as a family of sisters, and put forth fabulous effort for each other.  We were both thrilled and proud. Please express our thanks to the team.

And there is no doubt, they did achieve the honorable!

 Since that time the women’s basketball team has ended their brilliant run for this year.  It would have been nice if they had gone to the State Championship game and won it, but it doesn’t matter.  As I later wrote to Superintendent Hubbard, those young women and their coaches have created something very special and beautiful, and they deserve recognition. Their intensity and focus were awe inspiring. The harmonious union they built is wonderful. They are and always will be champions.            Stephen Hecht

School Board Meeting Report by High School Student Tristan Gardner:

On Wednesday, March 11, I attended a meeting of our esteemed School Board. Their job is to “serve every student,” and keep Piedmont schools in the top tier of all public schools.  These meetings are where motions pass and public opinion is weighed, so I sat in on one to observe and have my own concerns addressed.  The meeting covered some pretty bland topics, the student liaison spoke about the general feel of the high school, the new computer classes were explained, and a representative of a parent group said that they were very encouraged because the accreditation board, WASC, gave us two thumbs up.

One particularly important, though not really debated, item was on the agenda, the new common core curriculum for math.   For those who do not know, the new system will allow students to take more flexible paths by either taking classes that slow, or “expand,” the curriculum, or ones that “compress” it.  This allows students to have multiple opportunities to get into an advanced math class.

In the last system, your fate was decided by a test taken between fifth and sixth grade.  Some concern was raised by Board Member Doug Ireland, and quickly alleviated, regarding the summer school options and teacher readiness.  Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Randall Booker confidently stated that the teachers will most certainly be ready.

The motion passed unanimously, but to understand it better, I caught up with Mr. Hayden, a Piedmont math teacher and meeting attendant.  He seemed a little anxious and excited about the new system and declared that the board “accepted just about all the terms they hoped for.”

After the initial roundabout of the board, they opened the floor to those who wanted to address any issue.  I took the podium to discuss Piedmont’s policy regarding 18-year-olds and absences.  Currently Piedmont High makes students get a contract signed by their parents allowing them to sign excuses for their absences.  When a student gets this contract, the parents still get notified every time their child leaves school.  If you cannot reach your parents, you cannot leave. California Education Code basically states that if you are 18, you have all the powers a parent of a minor would have.  I came armed with statutes and prepared to defend my case against strong opposition.

When I finished my piece, the board let me know that a discussion or vote could not occur that meeting because it was an off agenda item, but the Superintendent would stay in touch with me. To be honest, I was a little shocked about how receptive they were to an idea that I thought would get a lot of resistance.

Tristan Gardner

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Report on the Park Commission Meeting of March 4 by High School student Quinn Burnett:

On Wednesday, March 4, the Piedmont Park Commission held a meeting to discuss various issues concerning local parks and gardens. Due to the fact that Arbor Day is on the horizon, a main topic of discussion was over the various public plans for that particular day of celebration.

After the minutes were approved by the Commission, Chair Sue Herrick opened the floor to the public forum. I spoke first about my concept to go back to having fewer 10 minute parking spaces in the Community Center parking lot, as the reduced parking increases traffic on Highland Avenue and takes away spots from students and creates spots that are rarely used. The Commission agreed that the 10 minute spots allowed an easier means for parents to drop off their children at the nearby preschool and did not seem to desire to make the change that I was hoping for. Following my address to the Commission, Arash Parsa and Parker Phillips spoke about the issues of speeding on Scenic Avenue and the trimming of shrubs on Mesa Avenue, respectively.

After the public forum, the President of the Piedmont Garden Club donated three thousand dollars for Arbor Day and specifically for improvements in Dracena Park for the upcoming event that would be held there on Arbor Day. The check was accepted by the Staff Liaison Mark Feldkamp and he and the President of the Garden Club capitalized on a nice photo opportunity.

