The following information was provided by the Piedmont Unified School District on its adherence to the Brown Act requirements after Governor Jerry Brown temporarily suspended the law for cities and counties: > Click to read more…
FallFest Run/Walk – Saturday, Sept. 29 at 8:30 a.m.-
The Piedmont Unified School District Wellness Center and the Piedmont Educational Foundation have announced the Second Annual FallFest 5K Run/Walk. Volunteers are needed to help as race course monitors, at water stations, and at registration. > Click to read more…
Public invited to Attend –
The School Parcel Tax will be a topic of discussion in future Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) meetings, according to the Piedmont Portal. The public is invited to attend. Under the direction of the Superintendent, the BAC “shares financial information on the School District’s General Fund budget with constituent groups, and makes recommendations for Board consideration in the budget development process”.
Members of the committee include representatives from each school site, employee associations (APT for teachers and CSEA for classified staff), administration, support groups, the community at-large, and the Board of Education. Members serve for one to two years. (PUSD website)
Meetings of the BAC are open to the public and normally held 5-6 times per year in the District Office Board Room. No meeting dates have been posted yet on the PUSD website or the Piedmont Portal. The Portal states, “those interested in attending or serving on the standing committee should contact the Superintendent’s office.”
State funding will provide an extra year of schooling for some students –
This fall the Piedmont Unified School District will begin offering an extra year of schooling to some Piedmont youngsters: a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) available the year before “regular” Kindergarten. > Click to read more…
High Profile Task Force Predicts State’s budget will lag as US Economy Rebounds-
Former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker and former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch warned that the fiscal crisis will persist long after the economy rebounds as states continue to confront rising health care costs, underfunded pensions, infrastructure needs, and eroding revenues. Volcker and Ravitch presented the sobering findings of their task force at a press conference in Washington, DC. on Tuesday, July 17. > Click to read more…
It is time, according to the City Charter, to reorganize Piedmont Unified School Board officers. On July 11, at 7:00 p.m., the Board will meet in the City Council Chambers to vote on a new President and Vice President. Roy Tolles, current President, will have completed his term. Vice President Rick Raushenbush is expected to be elected President, and Andrea Swenson, a new Board member, to be elected Vice President. Presumably, Superintendent Constance Hubbard will be chosen to continue as Secretary of the Board. Board committee and liaison assignments will be accepted at the meeting.
After closed session involving employee contracts and performance reviews, the School Board will meet on June 13, at 7 p.m. to approve employee contract amendments and the instructional calendar for 2013-14. Details of the contract proposals will be available for public review as of June 12 on the front page of the district website. The contract will be subject to County review.
Final adoption of the 2012-13 budget is planned for the following meeting on June 27, 2012.
Education Group Opposes California Layoff System –
Only California and 10 other states base teacher layoffs on seniority. Francisco Castillo of StudentsFirst, an education advocacy group, states, “No one wants teacher layoffs to take place, but they are an unfortunate reality this year, and California’s current layoff system makes the situation so much worse.” He notes a 2012 California Education Policy survey that found 75% of Californians supported ending seniority-based lay-offs. “Support for such reforms is even greater in the Latino and African American communities. More than 84 percent of Latinos and 83 percent of African Americans favor ending seniority-based layoffs, while only 13 percent and 12 percent, oppose such reforms.”
In late May, StudentsFirst released a report, “Great Teachers for Every Child: A Matter of Social Justice” (GTEC) which analyses the impact of California state policies and budget crisis on schools. Among the findings in the report is a $15,000 differential in salary for those laid-off and those retained in seniority-based layoff regimes. When those retained earn the highest salaries, the number of classrooms impacted is maximized. California’s revised budget proposal could result in more than 8,000 teachers laid off state-wide. But, if the State changed its layoff policy, it could potentially save up to 2800 of those teachers, according to the GTEC report. The report further predicts that schools serving minority neighborhoods will lose significantly more teachers since they tend to have teachers with the least seniority.
PUSD eyes Alan Harvey Theatre improvements –
The Piedmont Unified School District Board will begin its May 23 meeting with a closed Session at 6:30 p.m. on negotiations with Association of Piedmont Teachers (APT) and California State Employee Association (CSEA), Chapter 60.
Open session will begin at 7:00 p.m. regarding:
For the full agenda and staff reports click here. Video streaming of Board Meetings can be accessed at www.piedmont.k12.ca.us The meeting will be held in City Hall Council Chambers at 120 Vista Avenue.
If you wish to receive an electronic version of future Board meeting agendas, submit your request with an email address to: sspiker@piedmont.k12.ca.us.
Bird callers from the 47th Annual Bird Calling Contest held on May 4, 2012 will appear on CBS Channel 5 The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 starting at 11:30 p.m. All contestants were from Piedmont High School and Millennium High School.
The winners are:
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