– School Board Decisions on Bond Authorization – 

The School Board requests comments from the community regarding the June 2014 ballot measure for bonds to fund the renovation of the High School Auditorium, Alan Harvey Theatre, 800 Magnolia Avenue.  The School Board meetings will be held in the City Council Chambers starting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, January 8 and 22.

Authorization Amount – $13 – $14 – $15 million – 

The School Board will consider:

–  What time period to choose from 13 to 25 years for the repayment of the bonds.

–  The ratio of total repayment (principal and interest) to initial bond proceeds (principal) received.

–  What tax rate per $100,000 of assessed property value should be imposed on Piedmont properties. 

In June 2014, the Board of Education will present a bond measure to Piedmont voters to raise funds to renovate Alan Harvey Theatre to bring it up to current accessibility codes and standards. The Board held the first of three meetings to discuss bond financing options on December 11, 2013.  Written presentation of options.

While inviting community input on bond financing for Alan Harvey Theatre, the Board determined it may be helpful for the public to have a financial summary of the District’s recently-completed seismic safety bond program. The seismic program to strengthen or replace school facilities to meet or exceed current standards for life safety involved the sale of $69.1 million in local bonds.

These bonds include a mix of current interest bonds, Qualified School Construction Bonds, and Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs).  The financial summary includes information that was previously published in Citizen Oversight Committee reports, Board reports, reports from KNN Public Finance, and the Seismic Safety Bond Program Summary. The information has been compiled in this financial summary for the public’s convenience. To view the summary, go to: http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/bond/SSBP_Finance_Summary.pdf  [Information includes current bond obligations for the Piedmont Unified School District]

Editors’ Note:  Information concerning the Bond Measure for the Alan Harvey Theatre renovation was provided in public documents by the Piedmont Unified School District.

The Piedmont Civic Association does not support or oppose candidates for public office or ballot measures. 

The following letter was sent to the Piedmont Civic Association questioning the cost of additional taxpayer obligations to pay for Piedmont High School Auditorium upgrades.

Dec. 10, 2013

PUSD School Board
c/o Constance Hubbard

re: 12/11/2013 Item 6B Bond Election Presentation

Dear President and Board,

In all likelihood the Board will go forward with a bond measure to be approved by Piedmont Taxpayers to finance improvements to Allen Harvey Theatre (“AHT”). I previously suggested that the Board be mindful of the already very high Piedmont taxpayer burden and keep that burden stable by delaying further bond debt. While my concern for overall taxpayer cost remains, floating a bond that will delay bond payments is undesirable.

Delaying taxpayer burden by the use of Capital Appreciation Bonds (“CABS”) essentially burdens taxpayers with what amounts to a negative amortizing mortgage with an above market interest rate. While CABs make the passage of bonds easier for public agencies, the use of CABs is now being questioned by a number of agencies and knowledgeable taxpayers.

With CABs, the total cost becomes substantially greater as both interest is added to principal and excess interest premiums are necessary to attract investors. If AHT is to be rebuilt through floating a bond measure, taxpayers should know and be willing to pay that cost now and not pass on an increased tax burden down the road for themselves or future residents. The assumption by KNN Public Finances that modest appreciation of home values will continue so modest increases in bond payments will be “net zero” is unrealistic. The recent sharp downturn in the Real Estate market from 2007 to 2012 contradicts KNN’s assumption.

Kindly only consider an approach that lets Piedmont taxpayers understand the real cost now and whether we are willing to pay that cost.

Respectfully,

Rick Schiller, Piedmont Resident

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

– Have a suggestion for the teacher or school support staff contracts? –

The Piedmont Unified School District will soon begin the negotiation process with represented employee groups:  Association of Piedmont Teachers (APT) representing certificated employees (teachers) and California School Employees Association (CSEA) representing classified employees in the District. Current collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) for both groups are in place through June 30, 2104.

Residents, parents, students, and interested individuals may submit ideas to the School Superintendent chubbard@piedmont.k12.ca.us  The current agreements can be viewed at:

 Teacher/Certified Employees Contract:  http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/forms/jobs/certificated_contract.pdf

Support staff/Classified Employees Contract: http://www.piedmont.k12.ca.us/forms/jobs/classified_contract.pdf

Suggestions mentioned by parents:

– Teachers should be required to regularly post homework assignments using a uniform format on the District website.

– Teachers should be required to make themselves available to students or parents either 30 minutes before or after school approximately three days per week.

Below is the Board of Education Staff report~~~~~~~~~~

TO: Board of Education
FROM: Constance Hubbard, Superintendent
Michael Brady, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services
Randall Booker, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services
SUBJECT: NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS AND TIMELINE INVITATION TO PUBLIC TO PROVIDE INPUT PRIOR TO OFFICIAL START OF NEGOTIATIONS
______________________________________________________
I. SUPPORT INFORMATION
The District has Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) with two employee
groups. The Association of Piedmont Teachers (APT) represents certificated
employees and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) represents classified employees in the District. Current CBAs for both groups are in place through June 30, 2104 with no open articles.

The collective bargaining process includes the opportunity for the public to
comment on any issues that are covered by the CBA. The CBAs are posted on the District website at: www.piedmont.k12.ca.us . The community may send input to the Superintendent at chubbard@piedmont.k12.ca.us on any portion of either agreement.

As part of the process, the articles to be opened for discussion must be “sunshined” at a public hearing at a Regular Board meeting to provide an opportunity for public comment for the Board to consider in providing direction to the negotiating team for the District. Since all articles are open, the Board is seeking input as to which articles to include as part of the bargaining process this year. Although all articles are open for negotiation, it is customary to identify only those articles that either or both groups want to concentrate on and to identify the remaining articles as “closed.” The issues of compensation (salary and benefits) are considered automatic to be addressed in the bargaining process.