Following this donation, the head of publicity on the Park Commission, John Lenahan, took some time to talk about his efforts in the monthly newsletter, as well as additional publicity for the Arbor Day event at Dracena Park. Although there did not seem to be too many pressing matters on the agenda on March 4, Commissioner Nancy Kent, reported on a new plan to further water conservation to combat the ensuing California drought, and her outlook was quite positive as Piedmont seemed to be on top of every requirement for the plan.

Before the meeting began, I had the opportunity to speak with one of very few attending audience members, Patty Reed. Reed’s main concern was a plan that began almost a year ago called the Linda Kingston Triangle. The triangle will ideally be located on Linda Avenue, a block from Beach Elementary School and will cost almost $200,000. She told me that this project will be funded by the Piedmont Garden Club, private neighborhood partisans, and publicly by the CIP [Capital Improvement Projects]. Reed also shared with me that there had been an extensive traffic study, which concluded that traffic would be significantly reduced and safety increased, and this aspect resonated well with the Commission, which favored the project heavily in general as well.

Personally, I agreed with the motive of the Linda Kingston Triangle project, to promote safety, and I am glad to see a positive plan gain momentum as I feel that often projects like these are generally stifled by neigh-saying residents, as was the case for the infamous Blair Park project.

Finally, one representative, whose specific position I did not identify, gave a report on the general condition of the parks and streets. His summary was very positive, exuding the impression that, generally, “things are good!” He also mentioned that roughly one hundred trees were pruned this month and that if anyone wanted their street to be swept, all they would have to do is call and the street sweepers would be happy to come.

Summarily, I viewed the Commission as an efficient and positively run government body.  I also acknowledge the great amount of effort and attention to detail it takes to run such an organization successfully.

Quinn Burnett

Editors’ Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Council Meeting Report by High School Student Jackson Roberts – 

        The Piedmont City Council meeting of March 2, 2015 was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7 p.m. sharp.  The Council, which meets on the first and third Mondays of each month, was beginning a meeting unlike any it had ever conducted, with Mayor Margaret Fujioka’s first-ever State of the City Address set to take place.

        First, there was time set aside for Public Forum.  This is a time during which members of the audience are allowed to approach the Council with any issues not marked on the agenda.  Only one speaker, Jackson Roberts, took the stand.  He addressed issues concerning public safety stemming from the speed of traffic at the intersection of Jerome and El Cerrito Avenue near the Witter Field parking lot.

        The Public Forum was then closed and the State of the City address began with Fujioka acknowledging Piedmont city employees, residents, and even former mayors for their contributions to the city’s overall health in 2014.  The challenge, Fujioka then said, was maintaining in 2015 the success the city incurred in the previous year.

        Fujioka then spoke about the objectives the Council had prioritized in 2014, namely public safety, technology, fiscal health and improving infrastructure, and the steps that had been taken in each of these areas.  Concerning public safety, Fujioka credited the city’s new license plate readers with aiding in the city’s crime management, and pointed out that crime had decreased 24% in 2014 from 2013, and that the solve rate had increased from 36% to 44%.  She also discussed the city’s new emphasis on disaster preparedness, including CodeRED, a new text and email system meant to notify residents of emergencies.  CodeRED also serves as an example of the new era of technological advancement the city is moving toward, with the objective of increasing efficiency in everything the city undertakes.

        Fujioka then spoke proudly of the city’s strong finances, attributing the successes, in part, to the Parcel Tax, for its $1.6 million per year that goes toward maintaining city services, and to the system sharing of pensions and employee benefits among residents.  With the city’s expenses in line with its revenues, Fujioka pointed out a number of goals the city was set to accomplish in 2015, such as improving the grass in public parks, upgrading city sewers and the completion of a new sidewalk connecting Mountain Avenue to Blair Avenue.