We have a tradition of using Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) for negotiations in the District. The IBB process allows all parties to keep the focus on interests and not on positions or individuals. It has allowed us to work together through these difficult economic times by keeping the interests of students in the forefront. The employees have not had an increase in the salary schedule and have agreed to limits on the District contributions toward health care, which has allowed us to maintain programs for students during the economic crisis that began in 2008-09.

The Board and employees groups are in the process of identifying the articles to be addressed for negotiations. Once identified, the articles will be sunshined and the public will have the opportunity to comment.

The community is invited to provide feedback to the Board as to issues and articles to be addressed in this year’s negotiations prior to the sunshining process.

Feedback needs to be received by November 6, 2013 for consideration by the Board in the determination of the articles to be addressed as part of the Association of Piedmont Teachers negotiations and by November 30, 2013 to be considered as part of the CSEA negotiations.

The sunshine process for APT is scheduled to begin on November 13, 2013, so that negotiations can begin in December. The public has the opportunity to comment on articles opened as part of the sunshine process.

II. RECOMMENDATION: REVIEW AND DISCUSSION (Consideration by Board of Education at October 23 meeting)

– Not too late to participate in Piedmont educational discussion and strategic planning workshop on Saturday, October 5 –

All who want to attend the public workshop may do so.   It is not too late to attend and participate simply by arriving for the meeting.  All School Board Members are expected to be present. The School District has announced the meeting as an important opportunity for Piedmont Unified School District educators and the community to explore Piedmont’s educational themes for 2013 and beyond.

The workshop will be held in the Piedmont Middle School Multi-Purpose Room Saturday, October 5, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

The Piedmont Unified School District is considering placing a bond measure on a future ballot to cover the cost of renovating and improving the Allan Harvey Theater (AHT) at Piedmont High School.  The following is excerpted information being considered by the School Board at their meeting September 25, 7:30 p.m. in the Piedmont Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue.  The meeting will be broadcast.

“As reported by Ruth Allhaydoian [financial consultant] at the Board of Education meeting on September 11, 2013, the District’s capacity to issue new bonds is growing, as existing bonds are paid down and the local tax base grows. Currently, the District has bonding capacity of in excess of $11 million. Conservative estimates project the bonding
capacity to exceed $14 million in the 2014/15 fiscal year. Based on this report, the voters could authorize the use of bond funds to pay for an AHT project.”

“Although the project would likely qualify for additional State matching funds, receipt of that funding would depend on another State school facilities bond, and the timing of the next State-wide school facilities bond is uncertain.”

Gauging Public Support & Election Options

“The District could present a ballot measure to voters as early as February 2014 (included as part of the existing scheduled election of City Council and School Board members) with little or no additional election costs. The deadline to get a measure on the ballot is October 14, 2014. This allows little time to resolve important outstanding questions such as reliable cost estimate and community support. The District could present a ballot measure to voters at the regularly scheduled elections in either June or November of 2014 without the cost of a Special Election. Special elections are estimated to cost $80,000- $100,000 while joining an already scheduled election costs in the $20,000 range, depending on the number of issues on the ballot.”

Staff Recommendation: “The Board is requested to provide direction to staff as to next steps. Community members have expressed an interest in pursuing the preliminary design as presented to the Board in January of this year.”

Click to read the staff report in the September 25 Board packet and go to page 8.

The Piedmont Unified School District Budget Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, September 19 in the Conference Room in the District Office at 760 Magnolia Avenue from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. The meeting is the deadline for applications for the School Support Tax Advisory Subcommittee, which is responsible for advising the School Board Members on the voter approved 8 year School Support Parcel Tax. Those interested in being a member of the Subcommittee should be present at the Sept. 19 meeting, and have their application form with them or have provided the form to the District by 3:30 pm prior to the meeting.

The application form and an explanation of the work of the Subcommittee are available below:

The Piedmont Unified School District has announced the following:

The Piedmont Unified School District will be selling a series of Measure E Seismic Safety Bonds during the week of August 5. These general obligation bonds will refinance bond anticipation notes sold by the school district in 2010. The expected principal amount of the bonds is $12 million. Residents who are interested in purchasing a portion of the bonds are invited to contact the bond underwriter using the following link:

http://share.syllc.com/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-3733067_1-t_Gy8USxBL

The San Jose Mercury News has once again offered a searchable database of California public employee salary and benefit costs in 2012.  Individual public employees are listed by name and title with their salary, overtime, lump sum payouts, taxpayer paid medical/dental/vision plans, taxpayer paid pension plan, taxpayer paid “pickup” of employee contribution to pension plan, taxpayer paid 401k or 403b plans, other non-cash costs of employee.  The final column shows the total cost to taxpayers of that individual employee.

To use the database:

• Choose a county and city, school district or agency
• For large entities, choose the above and a department
• Search an individual public employee within a county, city or agency
• Search employees by gross compensation to learn the highest paid in an entity 

June 24th

President Raushenbush and Members of the Board:

It’s with considerable anxiety that I see that you will be asked to adopt Resolution No. 22-2012-13 calling upon the State Legislature to once again challenge Proposition 13 !

As I see it, this action, if adopted by the legislature, will be just one more of the never ending attacks on property owners of California; intended to eventually cause the demise of Prop. 13.  The politicians of California won’t ever be satisfied until they have overturned this protection for all property owners, commercial or residential.

Reject the proposed resolution.

George Childs, Piedmont Resident