        Fujioka also addressed the steps the city had taken to improve its aging infrastructure, pointing to an anticipated $500,000 expenditure to improve Hampton Field, the participation in the impending East Bay Community Choice Aggregation to meet the area’s greenhouse gas goal’s, the new Pedestrian and Biking Master Plan, the adoption of an anti-smoking ordinance, and the implementation of LED lights throughout the city.

        Lastly, Fujioka made several additional acknowledgements, including the School District’s Holiday Book Drive, which raised 900 books in total, the leadership of women in key city government positions, including Council member Teddy King and Police Chief Rikki Goede, and several former mayors.  She called each of the former mayors, including Michael Bruck, Valerie Matzger, Skip Rhodes and John Chiang, to the front of the room to receive a small gift and take a photo.  With the State of the City Address marking the final item on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Jackson Roberts

Editors Note:  The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

On February 11, 2015, the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education met to discuss the future of Piedmont schools. The Board generally meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Major issues addressed and/or discussed while I was at the meeting were the new Superintendent, refunding bonds from 2006, PHS bathrooms and the common core.

Barbara Young and Bill Levinson presented the superintendent leadership profile. Doug Ireland (Board member) responded with some issues, saying that the profile was contradicting at times.

Blake Boehm spoke about the bonds from 2006, summing his presentation up by saying “short term pain made for long term gain.”

Students Ami Felson and Frances Putnam spoke about the issues in Piedmont High School (PHS) bathrooms, mainly the locks on individual stalls, bad soap and often no paper towels.

Randall Booker, Assistant Superintendent explained the many common core pathways toward Calculus AB and BC.

The issue that I am the most familiar with out of all that were discussed is the PHS bathrooms. I agree with both Ami and Frances that the bathrooms are not up to par. What is most frustrating is that the school just spent money adding new water bottle “fillers” onto existing water fountains when the money could’ve been used to get working locks on the bathroom stalls.

My interviewee, Barbara Young, attended the Board meeting to present the superintendent leadership profile with Bill Levinson. They were there to get edits for the profile and to eventually find our new superintendent. Their next step is to do preliminary interviews to weed out the superintendent candidates that do not fit the approved leadership profile.

Gelly Miller, Piedmont High School Student

Editors’ Note: The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Piedmont Civic Association.

Volunteers gathered on February 28 to clean up Blair Park removing invasive ivy from trees and cutting back brush.

“Some of the Piedmont and Oakland crew who worked in Blair Park. The artwork is a professional rendering of what Blair Park could look like if Phase 1 of the landscape plan approved by the Piedmont City Council were implemented.”

“Nearly 30 friends and neighbors of Blair Park took part in a Community Work Day on Saturday, February 28, to clean ivy off of oak and fruit trees in the park. Piedmont and Oakland residents of all ages came armed with their work gloves, clippers, rakes and enthusiasm to do battle with ivy and blackberries that are strangling the trees. Two hours of hard work produced large piles of clippings to be hauled away on Monday by the Piedmont Department of Public Works.

“Everyone was so enthusiastic about the event, which was organized by Friends of Moraga Canyon, another work day is planned for next month.”

Forty five candidates applied for the Superintendent of Schools position.

The following information was provided by School Board Member Doug Ireland.

“The PUSD board met in a special session on February 24 as part of the ongoing superintendent search. In open session HYA advisors Barbara Young and Bill Levinson reviewed logistics and protocols for the upcoming candidate interviews. We will conduct two days of formal interviews next week. From that group, we will narrow the field and move on to a second set of interviews the following week.

“In closed session we were given our first briefing on the pool of candidates. Forty-five completed applications were submitted by candidates from eight states. It is a diverse group with a broad range of degrees and areas of expertise. Our consultants conducted interviews with 14 of those candidates, narrowed down the list, and gave us detailed briefs of the slate of candidates they identified as most qualified for the position.

“The board has been reminded of the need for absolute confidentiality as regards our pool of candidates. We thank you for your understanding and confidence in the process.”